Some so-called Vaiṣṇavas
advocate that one can indulge in sense enjoyment, or in even sinful activities,
and at the same time advance in devotional service, as if there were no
relation between both things. In this regard, in his Nāmārtha-sudhā
commentary on the Viṣṇu-sahasra-nāma (our upcoming publication), Gauḍīya-vedāntācārya
Śrī Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa has the following to say:
viṣayāsaktān prati
gūḍhatvāt saṁvṛtaḥ|
“Lord Viṣṇu is
known as Saṁvṛta (concealed) because He is hidden from those
attached to sense enjoyment.” (verse 38)
cakravartī san kāmaṁ
bhogābhilāṣaṁ kṛntatīti kāma-kṛt|
“Kāma-kṛt— He Who, while being
emperor Ṛṣabhadeva, cuts off (kṛt) the desire (kāma) for sense enjoyment.”
mumukṣūṇāṁ kāmaṁ
bhogābhilāṣaṁ pradyatīti kāma-pradaḥ|
“Kāma-prada— He Who destroys
(pradyati) the desire (kāma) for sense enjoyment of those who aspire for
liberation.” (verse 45)
adhaḥ-kṛtam akṣajam indriya-sukhaṁ yena sa tathety anye|
"Others say that Adhokṣaja means 'He by Whom sensual pleasure (akṣaja) is despised (adhaḥ-kṛta).'” (verse 57)
Some frantic proselytes even
try to justify their claims by giving the pastimes of the Supreme Lord as
examples of how sense indulgence is all right. Not to speak of Epicureans, centuries
ago, some followers of Mīmāṁsā propounded similar hedonistic ideas to
corroborate their view that sense enjoyment is the highest goal, since, according
to them, even Lord Hari is attached to women and so on. In response, Śrī Vidyābhūṣaṇa
speaks as follows:
ucyate — pāmaraṁ bravīṣi viṣaya-rasiko
viśuddhānandānabhijñaḥ| asti hi vaiṣayikātirikta-sukha-sampat| sukham aham asvāpsaṁ
na kiñcid avediṣam iti śruteḥ| iha hi suṣupti-sukhaṁ nirviṣayaṁ pratīyate sārva-laukikaṁ
caitat| evaṁ ca jīvasyāṇu-bhūtasyājanya-sukha-rūpatve siddhe vibhor bhagavatas
tu tādṛśa-vipula-sukha-rūpatvaṁ sidhyati| yo vai bhūmā tat-sukham iti, ānando
brahmeti vyajānād iti ca śrutis tathāha| kiṁ ca vaiṣayikaṁ nāma sukham
indriyair viṣaya-grahe’bhiniṣpadyate tad-agrahe vinaśyatīti sarvānubhūtam|
bhagavad-rūpaṁ sukhaṁ tu viṣaya-tyāge’bhivyajyate tat-parigrahe tirobhavatīti|
nāvirato duścaritān nāśānto nāsamāhitaḥ| nāśānta-mānaso vāpi prajñānenainam āpnuyād
ity-ādi-śruteḥ| viṣayāviṣṭa-cittānāṁ viṣṇv-āveśaḥ sudūrataḥ| vāruṇī-dig-gataṁ
vastu vrajann aindrīṁ kim āpnuyād ity-ādi-smṛteś ca|| (Siddhānta-ratnam,
1.56)
“If someone says so, we reply that being ignorant of pure transcendental bliss and addicted to sense enjoyment, you are speaking foolishly. There is certainly higher happiness beyond sense enjoyment. As it is heard from the scriptures: sukham aham asvāpsaṁ na kiñcid avediṣam, [1] ‘I slept happily and was not aware of anything.’ Here it is acknowledged that during deep sleep there is indeed happiness without any sense object, and this is commonly known to everyone. Being proved in this way that the atomic living entity has causeless happiness, it is proved that the all-pervasive Supreme Lord has abundant causeless happiness. It is similarly stated by the śruti: yo vai bhūmā tat sukham (Chāndogya Upaniṣad, 7.23.1), ‘Bhūmā, the Supreme Lord, is happiness itself;’ ānando brahmeti vyajānāt (Taittirīya Upaniṣad, 3.6.1), ‘Bhṛgu realized that the Supreme Lord is bliss.’ Moreover, everyone has experience that sensual pleasure appears when the senses perceive the sense objects and disappears when there is no perception. However, the happiness in the form of the Supreme Lord becomes manifest when sense enjoyment is given up and disappears when sense enjoyment is taken up. As corroborated by the Kaṭha Upaniṣad (1.2.24): nāvirato duścaritān nāśānto nāsamāhitaḥ, nāśānta-mānaso vāpi prajñānenainam āpnuyāt, ‘One who does not refrain from forbidden activities, whose external senses are not controlled, who is not concentrated, or whose internal senses are not controlled, cannot attain the Supreme Soul by knowledge.’ The smṛti also confirms: viṣayāviṣṭa-cittānāṁ viṣṇv-āveśaḥ sudūrataḥ, vāruṇī-dig-gataṁ vastu vrajann aindrīṁ kim āpnuyāt,[2] ‘Absorption in Lord Viṣṇu is far away for those whose minds are absorbed in sense enjoyment. Can someone going towards the eastern side find something that was lost in the western side?’”
As for those who
recklessly indulge and promote sexual indulgence and at the same time fancy
themselves as Vaiṣṇavas, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (2.6.20) gives the final
word on the matter:
pādās trayo bahiś
cāsann aprajānāṁ ya āśramāḥ
antas tri-lokyās tv
aparo gṛha-medho’bṛhad-vrataḥ
“The spiritual
world, which consists of three fourths of the Lord's energy, is situated beyond
this material world, and it is especially meant for those who will never be
reborn. Others, who are attached to family life and who do not strictly follow
celibacy vows, must live within the three material worlds.”
Purport by Bhaktivedānta Svāmī
Prabhupāda
“The climax of the system of
varṇāśrama-dharma, or sanātana-dharma, is clearly expressed here in this
particular verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The highest benefit that can be awarded
to a human being is to train him to be detached from sex life, particularly
because it is only due to sex indulgence that the conditioned life of material
existence continues birth after birth. Human civilization in which there is no control of sex
life is a fourth-class civilization because in such an atmosphere there is no
liberation of the soul encaged in the material body. Birth, death, old
age and disease are related to the material body, and they have nothing to do
with the spirit soul. But
as long as the bodily attachment for sensual enjoyment is encouraged, the
individual spirit soul is forced to continue the repetition of birth and death
on account of the material body, which is compared to garments subjected to the
law of deterioration.
(…) Any form of religious
principles in which the followers are trained to pursue the vow of celibacy is
good for the human being because only those who are trained in that way can end the miserable life of
material existence. (…) For promotion to the highest status of
perfection, namely freedom from birth and death, anxiety and fearfulness, not one of these processes
allows the follower to break the vow of celibacy.
The householders and persons who have deliberately broken the
vow of celibacy cannot enter into the kingdom of deathlessness. The pious
householders or the fallen yogīs or the fallen transcendentalists can be
promoted to the higher planets within the material world (one fourth of the
energy of the Lord), but they
will fail to enter into the kingdom of deathlessness. Abṛhad-vratas are
those who have broken the vow of celibacy. (..)
For a transcendentalist, therefore, who at all wants to be
promoted to the kingdom beyond material miseries, it is worse than suicide to deliberately indulge in sex
life, especially in the renounced order of life.(…)”
"Spiritual life means sense control."
>>> Ref. VedaBase => Room Conversation -- October 21, 1977, Vrndavana
