How to maintain Brahmacārī Life? | SB 6.1.12-14 | Rus-Split | 09 May 90 |Srila Gopal Krishna Goswami

Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya.

Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya.

Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya. Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya. So there's a very nice verse in the 6th Canto of the Bhagavatam that describes brahmacharya life. Actually, this verse is helpful to everyone, whether you are in the brahmachari ashram or in the grihastha ashram. So I will read the Sanskrit and then we will do the translation. Now this, since this class is just for men, we will just have it for maximum 1 hour, okay? Tapasa brahmacharīnā samīnā ca dāmēnā ca Dātyā gīnā satya-saujya vyāmyām yamena niyamena vā. Om jñānātmānandaśya jñānānjanāśalakyaḥ cakṣur-militaṇīnā taśmayā śrī-gurave namahā. Śrī Caitanya-māno-viṣṭhams-tāpitāñīnā bhūtale svayām rūpa-kadāmayām tad-āti svāpadaṇḍikam. Mandeḥ ham śrī-guruḥ śrī-yutāpāda-kammanḥ śrī-gurunvaishnava-nāśṭhaḥ. Śrīrūpāṁ sagrajatāṁ sahāgīnā rāguṇātāṇvitam tāṁ sajevām. Sadveitāṁ svaḍhūtam parijana saitām Kṛṣṇa cetañya-devaṁ. Śrī-rādhā-kṛṣṇa-padānta sahāgīnā lalitāśrī viśākādaṇa-taṁśca. So today I'll follow this schedule. 2 to 3 I'll do brahmachari lesson. Then 3 to 4 I'll give darshan to the ladies. Then 4 o'clock we'll take a break for prasāda. 4 to 5, prasāda, and 5 o'clock I'll start Īśopaniṣad and then nectar of instruction. In this verse it is very nicely stated how one can practice the life of celibacy. In the purport Prabhupāda talks about 8 ways of maintaining brahmachari life. Even if one is in the grihastha-āśrama, One has to exercise control of the senses. Kṛṣṇa conscious grihāsta life is not a free license of sense enjoyment. There is grihāsta and there is grihā-medi. Grihā-medi means life of sense enjoyment. Grihāsta means life of spiritual discipline. In brahmachari life and sannyāsa life, there is very strict instruction How to avoid female association. And in the grihastha-āśrama, there is some concession, but no compromise on the importance of sense control. So in the purva-prapada says there are 8 aspects of brahmachari life, or to maintain brahmachari life of tapasya, 8 important points must be kept in mind. One is, Prabhupāda says, One should not think of women. Now you may say that this is difficult to practice because we are always associating with women. In the Vedic society, there is complete separation of men and women. But in our rush, Soviet temples, because there's such little space, there's almost no separation of men and women. So in one small room, everybody is sitting And then when you go out on book distribution, again you have to meet women all the time. Almost half the people you meet on the streets are women. So you may say that this is going to be something very difficult to practice. But actually, if we train up our mind in a positive, in positive thinking, then it will be possible to control the mind. You know, in the history of Arjuna, we see that Arjuna, he saw the prostitute making love with a man, and when Arjuna started to think about that incident, he just got more and more attached to that incident, and eventually he gave up his Brahminical culture. So if you are going to think about women, then naturally your actions are also going to get polluted. So the best way is to avoid thinking about women. Yeah, Raghunath Das Goswami has given an example. Just like he says that after you pass stool, you at once flush it away, you don't look at it. Similarly, when these dirty thoughts come to your mind, you should just spit at it. So the mind should avoid thinking of women. One should not speak about sex life. In mature life, everybody likes to speak about sex life. When the karmis get together, that's all they talk about. That's because the karmis do not know anything sweeter than sex life. But there is something sweeter than sex life, and that is spiritual life. This understanding can only be obtained by spiritual practice. So Prabhupada says that one should not, um, one should not speak about sex life. Don't speak about other people's sex life. Don't look at A woman from a lusty angle, but this doesn't mean that you stare at a woman and you just say, "Oh, I'm not looking at her lustily. I'm just looking at her." So we must understand that we are not so advanced that you can look at a woman and in your mind decide, "Oh, I'm not looking at her lustily, so it's okay." So in the material world, the word love is being used instead of lust. Anywhere in the world when you hear these songs on the radio, 99.9% of the songs are based on love. But actually this love is nothing but lust. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, it is explained that just like a gold bar and an iron, they are both metals, but there's a big difference between gold and iron. Similarly, there is a big difference between love and lust. So if we look lustfully at women, then again all our senses will get contaminated. Then we should not talk intimately with women. One should never be alone with a woman in a room. Even if you have to talk to some mataji, you should talk to the mataji in public. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, it is explained that one's senses are so strong that even if you sit with your mother or daughter or sister alone, The senses can drag you to hell. So if the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is saying something, it must be true. Because the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the highest scripture available to mankind. The danger of male and female association is so strong that Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam says, don't even sit with your mother alone, your sister alone, or your daughter alone. So in the Kṛṣṇa conscious process, We recognize our enemy and we try to control the enemy, and the enemy is lust. And Prabhupāda says one should decide, one should not decide to have sexual intercourse nor endeavor for sex life in brahmachari ashram. So in the bhakti-marga, one must strictly follow these regulative principles. If we strictly follow these regulative principles, then we will be able to maintain brahmacharya life, or then we will be able to practice celibacy. Just like butter next to fire will definitely melt, if we have association with women mentally or physically, then our spiritual senses, then our spiritual desires will become weak. Therefore, we must understand the importance of celibacy. As we heard in the nectar of instruction, If we control the tongue, then to control the other senses will also be easy. The tongue, the belly, the genitals, they are all in the straight line. Therefore, the best way is to be always absorbed in activities of śrīmad-bhāgavatam kīrtanam. Brahmachari life is life of tapasya. Of course, in your country, it is quite common that brahmacharis also live at home because they don't have facilities in the temples as yet. But in most of our ISKCON temples out all over the world, the brahmacharis live in the temples and the grihastas live at home. Sometimes when you're living in the brahmachari ashram, obviously you don't have the same comforts as a grihasta at home may have. And a brahmachari will sometimes get distracted. He will start thinking, "Oh, look at that grihasta, he has so much comfort." "If I can also become a grihastha, what is the harm?" And if you start thinking in this way, then your determination to stay brahmachari will become weak. A brahmachari should not meditate on the comforts of grihastha life. Because, though there may be some comforts in grihastha ashram, but along with that there's a heavy price that one has to pay. In many respects, the brahmachari situation is the best for spiritual life. Because you do not have to worry, as Prabhupāda said, carrying extra baggage. When you are traveling and you are carrying a lot of suitcases, then it is not— your travel is not as comfortable as you are traveling with light suitcase. Of course, Kṛṣṇa consciousness is so wonderful that even if you are in the grihastha-āśrama and you are strictly following the rules, you can make progress towards perfection. But you cannot deny that in the grihastha-āśrama One also has to think about maintaining one's family, etc. And very often this means that one's practical service gets reduced. But in the brahmachari ashram, you don't have any of these worries. From morning to night, you can just concentrate on fulfilling the spiritual master and Kṛṣṇa's order. And that order is to preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness to everyone. Kṛṣṇa says, ye yathāmām prapadeyante, "All of them, as they surrender unto Me, I will reward them accordingly." So whatever price you pay, you're going to get spiritual benefit in the same proportion. Actually, in all scriptures of the world, celibacy is highly recommended in spiritual life. Even in Christianity, for example, celibacy is strongly recommended. But Caitanya Mahāprabhu has very kindly given us the process which does not compromise on celibacy, but also leaves the room open for somebody in strict grihastha-āsāma to make spiritual advancement. Just like once there was a grihastha by the name of Kūrmā-dāsa who came running to and told Caitanya Mahāprabhu that he did not want to live at home with his family, but wanted to join Caitanya Mahāprabhu. But Caitanya Mahāprabhu told him, "No." "You can stay at home, go back home, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, worship Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, follow regulative principles, and in this way you will never be separated from Me." So as I said, in the grihāsta-āśrama, if one is chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, worshipping Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, strictly following rules and regulations, then he can make spiritual advance. But in spite of this concession that grihāsthas have, brahmachari life, offers the best facility for making spiritual advancement. So it is important to meditate these points that we have discussed to maintain our brahmachari, or saffron color. We should not become spiritual pretenders. That is, I may be in the brahmachari ashram or sannyāsa ashram, but mentally I may be thinking always about the opposite sex. If that is the position, Then it is better to be an honest grihastha rather than a dishonest brahmachari. It is better to be an honest grihastha rather than a dishonest sannyasi. Because one must be true to the āśrama that he is in. Just like these days it is very common in the Christian church all over the Western world, because they have the strict vows of celibacy, but the priests and nuns, they do so many illicit things., and these scandals keep on coming up in the papers. So the reason I'm saying this is because if we understand the responsibility of the Ashram that we are in, then we can adjust our behavior so that we are successful in that particular Ashram. So Brahmachari naturally will have to tolerate some inconveniences. You have to sleep on the floor, 10 people in one small room. Sometimes you have no place to hang your clothes. You have to stand in the line in the morning for half an hour to go to the toilet. And a grihasta, you might think, "Oh, he has everything private. He is living so comfortably." In Vedic society, the saffron color is very respected. Even though a person may be attached to sense enjoyment, he still respects celibacy. When people know that somebody else is doing sense control, they have more respect for him. So basically, brahmachari life means a life of strict sense control, and one should especially be careful with regards to the 8 points about brahmachari life that Prabhupada has mentioned and which we discussed. Brahmachari's business is to beg on behalf of the spiritual master and preach the glories of the Lord. So if you control the mind, then we will be able to control the other pushings in the body. We should definitely Not become spiritual pretenders. Like, you know that story of the Brahman and the prostitute. So, so, you know, anyway, in a nutshell, the story is once in one side of the road there was a Brahman's house, and the other side of the road there was a prostitute's house. The prostitute was always looking at the Brahman and saying, "Oh, I have taken my birth in such a sinful profession. In my next life, maybe I will be a Brahman." And the Brahman He was making a show, sitting always with the scriptures in front, but he was through his eyes looking at the activities of the prostitute. He was just watching which customer is coming, which customer is going. So one day there was a fire in which both the prostitute and the Brahman both died. But the agents of Lord Yāmraja, they came to the Brahman and they said, now Yāmadūtas came, they said, now Yāmraja is calling you. But the Brahman said, "I think you have come at the wrong address. You should have gone to the prostitute because she was doing all sinful work. I was always reading the scriptures." But the Yamadūta said, "No, we have come to the right address." So the Yamadūta explained that the other prostitute was doing a dirty work, but she was mentally thinking how she could become a Brahman. And you are pretending to be a Brahman, but mentally you were just thinking about the prostitute's business with her customers. So the Brahman went to hell and the prostitute got saved. She went to heaven. So Prabhupāda used to relate this story to show that we should not become pretenders in spiritual life. Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Hare Kṛṣṇa. Sometimes brahmācāri, brahmācāri says, say to grihastha that he is in māyā. And the question is how should brahmācāri relate relates to grihāstra.

"Āśraya brahmācārī kriyaktur grihāsta." Well, brahmācārī should only think about his brahmācārī life. He should not worry about the grihāstras. If a brahmācārī is worrying too much about grihāstras, that means he is also thinking of grihāstra life. Let the brahmācārīs worry about how to be strict brahmācārīs. So, first of all, we must all admit that we are all in a very neophyte stage. If somebody thinks that he's in such an advanced state that he doesn't need to follow rules and regulations, then he's a big cheater. Just like in India, there are many so-called sahajiyas. They say, "Oh, you don't need any rules, regulations. Rules and regulations are only for the neophyte." They mix with girls and do so many other things all in the name of Kṛṣṇa. So rules and regulations are for everyone, including advanced devotees. Even the sannyāsī has to follow rules and regulations. We have seen even in our ISKCON society that some sannyāsīs were not careful about mixing with women and they ended up falling down. Sometimes the devotee gets in a false situation. He thinks that, "I am okay, I am very advanced, my position is safe, I don't have to follow the rules and regulations very strictly." Till we follow the rules and regulations, we cannot get purified of the contamination in the heart.

The question is, are all the members of Parampara on the same spiritual level?

You mean Parampara, you mean Prabhupāda, Bhaktisiddhānta, Gour Kṛṣṇa Dāsa, Bhāgavān, you mean that? Yes, it can be said that they are generally on the same, on the, they are all parma-hansas, I would say.

In which cases do brahmācāri become vikhasa and why?

It's a very good question. And what?

And why it occurs? Why do it occurs?

Okay. It's a good practical question. So Prabhupāda gave us some practical advice on this point. Whatever the reason may be, generally everybody gets married only for one reason. Brahmacari may give excuse, "Oh, I'm just getting married because I want some special prasāda. My health is not good. I want someone to do my laundry." But the real reason is only one. So Prabhupāda said that if you cannot tolerate the sex urge and if you are ready to follow the regulated principles of grihāsā life, only then should you enter grihāsta life. But a brahmachari should not think that, "Now if I become a grihāsta, all my problems will be solved." This is another false understanding. So, One should try to remain brahmachari as long as one can, but if he really cannot, then he may, with permission of the spiritual master, enter grihastha-āśrama with the understanding that even in the grihastha-āśrama I have to exercise sense control.

In one lecture it was said that if brahmācharīs don't open their minds to each other, there will be tendency to open his mind to opposite sex, to speak with woman. And what does it mean to open mind to each other? Is there any special rules how to do it?

Okay.

And so on.

This point is very nicely discussed in this book, Nectar of Instruction, Upadesha Mithra. So what this means is that we should reveal our mind to those who are more advanced. So if a brahmachari or grihastha or anybody, if he has any spiritual problems, he must reveal them to those who are more advanced. And if you reveal your heart to those who are more advanced and take their advice, then you will be able to control your senses. Just like when you go in front of a doctor, you have to tell him everything, otherwise the doctor cannot diagnose you properly. So similarly, in spiritual life, we must frankly Reveal our thoughts to the spiritual master and those who are more advanced. That's what Vaishnava is.

In Bhagavad-gītā it is said that if you cannot follow regulative principles, he said, that dedicate actions to Me. Yes. Can be connected with brahmachari.

So your question is, if a brahmachari cannot follow regulative principles, can he work for Kṛṣṇa? That's your question?

The question is, will he be really brahmachari if he he cannot follow regulative principle, but he will work.

No, then you will not be real brahmachari. Then you will be what you call bachelor. Brahmachari means one who follows regulative principles and from morning to night works for guru and Kṛṣṇa.

If somehow, because of necessity, the devotee should break one of the principles, one of the four principles, What the scripture says about it? What should he do?

He should try his best to improve. He should try his best not to repeat the mistake again. There will be some accidents on the spiritual highway to Vaikuntha, but we should try our best not to repeat the accidents.

Mostly the leaders of local centres are grihastas. Is it better if they are brahmacaris?

No, that doesn't make any difference. If a grihastha is qualified, then why should he not be a leader? A leader is not appointed on the basis of the ashram he belongs to. A leader is appointed on the basis of his qualification.

So what is more preferable for brahmachari, to stay in one place or to preach traveling?

Well, brahmacharis, even when they stay in one place, they go out in the daytime distributing books. So they travel from one spot to another spot in the same city. And in the West, our temples have sankirtan vans that go traveling from one city to another city for months and months. Our Bombay temple has 7 vans. The brahmacharis go on the road for months and months distributing books. But you can see what is practical. Like in Soviet Union, you may not have book distribution vans, But in each city you have a brahmachari ashram and devotees go out preaching. So that is also the same.

From the history we know that very many devotees passed through the grihastha ashram. For example, Śrīla Prabhupāda, even Lokānāma Mahārāja, and so on. But doesn't it mean that it is better to pass through the grihastha ashram in order to avoid any problems in future, to know what does it mean? Grihastha ashram.

Well, we did not say that to pass to grihastha ashram is bad. All that we are saying is that if you are in the brahmachari ashram, be a strict brahmachari. And if you can avoid entering the grihastha ashram, there's no problem. We should not compare ourselves to Prabhupada and Caitanya Mahāprabhu because we can never be like them.

So I want to ask, who is the brahmachari? Only the person who was never married before, or also the person who was divorced and now live alone?

It's a good technical question. Well, technically the brahmachari means one who is celibate. So if somebody is separated from his family and is living like a celibate, so he is also like brahmachari.

What about the grihastha who might be living family but celibate? Yeah, can be.

Yes, he is a real grihastha. Because earlier I explained the difference between grihastha life and grihamedhi life. So even in the grihastha ashram one is supposed to follow celibacy. Sex life in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is only to produce children for God. And that too it is very restricted. In Bhāgavad-gītā Kṛṣṇa says, "I also become sex life that is not contrary to religious principles." So when sex is used just to produce children for God, according to direction of Guru Sadhu Shastra, then it is religious sex life. Otherwise it is irreligious sex life.

Technical question about loss of semen in the night. What is the reason of it and how it can create troubles on the spiritual path?

Generally you lose semen because of impure desires in the daytime. For spiritual advancement, you must preserve semen. The more semen you preserve, the stronger will be your spiritual life. Behind every drop of semen that is lost, ounces of blood are lost. Prabhupada used to give the example of Mahatma Gandhi. Mahatma Gandhi used to boast that Mahatma Gandhi had given up sex life, and by giving up sex life, he became so powerful that Prabhupada said he drove all the Britishers out of India. So by controlling semen you become a powerful yogi.

For example, some people in the North, they must eat meat, for example. Does it mean that for them there is no any possibility to become Kṛṣṇa conscious?

If you can only eat meat, if there is absolutely no other food available in that area. But in 99.9% of the situations you can easily avoid meat. Doesn't matter where you live today, because of rapid communication vegetables and fruits are available. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna.