PRACTICE OF BRAHMACHARYA

by Sivananda Saraswati

Sri Lakshmana Lakshmana, the son of Dasaratha by his second queen Sumitra, was the younger brother of Sri Rama. He was an Avatara of Adisesha. He was the constant companion of Rama both in pleasure and in pain. Rama and Lakshmana lived, dined, played and studied together. One could not bear the separation of the other. Lakshmana was a loving servant also of Sri Rama. He carried out Sri Rama’s commands to the very letter. He lived in perfect obedience to Sri Rama. Lakshmana had pure and untainted brotherly love. His object of life was service to his elder brother. Obedience to the commands of his brother was the motto of his life. He would not do anything without getting Rama’s permission. He regarded Sri Rama as his God, Guru, father and mother. He followed Rama as a shadow. He was quite unselfish at heart. He abandoned all the comforts of a royal life willingly only for the company of his brother. He served Rama’s cause in all possible ways. He made Rama’s cause his own. He sacrificed every personal consideration on the altar of brotherly love. Sri Rama was his all-in-all. Lakshmana could relinquish anything, his life even, for the sakc of Rama. He abandoned in a moment his mother, his wife and his royal comforts to follow Sri Rama and Sita in exile. What a magnanimous soul! What a great Tyagi he was! Here is an unprecedented example, in the history of the whole world, of a disinterested, noble and devoted soul who lived only to serve his brother. That is the reason why t...

Brahmacharya Sri Lakshmana