Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 11.17.33
Manvantara· The Manus and right dutyProtect Celibacy Through Careful Association
“Those who are not married — sannyāsīs, vānaprasthas and brahmacārīs — should never associate with women by glancing, touching, conversing, joking or sporting. Neither should they ever associate with any living entity engaged in sexual activities.”
What the purport teaches
- For sannyāsīs, vānaprasthas and brahmacārīs, the verse prescribes avoiding association with women through glancing, touching, conversing, joking or sporting.
- Those practicing celibacy should avoid sexually stimulating entertainment and should not watch any living entity engaged in sexual activity. The purport includes birds, insects and human beings in this restriction.
- The purport warns that joking can create an intimate, sexually charged atmosphere. Even a householder attached to such activities can fall into the darkness of ignorance.
Try this today
Avoid one sexually stimulating book, song or film today.
Ask yourself
Which entertainment choices make it harder for you to maintain your intended restraint?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
From Canto 10, chapter 14 onward, the translation and purports were completed by Śrīla Prabhupāda's disciples after his departure, and published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.