Morning Walk Conversation
with His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
September 6, 1975, Vrndavana

Prabhupada: Brahmacarya. Brahmacarya means completely cessation from sex life. This is brahmacarya. Tapasya begins, austerity. This is the greatest austerity, to cease sex. Tapasa brahmacarya. Our Vedic civilization, the boys are trained how to become brahmacari from the very beginning of life.

Indian: (Hindi)

Prabhupada: Ha. [break] … putraka yena suddhyet sattva. Our existentional position should be purified. How? Tapo, by tapasya. Tapo divyam putraka yena suddhyet sattva. “And we are enjoying life. Why we should undergo tapasya?” And you are enjoying, but you are not enjoying; you are suffering. Even if you think you are enjoying, there are so many sufferings. That the foolish people, they do not know. Just like a healthy man, he thinks, “I am enjoying,” but he does not see that even he is now healthy, he will be an old man, he will be attacked with disease, he will die, and still he thinks, “I am healthy.” Janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi-duhkha-dosanudarsanam. Therefore the intelligent man will see that “Where is my enjoyment if I am going to die? I don’t want to die, but I am going to die.” That is sure, as sure as anything. And still the rascal will think that “I am happy.” He will become old man, he will be attacked with disease, and still he is thinking that he is happy. Apart from this, there are so many other sufferings, but he thinks that he is happy. And that happiness is centered around sex. That’s all. Yan maithunadi-grhamedhi-sukham hi tuccham [SB 7.9.45]. Their only happiness is sex. Therefore in the Western countries they are simply trying to increase the sex enjoyment. That’s all. Is it not?

Devotees: Yes.

Prabhupada: The whole civilization is based on how to enjoy sex very nicely. This is their basic principle of civilization.

Brahmananda: Always on the best-seller charts of the books there is always some book about how to enjoy sex.

Prabhupada: Just see. There are books here also, Kama-sastra. So sex enjoyment also you cannot enjoy unlimitedly. Then you will become impotent. Then you will have to call your wife as “mother,” as some saintly person did. He was indulging in sex in his young age, and when he was married he saw himself impotent, and therefore he invented some way that “I have realized Brahman. I can call my wife also ‘mother.’ ” And he became famous—“Oh, he is so advanced. He has learned how to…” But in the history we will not find this. Even Vyasadeva had his wife, but he never said his wife, “mother.”

Brahmananda: Actually you’re supposed to see other women as mother.

Prabhupada: Yes.

Brahmananda: But not one’s own wife.

Prabhupada: No. Para-daresu. Matravat para-daresu. That is the injunction of the sas… Other’s wife. Not that “Oh, my wife is also my mother.” Just see. This lunacy is going on, and this lunatic man is taken as incarnation of God. This is going on. This homosex propaganda is another side of impotency. So that is natural. If you enjoy too much, then you become impotent.

Brahmananda: They are trying to make that more and more accepted in America, homosex.

Prabhupada: Yes. The churches accept. It is already law.

Nitai: This women’s liberation movement, the leaders are also homosexual. They’re lesbians.

Prabhupada: (laughs) Just see. Hare Krsna. The whole world is on the verge of ruination. Kali-yuga. [break]

Brahmananda: …become ruined. The world is on the verge of ruination, but it doesn’t become ruined; so therefore they think, “Oh, it doesn’t matter. We can go on.”

Prabhupada: They do not know what is the meaning of ruination. [break] …so many problems. Still it is not on the verge of ruination?

Brahmananda: It’s on the verge.

Prabhupada: That’s all right. But why you are very much disturbed with so many problems?

Dhananjaya : They always take the brighter side.

Prabhupada: No. They are discussing, “There will be no more petrol. There will be no more this, no more that.”

Brahmananda: So they are thinking, “Well, then we’ll get the sun power. Then we’ll get this and we’ll get that.”

Prabhupada: Well, that is the problem. It is not that “Theoretically here is a problem. I will solve it like this. I’ll…” That is not solution of problem. Problem is there. When you actually make solution, then… This is madness, theorizing, “We shall solve the problem like this.” They are wasting public money in so many ways. [break] They do not know what is real problem. The real problem is presented by Krsna: janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi. That they do not care, although they do not want it. That’s a fact. It is a problem because they do not want it. But they do not take it as serious problem. This is foolishness.

Brahmananda: President Ford, he was almost killed.

Prabhupada: Accha? What about?

Brahmananda: Some woman… He was mingling in the crowd for the election, and some woman came up to him. She was two feet away from him, and she took out of her purse a loaded pistol, and she was to go like this, and then she was…

Prabhupada: Captured.

Brahmananda: Yes.

Nayanabhirama: He was going to shake her hand.

Prabhupada: Just see.

Brahmananda: So the president said, “Oh, this is simply a distraction.” He was trying to say it wasn’t important.

Prabhupada: What was the cause?

Brahmananda: She is a member of a group, a fanatical group in California. I don’t know what… The Manson group? Charles Manson? Who is that group? This man killed about six people.

Prabhupada: Prominent.

Brahmananda: And I think this man has many wives. He has about two dozen wives. These are all his wives. He’s in jail now. Life sentence. [break]

Prabhupada: There is no problem.

Brahmananda: Yes. He was saying, “Oh, it’s just a distraction.” [break]

Prabhupada: …the President’s life is not safe, and there is no problem. What to speak of others.

Dhananjaya: An intelligent man will go completely insane because he can’t solve the problems…

Prabhupada: The solution is there.

Dhananjaya: …without referring to the Vedic philosophy.

Prabhupada: The solution is there. Take it. Take Krsna consciousness.

Dhananjaya: They’re so much implicated by sex life.

Prabhupada: Yes. Gradually they’ll become … understand that this is not good. Therefore grhastha asrama is allowed under rules and regulation. The purpose is to restrict sex life.

Brahmananda: The wife of the President, she recently said that sex life before marriage is good because it will reduce the divorce rate.

Prabhupada: Yes. If everyone is prostitute then where is the question of divorce? (laughter)

Nitai: There’s also no question of marriage.

Prabhupada: Yes. And that is going on. (end)