FASTING - A
LOUD THINKING:
Dr. R. Gangadhara Sastry
In the present day we hear quite often about a fast being undertaken by a private individual or a public figure either for a personal cause or public benefit. Most often it takes a political colouring. Instances of fasting for noble and public causes are not lacking in modern times. One has to stretch one’s mind very far to know whether a particular fast undertaken by an individual is firmly, deeply and unquestionably calculated for public benefit. It would be appropriate, particularly in this context, to know what role ‘fasting’ has been assigned in human history.
‘Fasting’ has been a universal practice throughout the ages. Although it is difficult to pinpoint a specific rationale or motivation for individual or group fasting, in most cultures there are atleast three motivations easily discernible: (1) preliminary to, or preparatory for, an important event or time in an individual’s or people’s life; (2) as an act of penitence or purification; and (3) as an act of supplication.
In the ancient and the medieval periods the ritual of fasting went through various periods of upheavel. Only with the consolidation of each religious faith, at the beginning of the modern age, both in the Eastern and the Western parts of the world, it could project an acceptable form of its own for various cultural groups to assimilate and practise. Certainly it is the Strong belief that ‘fasting’ would lead to the initiation or maintenance of contact with divinity or sort of a supranatural or transcendent being that encouraged mankind to keep alive the practice and as well pass it on to the new generations with reinforced faith and confidence, supported by actual experience.
Infact, periods of fast covering a month are prescribed in almost all the religions all over the world. The Hindus observe it on a number of occasions like ‘Sivarathri’, ‘Naagula chavithi’, ‘Ekadasi’ and particularly during the ‘Magha, and Sravana’ months. In a similar manner the Zorastrians and the Christians have their own specifically allotted months for the same purpose. Both Judaic and Hebrew faiths, as well, have set for themselves certain days for fasting. Although formalised fasting was spoken against in the New Testament (Mt: 6.16, 6-18);
6-16: “Moreover
when ye fast, be not as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they
disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast”.
6-18: “That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto their Father which is in secret; and thy Father, which seeth in secret; shall reward thee openly”.
It eventually became the favourite ascetic practice of the desert dwellers. Also it is of interest to note that within the Christian tradition there gradually developed seasonal fasts, such as the Lenten-one of forty days preparatory to Easter; Rogation Days in spring in supplication for good crops; and Ember Days, days of prayer and fasting during each of the four seasons of the year.
Invocation of divine grace for material and spiritual benefits, through communion accomplished by fasting has thus been the central objective of mankind all over the world through all ages. It is precisely the reason why holy days like ‘Sivarathri’, ‘Ramzan’, ‘Lenten’, ‘Chai’, etc., are very sincerely observed by people of different faiths even during present times. Infact, these holy days are singled out in order to impress upon man’s mind his duty to impose a ‘fast’ on the senses and a ‘vigil’ on his intelligence to keep away polluting impulses and inclinations. Thus, the ritual of fasting is the supreme symbol of the need to restrain the sense from craving for pleasure.
Among the Muslims, fasting is laid down during the Ramadan, inorder to make the people practise sense-control and to cleanse the spirit and the passions, so that they may be rendered fit to approach God. In Hindu parlance, fasting is referred to as ‘Upavasa’ which means living close to God. It was almost the same concept for even the ancient Egyptians and the Jews. The Christians hold the view that abstinence from food is particularly effective in securing the balance between the body and the spirit.
Though fasting i.e., ‘Upavasa’ in a general sense is understood to mean abstinence from food and drink, for maintaining good health by giving rest to the digestive mechanism-in its ultimate analysis it is a profound concept with very deep and subtle implications. Realisation of this fact is possible once it is understood that fasting entails not merely abstaining from food and drink from Sun-rise to Sun-set, but the mastery of the more difficult discipline of giving up violence, falsehood, anger, envy and the maligning of others (Bhagavan Baba). That is why it is enjoined upon all true Muslims during the Ramadan month to avoid rivalry, hatred, jealousy, anger, lust etc.
However, people belonging to different faiths firmly believe that food is responsible for all kinds of physical and mental impurity in the body system and hence fasting should help one to drain out such impurities and travel faster towards the divine. “Fasting of the heart”, (hsimchai), rather than bodily fasting as preached and practised by the later Chinese religious communities, particularly those who professed Taoism, was regarded as more beneficial to arriving at, “the way” (Tao).
In modern times ‘fasting’, besides being a religious weapon, has been successfully utilized by some rare personalities to accomplish their cherished purpose of benefiting nations and communities at large. In this context, reference maybe made to personalities like Gandhi, vinoba Bhave, Potti Sri Ramulu and a lot of others, who successfully undertook fasting on a number of occasions with astounding results. In fact, Gandhi considered fasting as a potent weapon in his Sathyagraha armoury. Fasting as a Sadhana received its finest form in the hands of Gandhi. He once observed that fasting for the sake of personal gain is nothing sort of intimidation and the result of ignorance (Young India, 30 Sept. 1926). For Gandhi, it is a very powerful moral weapon and can’t be undertaken by anyone, since it carries a spiritual import. He clearly stated that, “Mere physical capacity to take it is no qualification for it: It is of no use without a living faith in God”. (Harijan, March 18, 1939). Again fasting is not meant to be a face-lifting operation. As convincingly stated by Gandhi, it should not be a mechanical effort nor a mere imitation by anyone. It must come from the depth of one’s soul and hence it is difficult. (Harijan, March 18,1939). Thus, it is a discipline acquired through one’s s purified soul power. One who has not developed this soul power should not, therefore, use this weapon (Harijan, Oct 13, 1940).
Fasting carries a spiritual significance even as an instrument of subduing one against whom it is exercised, as the results aimed at and the intentions inherent in such an exercise are thoroughly examined from all possible sides. Gandhi first undertook a fast for the amelioration of the mill-hands of Ahmedabad who were underpaid and overworked. His intention was, “not so much to raise the wages as to cure the employers of their unwarranted objection to system of arbitration which would promote peace in the textile industry”. This fast brought into being a system of arbitration which survives to this day. Every fast undertaken by Mahatma Gandhi was aimed at something glorious for the entire society. His last fast, like his first, was for accomplishing, “a reunion of hearts of all communities” and to regain “India’s dwindling prestige and its fast fading sovereignty over the heart of Asia and there through the world”. (The Hindu, August. 9, 93 p.8).
Another example of an individual totally committed to the Gandhian way and Gandhian principles with a firm religious zeal was Potti Sri Ramulu. He was an embodiment of purity, piety, sincerity, honesty, idealism, sacrifice and magnanimity. He observed fasting-not once but three times for accomplishing certain social economic and religious purposes of very great significance for the country at large. It was in 1946 and it was for 23 days that he observed his first fast for seeking the admission of Harijans into the temple of Venugopalaswamy at Nellore. In 1949, he undertook a fast for 25 days for the eradication of untouchability in the Madras Province. In 1952, he observed his third and last fast for the creation of a separate Andhra State. ‘Fasting’ has gone though different stages. It has been undertaken for a variety of purposes social economic, political but primarily for religious purposes. It is, however, necessary that we guard ourselves against persons who undertake fasts for narrow, petty, personal and political purposes, and especially those who make it a mockery in modem times (as in the case of relay-fasting), since as observed by Gandhi, “unscientific experimentation with fasting is bound to be a harmful to the one who fasts, and it may, even harm the cause espoused”. (Harijan, October: 13, 1940).