What do different faiths say about fasting?

In Hinduism, fasting is known as *upavasa*, a word that carries a meaning beyond simply going without food. It comes from Sanskrit roots that together suggest something like "dwelling near" or "staying close to" the divine. This points to something important: for Hindus, the purpose of fasting has never really been about deprivation for its own sake. It is about clearing space, both physical and mental, so that a person can move closer to God, to a deity they feel a particular devotion towards, or to a deeper awareness of their own nature. That shift in intention makes all the difference. You are not punishing yourself. You are preparing yourself.

Fasting in Hindu practice is richly varied, and this makes sense given that Hinduism is not a single uniform tradition but a vast family of paths, philosophies, and devotional relationships. Many Hindus fast on particular days of the week dedicated to specific deities. Monday is associated with Shiva, for instance, and many devotees of Shiva will observe a fast on that day. Tuesday carries an association with Hanuman or with the goddess Mangala. Ekadashi, the eleventh day of each lunar fortnight, is widely observed as a fasting day, particularly among Vaishnavas, those who follow a devotional path centred on Vishnu or his avatars such as Krishna and Rama. The religious calendar also brings longer or more intensive fasts tied to festivals such as Navaratri, the nine-night celebration honouring the goddess Durga, or Maha Shivaratri, the great night of Shiva.

The philosophical frameworks that sit beneath these practices are genuinely profound. In traditions influenced by Advaita Vedanta, the non-dual school of thought associated with the philosopher Adi Shankaracharya, fasting can be understood as a form of discipline that weakens the grip of the body and senses on the mind, helping a person move towards the recognition of their true nature as something beyond the physical. In the devotional traditions, the Bhakti schools that produced great poet-saints such as Mirabai, Tukaram, and Andal, fasting is less about philosophical detachment and more about love. You fast because you long for God as you might long for someone you love deeply. The fast becomes an act of devotion, a way of expressing that longing with your whole being.

The texts that have shaped Hindu thinking on fasting include the Puranas, vast collections of sacred stories and instructions that describe the merits of various fasting observances in some detail, as well as the Dharmashastra literature, which sets out codes of conduct for different stages and situations in life. The Bhagavad Gita, one of the most universally read Hindu scriptures, speaks of moderation in food as part of a broader discipline of the self. It does not prescribe specific fasting rules so much as offer a vision of a person who is neither enslaved to appetite nor grimly self-denying. That balance, eating what sustains you without excess or indulgence, runs through much Hindu thinking on the body and its relationship to spiritual life.

What does this mean if you are a Hindu wrestling with whether and how to fast? It is worth sitting with the question of intention. Hindu teaching consistently suggests that the outer form of a fast matters far less than the inner orientation. A strict fast undertaken with a distracted or resentful mind carries little spiritual weight, while a simpler observance held with genuine focus and love can be deeply nourishing. It is also worth knowing that there is real flexibility built into the tradition. The ill, the elderly, pregnant women, young children, and those whose work demands physical strength have long been understood to be exempt from demanding fasts. The tradition is not trying to harm you. It is trying to help you come home to something.

Fasting in Hinduism ultimately asks a deeply personal question: what gets in the way of your awareness of the sacred? For many people, the constant rhythm of eating, with its habits, cravings, and social weight, is one of the more powerful forces shaping daily life. Choosing, on a particular day or at a particular time, to step back from that rhythm is a small but real act of freedom. It says that you are not simply your appetites. And in that pause, however brief, something else becomes possible.