5. The Brahmakarins (or Brahmacharyans) are students. In Hindu thought, the individual human life was divided into four periods, or ashramas. Each period had its unique duties (ashrama dharmas) in the quest for moksha, or liberation. The first period, or the brahmakarin ashrama, was dedicated to learning meditation and self-restraint. The rules of the Brahmakarin, then, are the rules for meditation and self-restraint one learns as a young man. For more information, see the glossary entry on ashramas.