Fasting For Health Part-III

Fasting an Ancient Practice

Fasting has been practiced in all countries from the most ancient times. In early times fasting was used in connection with religion for moral, mental and spiritual purification. It was also practiced by all the people of the lower cultures in which it was supported by the rudimentary science which takes the form of magical lore, as well as by a variety of crude religious beliefs. 

The Christian ‘Lent’ is paralleled by the Mohamedan Fast of ‘Ramzan’. The Hindu and the Jain ascetics practiced severe fasting in conjunction with numerous other austerities. Primitive ‘Buddhism’ is in favour of moderation rather than extreme self-deprivation, but in practice in its various developed forms; the religion covers a considerable amount of fasting especially in Tibet. The higher Taoism of China and Confucianism enjoin periods of strict abstinence.

It should not however be understood that in India fasting was practiced only under religious superstition. The therapeutic effects of the fast were also greatly recognized. It was used for the prevention and cures of various ailments and was endorsed by writers on medicine and surgery. From the point of view of health it will be highly beneficial to fast at least once a fortnight. Many Hindus take only one mill a day during the rainy season. This is a practice based upon the soundest hygienic principles. For when the air is dump and the sky cloudy the digestive organs are weaker than usual, and hence there should be a reduction in the quantity of food.

There are several kinds of fasts in Hindu religion. Cereals, beans and pulses are prohibited in almost all fasts while no restriction is placed upon fruits, vegetables and milk – the continued use of a large amount of cereals being regarded as the cause of unhealthy accumulations in the body. A fast is known as “Chandrayan Vrata” in which the faster daily diminishes one morsel of food with the waning digit of the moon till he comes to ‘Amavasya’ when he takes nothing because the moon is not visible. Then he begins his food with one morsel and increases it daily by one morsel till the arrival of full moon. Thus a complete course is finished during the period of four weeks. Fast is also recommended during the period of a ‘Solar Eclipse’. The association of fast with the non-appearance of sun is a matter of great hygienic value. Light of the sun being the source of all vital energy the vital power of our system are naturally at a low ebb when that light is screened from us. Consequently the system is ill equipped for digesting and assimilating food. The Jains follow the same principle in talking their evening meals before sunset.