If one wanted to take a kettle of water and convert it to steam, what would one do?
First, the kettle would be placed atop a fire, it would be covered tightly with a stopper, heated to 100 degrees centigrade and then the steam would start appearing, and after maintaining this temperature for a considerable duration of time, all the water in the kettle would slowly get converted into steam. Would any reduction in the temperature to say 98 degrees, reduction in the heating time, or a leak in the kettle help us achieve conversion of every ounce of water into steam? NO.
Practicing Brahmacharya for 12 years is very similar. The human body produces semen through a seven-stage process. From food comes chyle, from chyle-blood, from blood-flesh, from flesh-fat, from fat-bone, from bone-marrow, and finally from marrow comes semen. It is the seventh and final tissue element of the human body, hence called ‘Saptha Dhatu’. It is the net sum of all energy, power, creativity, and greatness within man capable of producing a new life. No other secretion in the human body has the power to give life.
Semen is the net sum of all ‘Prana’ or vital energy within. The body draws entirely from man’s vital life energy to produce each drop of semen, and semen in turn produces another life. With every instance of loss of semen, ‘Prana’ or the vital energy within gets destabilized and man in turn gets poorer in his life energy proportionately. Hence, for man to achieve his full potential and prowess in any sphere of life, the conservation, transmutation, and sublimation of semen becomes mandatory. Just as water in the kettle took the requisite time, temperature and pressure to convert into steam it takes 12 years of absolute celibacy in thought, word and deed (without the voluntary wastage of even a single drop of semen) for the ‘Prana’ to reach a level where the complete intrinsic power, ability and greatness of man start to manifest.
