Duties Of The Brahmacari:

1. Qualification and Purpose:

The householder of vedic tradition is duty bound to raise his children in a pure manner by performing
for them all of the samskaras from garbadhana to marriage. the most importnat of these samskaras is
the upanayanam ceremony (taking the sacred thread) by which the child enters brahmacari life
enters the gurukula and to learn the vedas for a period of time.
The brahmacari or a boy from the age of five years especially from the higher castes namely
from the scholarly parents (brahamanas) the administrative parents (ksatriyas) or the meechantile or
productive parents (vaisyas) is trained until twenty five years of age under the care of a bona fide
guru or teacher and under strict observance of discipline he comes to understand the values of life
along with taking specific training for a livelihood. The brahmacari is then allowed to go home and
enter householder life and get married to a suitable woman. But there are many brahmacaris who do
not go home to become householders but continue the life a naisthika brahmacari without any
connection with women. They accept the order of sannyasa or the renounced order of life
knowing well that combination with women is an unnecessary burden that checks self realization.
The householder who associates with woman under scriptural restrictions after a thorough training
of brahmacarya cannot be a householder like cats and dogs. Such a householder after fifty years
of age would retire from the association of women as a vanaprastha to be trained to live alone
without the association of woman. When the practice is complete the same retired householder
becomes a sannyasi strictly separate from woman even from his married wife. Studying the whole
scheme of disassociation from women it appears that a woman is a stumbling block for self
realization.
Sb2.7.6
2. Types of Brahmacari:
gayatra One who learns the gayatri mantra abstains from salt and spices for three days and then
takes up family life.
brahaman one who learns brahma gayatri and then stays in the gurukula for full period of 12-2 years
studying begging practicing his rituals and then upon graduation takes up married life.
prajapati one who learns gayatri and stays three years maximum after graduation from gurukula,
then marries.
naistika one who learns gayatri studies in gurukula and dwells in the teacher's asrama until his
death. He remains chaste pure unmarried wearing reddish cloth having sikha upavita
dandna eating unslated and unspiced food living on alms given to his teacher
As well as executing the common duties and codes of conduct for all the asramas mentioned
previously there are specific duties to be performed by the members of each particular asrama-brahmacari grhastha vanaprastha and sannyasa. Thus the brahmacari or student will perform the
nitya kriyas but some activities may be modified or omitted and other duties may be added in
accordance with his student life. Likewise the other asramas have special modes of conduct.
3. Dress of the Brahmacari:

Material: Brahmana should wear hemp;

Ksatriya should wear flax;
Vaisya should wear kusa, silk, or deerskin;
or all may wear cotton.
Color: Brahmana should wear reddish brown (kasayam) or white;
Ksatriya should wear red (manjistham);
Vaisya should wear yellow (haridram);
(Vasistha Dharma Sutra amd
Apastambha Dharma Sutra)
or all amy wear white or yellow. (modern custom)
4. Activities:
He should engage in cultivating good character controling the senses controlling speech
treating others properly, study performing sacrifices and begging.
Cultiviating Character and controlling senses:
He should give up lying lust anger greed infatuation pride envy violence fear and
lamentation.
He should give up all forms of sex life.
He should not lose semen by any means.
He should not look at touch, or talk to women.
He should not sleep in the daytime.
He should not sleep on a bed.
He should not apply oil to his body.
He should not take a hot water bath.
He should give up cosmetics and perfumes, flower decorations shoes umbrella.
He should give up hearing and singing popular songs.
He should give up excessive bathing excessive eating excessive sleeping excessive staying
awake and excessive criticizing.
He should rise in the brahma muhurta and then brush teeth bathe chant gayatri and worship the
Lord.
At both junctions of day and night namely in the early morning and in the evengin he should be
fully absorbed in thoughts of the spiritual master fire the sun god and Lord Visnu and by chanting
the gayatri mantra he should worship them.
SB7.12.2
The brahmacari must rise early in the morning and after placing himself should chant the holy
name of the Lord.... It is essential that a brahmacari engaged in spiritual advancement look very
healthy and lustrous.
SB3.21.47

5. Speech:
He should speak what is pleasing and truthful expressing his true feelings, without hatred in his
words.
He should not criticize speak unpleasant or unture words ent though his mind is in distress.
6. Respect for the Acarya:
acaryadhina bhavan yatra dharmacaranat
He will obey the orders of the acarya as long as they are in accordance with dharma.
He should study the vedas under the teacher.
He should perform what is pleasing to the acarya.
He should offer his respects to the acarya in the morning and evening saying:
aham.............bho abhivadaye
Sir, I, .........., offer greetings to you.
The teacher will answer:
saumya, ayusman bhava
May you live long, sir.
The student should then touch his ears cross his hands and touch the teacher's feet.
He should address the acarya and elders by formal name.
If the teacher rises the student should rise if the teacher is standing, the student should remain
standing if the teacher moves the student should follow if the teacher sits down or lies down the
student should take permission and sit on a lower seat.
7. Study:
He should not act without the permission of the teacher except in matters of study and worship
which he should perform wiithout being told.
He should not study with legs outstreched in a tree on a boat in a vehicle on a bed at a
crematorium during the sandhya during a thunder storm earthquake eclipse catastrophy
meteor shower after eating forbidden food after vomiting at the time of death of a student
teacher or teacher's son or wife orwhile a corpse is present.
8. Eating:
He should eat with the permission of his teacher.

He should eat twice a day, having taken bath having chanted gayatri after washing feet hands
and mouth wearing lower and upper cloth from an unbroken plate which does not touch his lap
or the asana.
He should not take ucchista or food touched by a woman i her period by a person who has had a
birth or death in his family. He may take raw food from a sudra who is living by legitiamte means.
He should avoid excessivly hot sour asringent bitter saltly or purgative foods.
He should not take meat and intoxications or any forbidden food.
9. Sacrifice:
The brahmacari should perform sacrifice in the morning and evening every day. The sacrifice is
outlined in the upanayanam samskara.
10. Graduation:
When the student's studies are complete and if he plans to return home and take up household life
he should undergo the samskara called samavartana and take up wearing two sets of sacred thread
(six strands).