Guest (1): ... I don't believe that that's the truth there. I don't believe that is the truth. Get out of here!
Guest (2): Talk louder!
Prabhupāda: What does he say? (chuckles) (devotees laugh nervously)
Guest (1): I'm talking about sex...
Revatīnandana: Says he's talking about death.
Girl: Why don't you get up here and say it?
Viśvareta: Prabhupāda, he says he wants to have sex more than once a month.
Prabhupāda: Hm?
Viśvareta: The man says he wants to have sex life more than once a month.
Prabhupāda: No... He's creating disturbance. (pause) So as this man is talking about sex, so this world's, material world, is enchanted by sex. That is material world. Striya, puṁsāṁ striya mithuni-bhāvam etad. This whole material world is existing on sex attraction. Not only in the human society, in animal society also, this sex impulse is there. Birds, beasts, animal, human being, even demigods, they are attracted in this material world by sex impulse. The śāstra, or the Vedic literature, there is mention about this, that we are in this material world only for this sex impulse. First of all, we think of sex. A man also thinks. A woman also thinks. And when they are united, that attraction becomes more and more complete. Then, in a gentlemanly way, when there is sex unity, then there is need of a nice apartment or house. Then there is need of land. Formerly, for living condition, everyone possessed some land to grow foodstuff. Ataḥ gṛha-kṣetra-sutāpta-vittaiḥ. So after sex unity, there is need of house, land, gṛha, kṣetra, then children, ataḥ gṛha-kṣetra-suta, āpta. Then friends. Then vitta, then money. In this way, we increase our attachment for this material world. Janasya moho 'yam. Moha means illusion. In this way, he becomes illusioned. Ahaṁ mameti: (SB 5.5.8) "I" and "mine." Here, the real problem is we want to get out of this material conditional life. We are spirit soul. We are not matter. But in order to enjoy this material world we have come here. Every one of us who is existing within this material world has a desire to lord it over the material nature. It is said when a living entity, a part and parcel of God, he desires independently to enjoy or to lord it over the material nature, he comes down from the spiritual world to this material world. That is the cause of his falldown.
- kṛṣṇa bhuliya jīva bhoga vāñchā kare
- pāśate māyā tāre jāpaṭiyā dhare
Māyā means the illusory energy, where we want to enjoy, but it is not actual enjoyment. It is illusion. So the sex life in this material world is the center of this attraction.
So our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is how to get the living out..., living entity out of this material entanglement. Because real happiness is not sensual happiness. Real happiness is above the senses. It is supramental sense, or spiritual sense. With the gross senses, what we enjoy, that is temporary. It is not permanent. Permanent enjoyment is transcendental sense enjoyment. There is in the Vedic literature a verse:
- ramante yoginaḥ anante
- satyānanda cid-ātmani
- iti rāma-padenāsau
- paraṁ brahmābhidhīyate
- (CC Madhya 9.29)
Yoginaḥ, those who are yogis... Yogis means those who are trying to reawaken Kṛṣṇa consciousness. He's called yogi. Our present consciousness is material consciousness. The material consciousness, the sex urge is very strong. Yan maithunādi-gṛhamedhi-sukhaṁ hi tuccham (SB 7.9.45). It is said in the śāstra that the gṛhamedhi, those who are attracted by this material world, their center of enjoyment is sex. Yan maithunādi-gṛhamedhi-sukhaṁ hi tucchaṁ kaṇḍūyanena karayor iva duḥkha-duḥkham. This sex urge is a, a sort of itching sensation. Kaṇḍūyanenam. Tṛpyanti neha kṛpaṇā bahu-duḥkha-bhājaḥ. By satisfying this itching sensation, he becomes entrapped in so many ways. So many ways. That's a fact. Apart from those who are enjoying illicit sex, even those who are enjoying sex in regulated principles, they are also entrapped. Take, for example, one regular householder. In your country, it is different social situation, but in our country, in India, a family life is a great responsibility. The father and mother has to take full responsibility for education of the children, grow up nicely, and the father, mother is under obligation to get the boys and the girls married. Unless the children are married, the father's or the mother's responsibility continues. That is our social system, at least in India, those who are following Vedic principles of life. Especially for getting married the daughter, it is called kanyā dāya. Pitṛ-ṛṇa putra-ṛṇa matṛ-ṛṇa. We have got so many debts to clear. This is responsibility. Devarṣi-bhūtāpta-nṛṇāṁ pitṟṇām (SB 11.5.41). We are indebted to the demigods. Just like sun is one of the demigods. We are getting, enjoying the sunshine. We are indebted to him. This is responsibility. Suppose if you take electricity, light, you are responsible for paying the bill. Similarly, you are taking so much advantage of the sunlight. You are also obliged to pay the debts, repay the debts. Deva ṛṣi. Ṛṣi means those who have given us the Vedic literature. Just like Nārada Muni, Vyāsadeva, they have given us... Vyāsadeva given us immense literature. Immense literature. He has written Mahābhārata. He has written the eighteen purāṇas. One of the purāṇas is the Bhāgavata Purāṇa. And he has written the Upaniṣads. Then he has compiled the Vedānta-sūtra. And each and every book, there are innumerable verses. In Mahābhārata there are 100,000's of verses. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 18,000 verses. And if you study one verse, it will take at least one week to understand. So grave thoughts. So therefore, we are reading all these Vedic literatures. Certainly, we are indebted to them.
So we are indebted to the demigods. Just like the sun-god, the moon-god, the Indra. Indra is supplying us water. Of course, in your country, there is no such conception. But the Vedic knowledge gives us full information how water is being supplied, how light is being supplied, how air is being supplied by the arrangement of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Don't take it irresponsibly. Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, has arranged so many things. Just like in your city there is department of water supply, there is department of light supply, there is depart..., different departments, similarly, in the kingdom of God there are departments. But because we are foolish, we do not know how the departments are being conducted. So we are not paying any bills. The bills are paid, according to the Vedic injunction, by performing sacrifices. So in this way, our point is sex life, that, the, a gṛhastha, a householder, he has got debts towards his parents, towards his father, towards his mother, towards his wife, towards his children. The society should be human society, not the cats' and dogs' society. That is Vedic conception. So in the Vedic conception of life the sex life is there, but you become indebted. You must repay the debts. If you simply beget children like cats and dogs and go away, then you become responsible for the sinful activities. You must take responsible. So this man was suggesting, he wants sex life at least once in a month. Yes, that is allowed. That is allowed in the Vedic civilization. When the wife is in menstrual period, after five days of the menstrual period, the wife and husband can have sex life for begetting rightful children. And before be getting a child, one must go... If he is in the higher orders of society, one must accept the garbhādhāna-saṁskāra. Garbhādhāna-saṁskāra means that child born out of the sex life of the father and mother must come out a very nice child, not like the cat and dog. That is called garbhādhāna-saṁskāra. Those who are in the higher position of the society, they are obliged to observe ten kinds of purificatory processes, out of which, the first purificatory process is garbhādhāna-saṁskāra. So the parents, when they take to sex life for begetting nice children, there is garbhādhāna-saṁskāra, and if one does not observe this garbhādhāna-saṁskāra, he immediately falls down to the group of śūdra from brahminical position. These are the injunctions in the Vedic literature. Sex life is not denied, but one must take responsibility for sex life; otherwise, he becomes entangled in so many sinful activities.
Because here in the material world, everyone is a criminal. Just like in the prison house, when a criminal is there, in every state there is law. He cannot violate the laws of the prison house. Similarly, here also, in this material world, who have come here to enjoy... There is no enjoyment. There is simply suffering. But we take sufferings as enjoyment. That is called illusion. Anyway, the Vedic principle has allowed everything. Because here we have come to enjoy so-called sense gratification. That is illusion. So there is regulated principle. You can have sex life once in a month. That is prescribed. Because the woman has once in a month menstrual period. So sex life is meant for simply begetting nice children, not for sense gratification. Therefore, because the woman is, gets the menstrual period once in a month, therefore the man can have sex life just after the menstrual period, over, after five days, he can sex life, have sex life with his wife under garbhādhāna-saṁskāra, responsibility. Otherwise he becomes implicated in sinful activities. That is Vedic injunction. So sex life is not denied. Just like in our society, the boys and girls, they come to our society, and as far as possible, we get them married. We don't allow to live, the boys and girls and friends, like friends. No. That is a great sinful activity. So nothing is denied. The problem of life is eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. So everything is there, but in a regulated form. In regulated form so that the world may not become hell. If it is irregulated form, then the whole world will be hell. It is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, narakāya varṇa-saṅkaraḥ. When we produce unwanted children, the whole world becomes just like hell. It is going to happen like that at the present moment. The sex life is not denied. The point is discussed because it was raised. Sex life is not denied, but in a regulated form so that you can get nice population, you can live very happily. Not that you produce unwanted children and they turn out rogues, thieves and drunkards, like that. That is not allowed. You must produce nice children. For that purpose, sex life is allowed. And especially in this age, at the present moment, if you can produce children to become Kṛṣṇa conscious, that will be a great service to the Lord. Because we want now Kṛṣṇa conscious population. Otherwise this world is going to hell. That's a fact. We are dwindling, liquidation. There were great empires like Roman empire, Greece empire, Carthaginian empire and, later on, Moghul empires, British empire. So many empires there were. There was Hitler. There was Mussolini. There was Napoleon. So these powerful emperors or men came and gone. Their name is only there, and nothing is remaining.