Cleanliness – Purity (August 2009)
We’ve all heard of the saying “Cleanliness is next to Godliness”. Cleanliness or purity is one of the Niyam. Niyams are second limb of Yoga. They are articles of personal discipline. There are two types cleanliness: External cleanliness and Internal purity. External cleanliness means cleanliness of body, clothes, surroundings, food and professional life specially the ways of earning money. Internal sauch means purity of mind and intellect, thought and feelings, the purity of heart and soul. When a person is clean and pure he enjoys many advantages in life.
Advantages of Sauch /Cleanliness:
- First benefit of cleanliness is clarity and purity of intelligence. With clarity in intelligence, you are able to understand the good & evil, loss & gain, truth & untruth. It is said that man of intelligence is the man of power- Buddhir yasya balam tasya. If your intelligence is pure, you can use it for good of yourself and others.
- Cleanliness leads to a cheerful mind. One can concentrate a cheerful mind easily. Once you can concentrate, you can control and master your senses.
- Staying clean gives you self confidence.
- The link between bodily cleanliness and moral purity is evident through Hindu culture. We clean our body and mind before we go to temple. We do aachman mantras before we perform hawan.
- Cleanliness helps prevent illnesses or diseases
Few Quotes:
“Splendor, forgiveness, fortitude, cleanliness, absence of malice, and absence of pride, these are the qualities of those endowed with divine virtues, O Arjuna.” From Bhagwat Gita
“A person might be an expert in any field of knowledge or a master of many material skills & accomplishments. But without inner cleanliness his brain is desert waste.”