In the Vedic civilization two things are very much stressed: to teach the man from childhood how to become expert in sad-ācāra, and woman trained up how to become chaste. So this chaste woman and this sad-ācāra, brāhmaṇa—ideal is brāhmaṇa —if they combine then there will be peace, there will be progress, there will be peace in the society, peace in the family. There is a poetry in English, "Society, friendship and love, divinely bestowed upon you." But that society is not this society. If we become husband of the prostitute, no, that is not possible. Then sad-ācāra will be finished. Nāmnā sad-ācāra. Dāsyāḥ saṁsarga-dūṣitaḥ (SB 6.1.21): as soon as you become associated with prostitute, then everything will be lost. Sad-ācāra lost means your progress in spiritual life is lost. Therefore we are stressing so much on the four points: no illicit sex, no meat-eating, no intoxication, no gambling. This is the way. If you are serious . . . but if you take it as a fashion, that is another thing. But if you take it seriously, to progress, then these things should be done. This is the basic principle of spiritual progress.
Otherwise we shall learn, bandy-akṣaiḥ kaitavaiś cauryair garhitāṁ vṛttim āsthitaḥ, bibhrat kuṭumbam . . . bibhrat kuṭumbam aśucir (SB 6.1.22). Aśuci, aśuci. Aśuci means unclean. Peaceful life means purification. So if you purify and again become unclean, that we have discussed hasti-snāna, the elephant. Elephant takes bath very nicely, and as soon as come on the shore, take some dust and throw on. Kuñjara śaucavat. Parīkṣit Mahārāja said that "What is this cleaning?"
But without cleaning, your life is spoiled. If you don't clean your life, then you'll have to accept another body according to karma. We have to accept. But the whole human mission is to stop this repetition of birth. They do not know. There is no science, there is no philosophy, there is no education throughout the whole world that the aim of life is to stop these four things: birth, death, old age and disease. They cannot think of. Yes? Birth can be stopped? They cannot think of. They're trying in a different way—contraceptive method or killing the child. That is not the way of stoppage. No. Nature's law is so strong that if you kill the child in the womb then you'll be also killed. You'll be also killed. "Tit for tat." There is no escape.