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You are at Hindu Fasts and Festivals >> Hindu Rituals and CustomsWhy do we fast ?Most devout Indians fast regularly or on special occasions like festivals. On such days they do not eat at all, eat once or make do with fruits or a special diet of simple food. Fasting in Sanskrit is called upavaasa. Upa means “near” + vaasa means “to stay”. Upavaasa therefore means staying near (the Lord), meaning the attainment of close mental proximity with the Lord. Then what has upavaasa to do with food ? A lot of our time and energy is spent in procuring food items, preparing, cooking, eating and digesting food. Certain food types make our minds dull and agitated. Hence on certain days man decides to save time and conserve his energy by eating either simple, light food or totally abstaining from eating so that his mind becomes alert and pure. The mind, otherwise pre-occupied by the thought of food, now entertains noble thoughts and stays with the Lord. Since it is a self-imposed form of discipline it is usually adhered to with joy Also every system needs a break and an overhaul to work at its best. Rest and a change of diet during fasting is very good for the digestive system and the entire body. The more you indulge the senses, the more they make their demands. Fasting helps us to cultivate control over our senses, sublimate our desires and guide our minds to be poised and at peace. Fasting should not make us weak, irritable or create an urge to indulge later. This happens when there is no noble goal behind fasting.The Bhagavad-Gita urges us to eat appropriately – neither too less nor too much – yukta-aahaara and to eat simple, pure and healthy food (a saatvik diet) even when not fasting. You can help us!Today this one man operated website has 250 Vedic scriptures online. Plus 17 major Sashtras of astrology, 200 MP3 Stotras and the 4 Vedas in MP3. All this and plenty more are given freely. A good part of the money earned by this site goes to support the three charitable causes - Scriptures for the blind , helping the slum children of Delhi and helping a Gurukul Vedasala. The space occupied by these audio files and their monthly usage bandwidth is in Gigabytes and costs me a pile. If you like the work I am doing, please feel free to make a donation. Your continued donations will keep this site running and help in expanding.
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