Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 11.17.33

strīnām nirīkshana-sparśa-

samlāpa-kshvelanādikam

prānino mithunī-bhūtān

agrihastho 'gratas tyajet

SYNONYMS

strīnām — in relation to women; nirīkshana — glancing; sparśa — touching; samlāpa — conversing; kshvelana — joking or sporting; ādikam — and so on; prāninah — living entities; mithunī-bhūtān — engaged in sex; agriha-sthah — a sannyāsī, vānaprastha or brahmacārī; agratah — first of all; tyajet — should give up.

TRANSLATION

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.

PURPORT

Prāninah indicates all living entities, whether birds, bees or human beings. Among most species of life, sexual intercourse is preceded by diverse mating rituals. In human society, all types of entertainment (books, music, films) and all places of amusement (restaurants, shopping centers, resorts) are designed to stimulate the sexual urge and create an aura of "romance." One who is not married — a sannyāsī, brahmacārī or vānaprastha — should rigidly avoid anything related to sex and of course should never see any living entity, whether bird, insect or human, engaging in the various phases of sexual intercourse. When a man jokes with a woman, an intimate, sexually-charged atmosphere is immediately created, and this should also be avoided for those aspiring to practice celibacy. Even a householder who becomes attached to such activities will also fall down into the darkness of ignorance.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
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