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14          BRAHMACARYA IN KÅÑËA CONSCIOUSNESS

          absence of their real mother would look after the boys. Even then
          there were restrictions, especially after the boys reached puberty
          and if the wife was young. Brahmacärés would not even see any
          young woman for the first twenty-five years of their lives. 36
          Vänaprasthas kept the company of their aging wives, under strict
          vows, but for sannyäsés, association with women was meant to be
          zero. Even gåhasthas were only allowed limited association. Free
          mixing with women was only for çüdras and outcastes (i.e., those
          with no higher values of life).
              For those interested in spiritual advancement, association with
          women must be restricted to the minimum. In the presence of a
          woman, the consciousness of a man changes. Even if several
          serious brahmacärés are present in a room, and a chaste devotee
          woman enters for some reason, the mentality of the men
          consciously or unconsciously will change. They will become self-
          conscious in their words and actions. So, even having
          philosophically accepted that we are all spirit souls, and even if we
          want to be liberal and forget the formalities and relate to women
          on a person-to-person basis, the çästra forbids us to do so.
              “As long as a living entity is not completely self-realized—as
          long as he is not independent of the misconception of identifying
          with his body, which is nothing but a reflection of the original body
          and senses—he cannot be relieved of the conception of duality,
          which is epitomized by the duality between man and woman. Thus
          there is every chance that he will fall down because his intelligence
          is bewildered.” 37
              In the purport to this verse, Çréla Prabhupäda elaborates:
          “One must realize perfectly that the living being is a spirit soul and
          is tasting various types of material bodies. One may theoretically
          understand this, but when one has practical realization, then he
          becomes a paëòita, one who knows. Until that time, the duality
          continues, and the conception of man and woman also continues.
          In this stage, one should be very careful in mixing with women. No
          one should think himself perfect and forget the çästric injunction
          that one should be careful about associating even with his
          daughter, mother, or sister, not to speak of other women.”
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