Sadhana Panchakam, Instruction 25

Translation and Commentary by Jayaram V

4.1 Cure the disease of hunger

Although a yogi spends his time in contemplation and self-purification, he cannot ignore his health or the maintenance of his body. For the sake of good health and liberation, he has to keep it alive and nourish to continue his sadhana, without falling sick. A hungry body is not ideally suited for any yoga, since hunger will not allow him to control his thoughts or his actions. Continued hunger will greatly impair his ability to fight sickness and withstand suffering which arises from it or the rigors of practice.

A yogi leads a solitary life. He has no obligation to look after anyone other than himself or seek any livelihood. He is not obliged to perform any obligatory duties other than those which arise from his vows or his practice of renunciation or which his guru may instruct him to perform for his good. His obligation is mainly towards his own body, since he depends upon it for his survival and liberation. His body is his last material connection with the world and his lost physical possession, which he cannot discard until his last breath. He needs it to stay alive to remain grounded in the reality of the physical world which is filled maya and impurities so that he can practice liberation without losing himself in lofty ideals.

As the Isa Upanishad states, balance is important in every pursuit including sadhana. In material life as well as in spiritual life, the body and the self are both important. Neither a householder nor a renouncer can ignore his physical wellbeing while performing actions. In both cases, they have to practice moderation and self-restraint and avoid extremes. They may engage in occasional fasting for self-control or purification, without starving themselves and endangering their lives and mental stability.

Hunger is the constant companion of the renouncers since they have to depend upon others for food. This instruction suggests that they should treat hunger as a form of sickness rather than a source of enjoyment. Worldly people eat food to satisfy their hunger or their taste for food. They derive pleasure from eating tasty food and develop attachment to it. They have an obligatory duty to prepare food as a daily sacrifice to satisfy their own hunger as well as that of those who depend upon them, such as their members, guests, gods, ancestors or others who approach them for food.

The Vedic sacrifices are designed to facilitate the distribution of food to various entities through sacrificial actions. Since hunger is common to all beings, including gods, they provide the householders with an opportunity to satisfy the hunger of gods and others through offerings of food and other materials to earn good merit and improve their lives. By nourishing gods and pious people through sacrifices and obtaining their blessings, they promise to bring good tidings to all worshippers and fulfill their desire for peace and happiness and a better life in the next birth.

On the spiritual path you are not expected to look upon food as a physiological necessity rather than a source of enjoyment or physical pleasure, nor are you allowed to use it to propitiate the gods to fulfill your desires. Since you renounce all desires, you have to do it solely to keep yourself alive and active accepting what is given rather than having any preference for tasty food. For a renouncer, food is a necessary evil. He has to nourish his body with compassion and nonviolence to keep it alive, just as he is supposed to practice them towards all. This verse suggests the same. A spiritual aspirant shall not seek enjoyment through hunger. He has to cultivate detachment towards his body, but he has to still nourish it since he cannot be cruel to himself.

The Dharma Shastras recognize the importance of hunger. Since it is one of the most basic of human desires which cannot fully be eradicated, they prescribe strict laws to ensure that human beings treat food with reverence as an aspect of God and responsibly use it for the good of all. They put a heavy burden especially upon householders, since they play an important role in the production and distribution of food, insisting that they shall prepare and distribute food not only for themselves but also for all the beings, including gods, who depend upon it.

Manusmriti declares thus, “A householder must give as much food as he is able to spare to those who do not cook for themselves and to all beings, without detriment to his own interest.” The scripture also lays down rules regarding how the gift of food shall be given and how it shall be received. It further suggests that a wise person shall not accept any gifts, even the gift of food, without knowing the rules and proper code of conduct or following them. He shall not accept it from a sinful person unless it is given unasked, without prior arrangement.

Hunger is a purifier as well as an obstacle. It is a purifier when the food is prepared in a sattvic manner and accepted without expectations as a medicine or a sacred offering or as a part of one’s penance or austerity. It becomes an obstacle when it is prepared in an improper or unclean manner and consumed with passion and selfish desires, without offering it to gods or others. As the Bhagavadgita states, such people verily eat sin.

Many spiritual traditions encourage fasting in moderation but caution people against extreme fasting which lead to self-mortification, pain and suffering rather than enlightenment. The Bhagavadgita (6.16) recommends moderation in all actions, stating that the yoga is neither for the one who eats too much nor for the one who does not eat at all. If the body is not regularly fed, the organs in the body grow weaker as prana does not circulate well in the nadis (nerve channels), and become vulnerable to many external and internal threats.

The importance of food is emphasized in several texts. For example, the Chandogya Upanishad contains an important teaching about how the body depends upon food to carry out its various functions including memory and how hunger can weaken its internal fires and impair one’s learning and recollection. Therefore, in their intense desire for liberation spiritual people should not neglect their wellbeing. By nourishing their bodies and keeping the deities in them happy, they must engage in karma sannyasa yoga to continue their sadhana.

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