- suśīlo mita-bhug dakṣaḥ
- śraddadhāno jitendriyaḥ
- yāvad-arthaṁ vyavaharet
- strīṣu strī-nirjiteṣu ca
- (SB 7.12.6)
So now, actually behavior, the first thing is suśīla, very well behaved, gentle. Śīla means behavior, and su means very good. Suśīlo mita-bhuk. This can be attained only when one practices eating whatever is absolutely necessary; not eating more. This is also enjoined by Rūpa Gosvāmī: atyāhāraḥ prayāsaś ca prajalpo niyamāgrahaḥ (NOI 2). Atyāhāra, eating more than necessity, is condemned everywhere. Spiritual life means reducing eating, sleeping, mating and defending. That is spiritual life. Nidrāhāra-vihārakādi-vijitau (Śaḍ Goswāmi Aṣṭaka 6). The Rūpa Gosvāmī and other six Gosvāmīs, they conquered over these things, nidrā-āhāra. So a brahmacārī should not eat anything except prasādam, that also when he is called by the spiritual master, "You can come and eat." This we have discussed.
So mita-bhuk. We shall be very, very cautious about eating. And dakṣaḥ. Dakṣaḥ means active, not lazy, sleeping. This is not good. Nidrāhāra-vihāra. Everyone has to conquer over sleeping, so that is called dakṣaḥ. And dakṣaḥ means expert. Whatever business is entrusted to him, he does it very nicely, dakṣa. Just like Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, he was no . . . had no interest in material things. His father's estate was very big, and he was not interested. But at a time when there was a political situation, he tackled it very nicely. This is the example of dakṣa. There was some political controversy between Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī's father's uncle, father, uncle, and the government minister. So the minister, in order to take advantage, he came to arrest Raghunātha Gosvāmī's father and uncle, and they fled away from the house. So the minister arrested Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, the son, because if he was chastised, he'll disclose the secret where his father and uncle has fled. And so Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī—it is a long story—tackled the situation so nicely that there was peace between the minister and his father and uncle, and the misunderstanding was settled up. So this is called dakṣa. Not that because he has become Kṛṣṇa conscious, and Vaiṣṇava, he is unable to do anything of this material world. No. One who is Kṛṣṇa conscious, he is conscious of everything and he knows how to deal with them. That is called dakṣa. Not that "Because I have become Kṛṣṇa conscious I have no knowledge in other things." No. Every . . . You must have, if not complete, to know something of everything. That is intelligence, to know something of everything and to know everything of something. That is wanted. You may be expert, a devotee. You know everything of devotional service, but you should not be callous. You know something of everything. That is called dakṣa.