Background
In the last chapter we saw how the Asrama system was tuned to human developmental needs.
Brahmacharya is the stage when brain development and learning happens. Grhasta is the stage when professional and emotional development happens as neurons in our brain re-wire and emotional component of cognition and behavior mature. Vana prastha is the stage when we need to develop new thinking, getting out of routine, so that we keep up the use of our mental faculties to prevent decline. Sanyasa is the stage when we need to avoid stress, as stress causes the loss of memory in old-age.
Social benefits of Brahmacharya
The stage of Brahmacharya is the student stage of life, where kids undergo formal learning process. Upanayana ceremony is carried out to introduce the kid to a formal Guru.
According to Manu Smrti Kids belonging to Brahmana Varna have to enter the formal learning process at the age of 7, those who aspire to be in Kshatriya Varna at the age of 11 and those who aspire to be in Vaizya Varna at the age of 9.
The age difference is due to the nature of professions. To handle weapons one needs a lot more physical strength and mental maturity. To handle farm animals and implements one needs physical strength less than handling weapons. To focus on reading and writing more, one needs to train more rigorously from younger ages.
These ages are somewhat followed in current societies also. In student life, people enter vocations like NCC at 12 years of age. They enter scouts and guides at
- They start writing from
- Though kids in India start writing at 3, age greater than 5 is recommended to start writing, even now.
Brahmacharya or the formal learning stage of life prepares the young minds with lot of knowledge and tools that they can use for finding more knowledge or provide services or goods. Only those societies which have a good formal learning mechanism develop well.
It was the case then and also now. Today there is a clear-cut recognition of importance of formal learning all across the world in all societies.
Social benefits of Grhastasrama
It is the stage of life when one gets stable household in terms of a profession, marriage and kids. Grhastas actually keep running of the societal machine as a rule.
For a Grhastha to produce kids that are more intelligent and adaptable, it is extremely important that the Grhasta goes through the Brahmacharya stage where he/she learns more structured knowledge, new skills and techniques, learns to adapt and evolve and learns to live in more austere conditions.
Hence Grhasta always need to be preceded by Brahmacharya. This is absolutely applicable at all times.
Such a Grhasta preceded by a meaningful Brahmacharya produces progeny that can take forward the human evolution in all domains.
The fundamental unit of a Society is NOT an individual but a family. It could be joint or single family. But then the family is the fundamental unit of society. It is because the family is the unit in which new ones are born, given a safe and stable Brahmacharya for their evolution, happiness for developing their emotional development. A Family is the unit which teaches the young ones, cultures the young brains about necessity to give and take, learn to loose and win, love the vanquisher etc. If the family system goes off, then individuals cannot learn to live in a society, as the vital elements of give and take, win and loose would not be imbibed such individuals.
From the evolutionary stage of being single beasts, we evolved into primates of fission-fusion thereby which guided our evolution of intelligence as we were able to utilize the collective knowledge of many brains and not our brain alone.
If the family system breaks off, then we will loose these advantages and become beasts again.
Social benefits of Vanaprasta
Rishis in Vanaprasta were innovators and creators of new knowledge. They not only lived simple life, but also spent time researching and innovating.
Sections of population who have finished their commitment with kids should go out and seek new areas of knowledge, while living simplistically. This is Vanaprasta. This Asrama can solve several important problems faced by the society today.
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