letter from Krsna Nama dasa

[Guest guest]

> Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

>

> > Could you explain me why association with men attached to women is more

> > dangerous than association with women?

>

> I have heard it explained that because it is not so obvious that

> association with men attached to women is also dangerous that one might

> liberally associate with such men and develop attachment to women in that

> way, whereas it is obvious that association with women themselves is bad

> for a brahmacari, and so a conscientious brahmacari will be inclined to

> avoid such association and thus avoid developing such an attachment.

>

> I do not recall the reference for this explanation. Does anyone know?

 

By the grace of Krishna, I found the reference in the course of my daily

reading of the Bhagavatam. It occurs in the Uddhava-gita section where Lord

Krishna is explaining the process of attaining perfection to Uddhava:

 

SB 11.14.30

na tathasya bhavet kleso

bandhas canya-prasangatah

yosit-sangad yatha pumso

yatha tat-sangi-sangatah

 

TRANSLATION

Of all kinds of suffering and bondage arising from various attachments, none

is greater than the suffering and bondage arising from attachment to women

and intimate contact with those attached to women.

PURPORT

One should make a great endeavor to give up intimate contact with women and

those fond of women. A learned gentleman will automatically be on guard if

placed in intimate contact with lusty women. In the company of lusty men,

however, the same man may engage in all kinds of social dealings and thus be

contaminated by their polluted mentality. Association with lusty men is

often more dangerous than association with women and should be avoided by

all means. There are innumerable verses in the Bhagavatam describing the

intoxication of material lust. Suffice it to say that a lusty man becomes

exactly like a dancing dog and, by the influence of Cupid, loses all

gravity, intelligence and direction in life. The Lord warns here that one

who surrenders to the illusory form of a woman suffers unbearably in this

life and the next.

 

This verse is very similar to another by Lord Kapila earlier in the

Bhagavatam. Actually the only difference is the use of the word "moho"

(infatuation) instead of "kleso" (suffering):

 

SB 3.31.35

na tathasya bhavet moho

bandhas canya-prasangatah

yosit-sangad yatha pumso

yatha tat-sangi-sangatah

 

TRANSLATION

The infatuation and bondage which accrue to a man from attachment to any

other object is not as complete as that resulting from attachment to a woman

or to the fellowship of men who are fond of women.

PURPORT

Attachment to women is so contaminating that one becomes attached to the

condition of material life not only by the association of women but by the

contaminated association of persons who are too attached to them. There are

many reasons for our conditional life in the material world, but the topmost

of all such causes is the association of women, as will be confirmed in the

following stanzas.

In Kali-yuga, association with women is very strong. In every step of life,

there is association with women. If a person goes to purchase something, the

advertisements are full of pictures of women. The physiological attraction

for women is very great, and therefore people are very slack in spiritual

understanding. The Vedic civilization, being based on spiritual

understanding, arranges association with women very cautiously. Out of the

four social divisions, the members of the first order (namely brahmacarya),

the third order (vanaprastha) and the fourth order (sannyasa) are strictly

prohibited from female association. Only in one order, the householder, is

there license to mix with women under restricted conditions. In other words,

attraction for woman's association is the cause of the material conditional

life, and anyone interested in being freed from this conditional life must

detach himself from the association of women.

 

your servant,

 

Krsna-krpa dasa

moderator