3The Five Great VowsIn the preceding chapters we saw how all our problems are due to the involvement of the all-perfect, ever-free, blissful Spirit with the imperfect, ever-changeful and dualistic phenomenal nature called Prakriti, and how due to this involvement in Prakriti, many of the imperfections that are inherent in Prakriti are superimposed upon the Purusha who is, in reality, a being totally free from all afflictions. The Purusha has no sorrow, no anxiety, no worry; he has no fear, no pain, no suffering. His experience is always peace and bliss. He is beyond dualities. He is perfect and self-sufficient, and therefore, always free from all afflictions. But yet, due to his proximity to Prakriti and involvement in Prakriti, many of the experiences that lie is Prakriti become superimposed upon the Purusha. And the Purusha, as it were, seems to be suffering also, undergoing all sorts of negative painful experiencesfear, anxiety, worry, sorrow, hunger, thirst and so on. The aim and objective of Yoga is to once again liberate the Purusha from this involvement and give him a state of being established in his own Self-experience. That is the state of liberation. And then, we went on to see how the Yoga Shastra or the science of Yoga, in a gradual way, in a graded method, tries to bring about a separation of the Purusha from Prakriti, a freeing of the Purusha from its involvement in Prakriti. In this connection, we dealt with Prakriti briefly and saw how the phenomenal universe is composed of the three GunasTamas, Rajas and Sattva. The grossest and the outermost Guna is Tamas which is inertia, grossness, darkness. Next is uncontrolled dynamism, the desire nature of Rajas. That also is a bondage. Tamas holds you down; Rajas binds you in another framework. But, Sattva is pure, of the nature of light. It ascends, it has got an upward trend, it takes you up, elevates you, uplifts you. And we saw that Yoga starts with this clear knowledge that out of the individual Prakriti, that which is most objectionable, that which is the grossest, the ugliest, the most impure, that which is the very antithesis of the Spirit, the very contradiction of the all-perfection and all-purity of the Spirit, that has to be eliminated first. This gross aspect of Prakriti in the form of the Tamo-Guna is present as the animalistic, brute nature in man. This brute nature manifests in man in the form of a tendency to injure, to give pain and suffering, to destroy. Tamas also manifests in man as sensual tendencies, as carnal passion. And in the wake of his pursuit after sensual experiences, the human individual takes to deceit. By hook or by crook he must get his sense-objects. So he becomes a worshipper of falsehood, a follower or votary of untruth. In him, dishonesty, chicanery, treachery, deceitfulness, and also, Himsa, Asatya, impurity and a carnal passion natureall join together. And then, he is endlessly greedy, wants to acquire more and more and more, and in this process, throws to the wind all considerations of ethics. Does it belong to me? Have I a claim or right over it that I wish to take? This is his line of thinking. He does not say, It is something that belongs to someone else; it does not belong to me. I have no claim over it, I have no right over it. I have no moral justification in taking it. No, he does not say that. Dishonestly, without considerations of ethics, he reserves things, becomes a dacoit, robs, steals. He takes what does not belong to him. He covets things to which he has no right. Thus, the life of a brute man is full of violence, brutality, cruelty, hardness, harshness, sensuality, grossness, deceit, dishonesty, untruth, greed. Eliminating the Brute in ManThe Role of VowsSo, Patanjali first starts by dealing with this aspect of Prakriti prevalent in the individual nature and pervading individual activity in life. Man must be liberated first from these things. This Tamas must be eliminated from his nature and so the science of Yoga lays down that one who aspires for liberation and the perfect supreme experience of bliss must eliminate the brute in him, must eliminate that aspect of his nature which is the result of the presence of Tamo-Guna. And therefore Patanjali lays down the rule that aspiring Yogis, those who want to acquire the higher abilities and attain illumination, must take up certain vows. This is like the Christian Church laying down the three fundamental vows of poverty, chastity and obedience to the man who wishes to take to the path of renunciation and become a religious monk and enter a monastery to take to a life of contemplation. This triple vow is a prerequisite, is absolutely indispensable, if you want to enter into any monastic order in the Christian set-uppoverty, chastity, and obedience. Poverty means not wishing, not desiring to possess anything. It means, in other words, an absence of greed, of cupidity, of covetousness. Chastity is Brahmacharya, moral purity in all its implications, in thought, word and action. And Brahmacharya implies abstinence, not from sex only, but from every type of impure and sensual indulgence. And sensual indulgence means indulgence by any of the five senses. Next, obedience. It means obedience to the entire spiritual hierarchy. That is the one and only way by which the rebellious ego, the self-asserting nature, the nature that is the basis of arrogance, pride, assertiveness, dominance and self-importance can be removed. Otherwise it is very difficult to remove pride. It is only through continuous and constant obedience that this sense of superiority and pride can go. Obedience, then, is the contrary of self-expression. The ego always wants to express itself and if the ego is denied expression, terrible things can happen to the psychic being of man. The person can become psychotic; he can become off the rails mentally. He can even have a sudden crack-down in his head; he can start raving. In short, man can become an abnormal personality if self-expression is denied to his ego. The Western psychologists are very much aware of this and one of the basic concepts underlying the science of psychology formulated and expounded by Sigmund Freud takes account of this fact and pays great attention to the ego and self-expression. Nevertheless, perfect obedience to the Guru or the spiritual director and to the laws of the spiritual organisation are called for. For example, in Buddhism, the one who takes the vow and enters into the monastic order says, Buddham Saranam Gachchami; Dammam Saranam Gachchami; Sangham Saranam Gachchami. It means: I take refuge in the Enlightened One, the Buddha; I take refuge in the Law that he has laid down in his teachings; I take refuge in the Sangha, in the organisation. So, the new entrant says, Now I am subservient to the organisation. Whatever the rules and regulations of the organisation be, I must put myself under them, I must obey them, I should not allow my ego to assert itself. ObedienceA Means to Free Oneself from the Tyranny of the EgoThere seems to be a strange inconsistency or sort of incompatibility between this state of affairs prevailing in the spiritual and monastic world and the rule of the Western psychological field. But then, there is a difference. You will see that the seeming incompatibility is not so much as it appears on the surface when you recognise that the taking of the vow of obedience is on the part of the would-be monastic in a spiritual set-up. He is not one hundred per cent in the act of a suppressing of self-expression, precisely because he is taking the vow willingly and voluntarily out of his own desire to do so, and he submits to it with the full awareness of what it means to his freedom as an individual. But he says that there is another dimension to his inner lifea knowledge little known to Western psychologyand that his submission and denial of the ego is the greatest good for him. His knowledge of the inner spiritual aspect of mans life has suddenly made him realise that the so-called normal state of always expressing ones ego is a state of slavery. We are being tyrannised by our ego principle all the time. We are being dominated by it. It is playing with us like the cat playing with the mouse and we are really in a very pitiable condition. We have not much say in the matter either. We are simply impelled and propelled and pulled and pushed by this ego and its whims, fancies and desires. So, the spiritual seeker, the student of Yoga, tells himself: I am always ridden by this thing called the ego and therefore I wish to put a stop to this very undesirable state. Due to my higher knowledge of the spiritual dimension of my life, I have come to know that I am something other than this ego. I am something more, I am something quite distinct. This ego is not I. This expression of my ego is not really my self-expression. It is some other thing that is ruling the roost, shoving me aside. Therefore, I must regain my real place, role and status in my own sphere, within the sphere of my own inner personality. At the moment I am nowhere, I am suppressed, I am denied my rightful place; and someone else is occupying it and is playing the game. I am tyrannised, dominated, enslaved. I will not allow this to continue any more. I am going to assert myself. This ego has to be chastised, it has to be shown its right place; and this would do the greatest good for me. This is the commencement of the process of liberation. This vision, this perceptive analysis of the matter, is unknown to the Western psychologist. The Western psychologist does not know that there is a principle which is distinct and different from the individual ego of the human personality, and that that principle is the real identity of the person, and the ego is only a temporary imposter. He does not know that the ego is masquerading as someone, that it is in fact, a spurious identity, not the real identity. But the student of Yoga knows. And out of this knowledge, the desire arises in him: No, no, I must now manifest my Self. I must give expression to my Self. No more should this state of affairs continue where some spurious factor is having a field day within my own personality. This has to stop now. This idea is at the basis of submitting the ego to a higher law or a higher factor, or a higher being or a higher personality. And so, the danger of any abnormality arising out of suppression or oppression or denial of self-expression, which has its validity within its own limited sphere, that danger does not operate here, that danger does not exist here, because this is a new set-up, a new framework altogether. On the contrary, when you make up your mind to deny the ego and submit it to the law or the Sangha or the organisation, or the rules of the system, or the Guru, you do it voluntarily and willingly, and in this act, the true You, your spiritual Self, is asserting itself, is expressing what it wants. Thus, it is actually an act of self-expression, in the sense that it is the desire of your spiritual self to bring about a cessation of the unsatisfactory state of affairs and thereby a distinct change. The anatomy of this entire process, the mechanics of such obedience, such subservience, such surrender, is clear if you have the right perception and right vision of what you are doing. Then, by submitting the ego, you feel a sense of freedom, a sense of lightness. Up till now you were under the crushing burden of your ego-dominance, and when it is told to keep its place and behave itself and be silent, you begin to experience a sense of liberation. So, just as these vows of poverty, chastity and obedience are the fundamental requirements of entering into a new life for monastic aspirants in Christianityand each religion and each organisation has its own vowsPatanjali has laid down a set of five vows to be taken at the point of your entry into the life of practical Yoga. And these five vows have a direct relevance and connection to what we saw earlier as the grossest expression of Prakriti or phenomenal nature in which man is involved and which is the outcome of the Tamo-Guna in Prakriti. And the five vows of Patanjali constitute the foundation of the various stages of Yoga. Now, in the light of what has been explained about the background philosophy and the nearer psychologythe philosophy is a remoter background and the psychology behind it is the immediate backgroundyou will be able to understand why this first fundamental stage of Yoga has given these five vows, which taken together, have the common name of Yama. Ahimsa Seen against the Background of the World Spectacle TodayThe first of the Yamas is the vow to abstain from injuring any living being, any creature. This is known as Ahimsa. The person who takes this vow declares: From me there shall come no injury, no pain, no suffering or destruction to life in any form. This means that either through your thinking or through your words or through your actions you will not injure anyone. You will not bring pain or suffering to anyonenot only to fellow human beings, but to all forms of life. This is a sublime expression of your higher nature. The tendency to assert your lower nature, your ego, your false identity, leads to all sorts of harshness, cruelty, hardness, insult, abuse, even to raising your hand and coming to blows, fighting and quarrelling. All this comes out of the expression of the false I, and hence the first vowthe entry-point of Yoga. The spiritual aspirant says: I shall not cause any pain or suffering to anyone. I shall not cause any unnecessary sorrow to any person, and therefore, my speech will be soft and peace-giving. My actions will be such as will be conducive to the good of others, to the benefit and happiness of others, and not the contrary. And my mind also will always think well of others. It will be thoughts full of goodwill, peace, affection, love, friendliness, brotherhood, oneness, unity, sympathy, kindness. Why? Only if the thoughts are of this nature, it is possible to make your words and actions also of the same nature. Otherwise it is not possible, because the fountain-source of our actions are the thoughts, first and foremost. As are the thoughts, so are the actions. If a different kind of thoughts are allowed to gain entry into the mind, they will lead to a different kind of words and a different kind of actions. Thoughts are the root, the seed, the source of all activity. Actions are only the outer expression of the thoughts dominating the mind and impelling the individual. Action is thought translated outwardly. So, the necessity of Ahimsa thoughts, compassion thoughts, forgiveness thoughts, kindness thoughts, sympathy thoughts, friendliness thoughts, brotherly-unity thoughts and cosmic-love thoughts. They are the most important part of Yoga. For, then alone your speech also will be of the same quality, of the same nature. Then you will understand, with a little reflection, that for the first time you are engaged in the process of real self-expression, of true self-expression. Far from effecting any suppression or denial of self-expression, you are now commencing to give expression to your real self, to your true identity, in which you are divine, in which you are the Atman, the Satchidananda Atman, the Divine Spirit, a centre of love, a centre of all that is auspicious and good, a centre of peace, a centre of sweetness and kindness. Here commences the true process of your expressing yourself in the fundamental sense of the term Ahimsa, in the real sense of the term Ahimsa. The greatness of Ahimsa is so much that if it is not there, a human being is a human being only in form. He may be a vertical vertebral creature with two legs, a biped on vertical vertebrae, but if he does not have Ahimsa in him, only in form and name is he a human being, but actually he is a brute. He is a brute only if he ill-treats his wife at home and shouts at his children and is harsh to his servants and subordinates and rides roughshod over the feelings of others and does not care a hoot whether he has hurt anyone or not. If he is a rude person, harsh person, cruel person, hard-hearted person, he is really an inhuman being, because harshness and cruelty dehumanise a human being and leave him human only in his outer appearance, but not in his actual nature. And here comes Yoga science to make you divine and godly, to make you regain your status as the Supreme Purusha, the Divine Being. Therefore, that which is the greatest obstacle to the Yoga process, that which is something that does not leave you even as a human being but dehumanises you and brutalises your nature, that should be got rid of. Therefore, take this vow of Ahimsa and say, Even at the point of death, I will not hurt anyone, I will not injure anyone, I will not give pain or suffering to anyone, I will not harm anyone, I will not cause destruction or injury to anyone. This is the vow. The first part of Yoga is not merely a spiritual practice or Sadhana, but a vow which you must take and adhere to like a hero, making yourself an embodiment of kindness, compassion, universal love, softness, sweetness and forgiveness. Diametrically opposed to this concept of Ahimsa is the world spectacle today which fills one with great distress and great pity. In nations all over the world, due to a completely warped concept of human life and its ultimate goal, organised human society has come to accept the concept and the phenomenon of systematically giving training in arms to a large number of citizens, spending a great deal of money upon it, training which totally brutalizes them and prepares them to kill, to destroy. The armouries of nations are full of machines of incredible cruelty and destruction that completely brutalize human nature, that completely dehumanise human society. And all this is done in a carefully organised way. Great scientific books, technical books, are written upon this subject, and there are great institutions where people go and study these books to get a full knowledge of it all. So, when we know from the vision of Yoga that man is divine and the ultimate divine destiny of the human being is to become a godly personality, radiating joy and peace everywhere, when we know this and we see the sorry spectacle of an arms race in the world, we feel, Ah! What a great pity! We see how vast sections of human beings are deprived of their great blessedness due to the mistaken view of human society and due to the wrong approach to social relationship and social life within the global community. We find how unfortunate they are. We do not know how it is that they are deprived of this great heritage which is their birthright from the vision of the science of Yoga. We look at this thing that is happening and gasp how countless thousands and millions of people are trained only to kill, destroy, harm and injure in diabolical ways, and in more and more terrible wayspoison-gas warfare, bacterial germ warfare and so on. If you go into the intricacies of war, you will not get sleep. Your heart will be wrenched. It will be wrung in horror and agony, and yet, this is what is going on upon a vast scale all over the world, even in the land of Buddha, even in the land of Lord Krishna, in the land of Patanjali and Yoga Shastra. And it is done upon the plea that we have no other alternative, that though we do not want these things, though we would very much like to give up these things and have universal brotherhood, peace, unity, one world and all that, when our neighbours are of a different nature, we have no other alternative left. For our own safety, for our own self-defence, we have to be strong; and these things are meant to be used not in offence, but in retaliation, to protect ourselves, to defend ourselves. In this way, the human mentality tries to rationalise the things that are totally wrong, unrighteous and against the great moral order of this world. It tries to justify these things. But they are very dehumanising, very brutalizing. Man becomes a brute, goes back once again into a brutal state, even while he is in human society as a human being. If he throws a bomb and ten people are killed, he is given a medal. And sometimes, if he has got a conscience still, he starts feeling very bad afterwards. He becomes, may be, mentally shocked, deranged, and his whole personality undergoes a change. When he comes back from the war, he cannot fit into normal society. Some people turn into criminals, some into dacoits and highway robbers, some commit suicide. All sorts of disease spread due to people engaging in such activities as are totally against their divine nature. So, Patanjali starts with the greatest danger that is present in the way of higher evolution, in the way of spiritual unfoldment, namely, violence; and to counter that danger, advocates the vow of Ahimsa. Satyam or TruthfulnessIts Implications and ConnotationsThe second great vow for the Yoga student to take is the vow of truthfulness, because God is truth, and anything that contradicts truth contradicts God, denies God. Hence the vow of truthfulness. There are sayings in Sanskrit which praise these two vows of Satyam and Ahimsa, of truth and non-violence, as among the highest principles of Dharma or righteousness. Ahimsa Paramo Dharmah is one saying. It means, Non-injury is the highest form of righteousness, the highest expression of righteousness. There is another saying: Satyam Nasti Pararno Dharmah. It means, Higher than truth there is no other Dharma. How to practise these vows, adhere to these vows, in our daily life is the next question. In what all ways can a person be cruel or violent? You can be cruel or violent without raising your hand or hitting anyone. You can be cruel through your speech. You can be cruel through your expression in which you frighten a little child by getting angry at it and widening your eyes; the childs soul may tremble. You can just terrify in that way someone lesser than you by your expression. Likewise, in what way can you be truthful? Speaking falsehood is not the only way of being untruthful. Concealing a thing is also a falsehood. Trying to exaggerate a thing is also a falsehood. Trying to reveal something partially and keeping something back is also a sort of dishonesty. And there are ever so many other ways of being untruthful. You must reflect over all possible ways in which one can contradict truth in ones dealings with others every day. It is a very intricate subject. Thinking something inside and appearing to be something else outsidethat also is a contradiction of truth. But on occasion, being something inside and appearing to be something else outside could be an act of kindness also, could be an act of compassion also. In order to uphold Ahimsa, temporarily you may have to have a slight deviation from truthfulness. Supposing you see a loathsome beggar or a leper. You are revolted inside, but for fear that you might hurt his feelings if you turn away in disgust, you put on a calm appearance as though it is quite a normal thing; you ask him what he wants and quickly dispose of him, quickly get rid of him. Thus you avoid hurting his feelings by not manifesting your revulsion in your exterior. You had something inside, but you appeared something different outside. Strictly it is not an expression of truth, but it becomes justifiable, because by this you have managed to uphold the still higher Dharma of compassion, of Ahimsa. You have not hurt the other persons feelings. You have spared him. Therefore, the detailed implications of these vows, and clarifications relating thereto, are very subtle and intricate. You must reflect over various possibilities. Gradually you will know the vows in greater and greater clarity and detail. Brahmacharya and How It Is to be Practised in Different Levels of LifeAfter Ahimsa and Satyam comes the vow of Brahmacharya. On the practice of Brahmacharya you will get valuable light if you read the book of Mahatma Gandhi, Self-restraint versus Self-indulgence. Formerly it used to be in two volumes. Now, the Navjivan Trust of Ahmedabad has brought it out in a single volume. In that book Gandhiji says that Brahmacharya is a broad term which means conducting yourself in such a manner as will ultimately gain for you the vision of Brahman. According to him, the concept of Brahmacharya is to be understood in a pervasive way. Brahmacharya or chastity is a way of conducting yourself which gives you, grants you ultimately, Brahma-Jnana or the experience of the Supreme Reality. But, very specifically, Brahmacharya means control over your sex urge. Very specifically, it means control over your carnal passion, over your animal passion. But in a general way, it means self-control or control over all the sensescontrol over the sense of sight, control over the sense of hearing, control over the sense of touch, over the sense of taste and over the sense of smell. Ultimately, it means control over the wrong type of thoughts even. Brahmacharya means different things in different levels of life. In the bachelor stage and in the student stage, it means total abstinence from sex. In the Sannyasin state also, it means a total abstinence from sex. And in a married householder, in a family mans condition, it means moderation in sex activities, in sex life. Because, in the family sphere of a householders life, sex has been given a legitimate place and a legitimate role for the perpetuation of the species, and therefore, with that specific purpose, man and woman are brought together in the sacred relationship of man and wife. And therefore, in that sphere of mans life, Brahmacharya has the implication of moderation, of controlled and regulated martial life. And in a Yogi, in a student, in a youth, and in a Sannyasin, it means total abstinence. In a third area, when the first two stages of student life and married householders life are over, and one retires, Brahmacharya means total abstinence in its physical expression and moderation in its expression upon its sentimental and emotional levels. Because, in the third stage or Vanaprastha stage, both man and wife live together. They live a retired life, taking more and more interest in spiritual activities, going upon pilgrimages, going into spiritual retreats, studying the scriptures, being partners in worship and meditation, and generally living a life of spiritual quest. There they live together, they give affection to each other, and they serve each other. There they are still husband and wife, but so far as the physical relationship which used to be there in the family set-up in the second stage is concerned, that is completely stopped; at the same time, there is emotional and sentimental interchange in their relationship upon a higher level. That also is moderation. They still do continue to remain man and wife, but yet, they remain more as partners in a higher life, partners in an ethical and spiritual life, in a life of Yoga. And so, in the different stages of life, the vow of Brahmacharya has different but specific implications or connotations. Aparigraha and AsteyaNon-covetousness and Non-stealingBrahmacharya, thus, is the third vow to be taken by the person who wishes to enter into the path of Yoga and gradually ascend and attain to a state of meditation, to a state of super-consciousness. There are two more vows in the first Anga called Yama in Patanjalis Yoga Darshana. They are the vows of not coveting anything that does not belong to you. In the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament, it is said, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbours wife. Here, neighbours wife means all things that belong to the neighbour, because the wife is the highest possession of the neighbour and all other possessions like house, property, goat, sheep and cattle come after it. So, when you say, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbours wife, it means, Thou shalt not covet anything belonging to thy neighbour, because, the wife represents the highest possession or belonging of the neighbour, and all else come under it. To give another example. There is a very picturesque expression in Sanskrit which says, In the footprint of an elephant, all footprints are already there. In the footprint of an elephant, the footprint of a horse or a buffalo, a cow or a dog or a donkey, everything is there, because the elephants footprint is so big that one may consider it to hold the footprints of all other animals in the world. In a similar fashion, the highest possession of a man, namely, the wife, may be taken to include all his other possessions. So, you should not only not covet your neighbours wife, but you should not covet anything belonging to your neighbours. This vow of not desiring to possess anything that does not belong to you is called Aparigraha. Aparigraha means also a life of simplicity, not being too luxurious and too extravagant, because the more luxurious and extravagant you are, the more things you want. Wants are multiplied. Your desires become endless. Then you always begin casting eyes on things that other people have and you do not have, and you want that and you want this. Enmity comes, jealousy comes, the desire to possess comes; you fall into a restless state. You lose your peace of mind. It makes you a jealous creature, a very envious type of person. Therefore there is this taking of the vow, I will live my life upon a plain level of utter simplicity. I will accept from the life around me just that which is necessary to live a normal simple life. I will refuse to receive from the life around me that which is not necessary for me, that which is an unnecessary extravagance. Like that is the vow of Aparigraha, non-acceptance. The last vow is Asteya. It is abstinence from theft. Steya means theft. Asteya means non-thieving, the vow of non-thieving, non-theft. So, Ahimsa, Satyam, Brahmacharya, Aparigraha and Asteyathese are the five great vows which are meant to liberate the aspiring Yogi from the bondage of the grossest aspect of phenomenal nature or Prakriti as manifest through her Tamo-Guna. The Yogi has to take these five vows and adhere to themthe vow of non-injury, the vow of truthfulness, the vow of chastity or the vow of controlling the gross carnal nature, the vow of non-acceptance and the vow of non-theft. By a strict adherence to these vows, your life becomes raised to a higher level and grossness recedes from you. You begin to live a refined life, because you bind yourself down by these vows. And Patanjali, when he gave these vows, gave them in the form of little, little aphorisms or very brief short sayings, and to bring out the full meaning of those aphorisms, later sages have commented upon Patanjalis aphorisms or Sutras. They have tried to explain the meaning behind the terse sayings. One of the commentators says in his commentary that these vows have to be strictly adhered to. There can be no exception. Patanjali also has a Sutra about this, that these vows have no exceptions. If you take these vows, you must adhere to them at all times, in all places, under all conditions, in all circumstances. You cannot be given any French leave from any of these vows. You cannot plead exception saying, This vow is all right here, but it is very difficult to adhere to it elsewhere. The Rishis say, No. You cannot plead that. There can be no exception, no excuse for non-adherence. There can be no exception of time, place, circumstance and all that. Thus is this first fundamental step in the science of Yoga known as Yama which means the taking of the five vows and strictly adhering to them under every time, place and circumstance. Philosophy, Phychology and Practice of Yoga -- | Preface | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |17 | 18 | 19 |
Copyright @ 2003-2007 The Yoga-Age.com All rights reserved. |