In English
Know the purpose of fasting
There are many among you, I know, mostly women, who practise fasts. But, there is a limit to austerity, which they do not respect! There is a meaning in fasting which they do not understand! They fast on Monday for it is the day of , on Tuesday for it is sacred to , on Wednes, day for some other God, on Thursday for Me(!) on Friday again for , on Saturday, to propitiate and on Sunday, for the Sun! , that good and simple man, pleaded that you miss a meal on Monday nights, but, these misdirected aspirants spoil their health and well-being by overdoing the vow of fasting. Periodical fasting is prescribed in order to help the system overhaul itself and to give much needed rest to the processes. Again during the fast, you must not be aware of hunger at all! Are you sure that it is so? You must free yourself from all thought of food and concentrate on the thought of God. If thoughts of food bother you, if pangs of hunger disturb you, then, it is much better to eat and then start . , the word for the vow of fasting, means "living in the proximity of God" (-near; -living) and so, the vow is meant to liberate you from the worry and bother of preparing and eating food, so that you might dwell more intimately with God. Remember that the purpose of Fast is spending time in the contemplation of God and not simply punishing the body by cutting a meal or a series of meals. Vows, vigils, fasts, etc. along with all kinds of voluntarily imposed or involuntarily suffered hardships are to be looked upon as promoting spiritual strength, not as weakening physical stamina. They dig around the roots and make the plant grow fast. They clip the wayward twigs and make the tree tall and truly trim.