Sanskrit. "Continence." The fourth discipline of the first stage of Ashtanga Yoga, calling for the moderation and self-control of sexual passions. Too often it is mis-taught as a requirement of celibacy, whereas all Yoga is life-affirming, not life-denying. "Required" celibacy, rather than being an exercise in self-control, is a deliberate practice of social control by external authority to re-direct the individual's emotional energies to the benefit of the authority figure or institution. It could be called a form of "black magic."