Page 34 - BIKC - Eng

16 BRAHMACARYA IN KÅÑËA CONSCIOUSNESS

speak with women or sometimes discuss something with them is
unavoidable. If at all possible mold your life in such a way that you
don’t normally have to have any dealings with women—the
tendency should be toward zero dealings.
Brahmacärés should avoid physically touching women, for to
do so even accidentally will agitate the mind. Keep at least far
enough away so that there is not even a possibility of brushing
against a woman’s clothing; and preferably further still. Lord
Caitanya, even in His householder life, would stand well to the side
if He saw a woman approaching on the path. Nor did He joke with
women. Brahmacärés should follow the Lord’s example.
The eyes have a tendency to stray toward women, but this
should be given up. When a man looks at a woman, then Cupid
(Kämadeva), standing nearby with his flower-bow, immediately
shoots an arrow called Mohana (meaning infatuation, delusion, or
folly) which causes the man to be fascinated by the female form.
After this preliminary bewilderment, Cupid sends a further four
arrows, namely: Stambhana, which stuns the man and causes him
to forget all else; Unmädana, which causes him to be as if
intoxicated; Çoñaëa, which causes intense attraction; and Täpana,
which deeply pierces the heart and causes it to burn.
Hardly anyone in the three worlds has the power to resist the
influence of these arrows. Mäyä is so strong that even in the midst
of an enlivening kértana, a devotee engaged in chanting the pure
names of the Supreme Lord may become attracted upon seeing
the form of the opposite sex (especially a dancing form). Therefore
a brahmacäré should practice not looking at women, and should
especially never see a woman dressing, combing her hair, running,
playing sports, sleeping, bathing, undressed or partially dressed.
Never trust the mind. The mind will tell us, “I can speak to this
woman, I won’t get agitated,” “She is only a child,” or, “She is
much older than me, so no problem,” or “She is the chaste wife of
so and so,” or, “Anyway, I know the philosophy, I’m not going to
speak to her for long, it’s important, and I’m not going to fall
down.” But çästra states that, what to speak of lusty rascals brought
up in the modern sex-centered so-called civilization, even learned