Page 32 - BIKC - Eng

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.”