Vows
Several vows such as Candrayana are taken by the sacrificer for acquiring merit or puṇya. These often involve fasting or conducting life according to certain rigid disciplines. For example, a sacrificer does not shave for four months during year, usually during the period of Chaturmas. During this period, sacrificer is also prohibited from eating certain kinds of food items, from eating more than once a day and from leaving home.
Read more about this topic: Yajna
Famous quotes containing the word vows:
“A true military officer is in one particular like a true monk. Not with more self-abnegation will the latter keep his vows of monastic obedience than the former his vows of allegiance to martial duty.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“All mothers need instruction, nurturing, and an understanding mentor after the birth of a baby, but in this age of fast foods, fast tracks, and fast lanes, it doesn’t always happen. While we live in a society that provides recognition for just about every life event—from baptisms to bar mitzvahs, from wedding vows to funeral rites—the entry into parenting seems to be a solo flight, with nothing and no one to mark formally the new mom’s entry into motherhood.”
—Sally Placksin (20th century)
“To maidens’ vows and swearing
Henceforth no credit give,
You may give them the hearing
But never them believe.
They are as false as fair,
Unconstant, frail, untrue;”
—George Wither (1588–1667)