Patanjali has described five disciplines.It is not possible to isolate any one of these and practise it. It may be possible in the case of truth, because it really includes the other four.And for this age the five have been expanded into eleven.Vinoba has put them in the form of a Marathi verse :
They are non - violence, truth, non -stealing ,brahmacharya, non-possession, bread labour , control of the palate, fearlessness, equal regard for all religions, swadeshi and removal of untouchability.All these can be derive from truth.
But life is not so simple. It is no possible to enunciate on grand principle and leave the rest to follow of itself. Even when we know a proposition , its corollaries have to be worked out.It is well to bear in mind that all the disciplines are of equal importance. If one is broken all are broken. There seems to be a popular belief amongst us that breach of truth or non - violence is pardonable. Non - stealing and non-possession are rarely mentioned.
We hardly recognize the necessity of observing them. But a fancied breach of brahmacharya excites wrath and worse.There must be something seriously wrong with a society in which values are exaggerated and underestimated. Moreover, to use the word brahmacharya in a narrow sense is to detract from its value. Such detraction increases the difficulty of proper observance. When it is isolated even an elementary observance becomes difficult, if not impossible. Therefore, it is essential that all the disciplines should be taken asone. This enables one to realize the full meaning and significance of brahmacharya. In practice he alone is a true brahmachari, who observes, in thought, word and deed, the eleven-fold vow in its entirety.
