SB 3.14.20
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT 20
- yām āśrityendriyārātīn
- durjayān itarāśramaiḥ
- vayaṁ jayema helābhir
- dasyūn durga-patir yathā
SYNONYMS
yām — whom; āśritya — taking shelter of; indriya — senses; arātīn — enemies; durjayān — difficult to conquer; itara — other than the householders; āśramaiḥ — by orders of society; vayam — we; jayema — can conquer; helābhiḥ — easily; dasyūn — invading plunderers; durga-patiḥ — a fort commander; yathā — as.
TRANSLATION
As a fort commander very easily conquers invading plunderers, by taking shelter of a wife one can conquer the senses, which are unconquerable in the other social orders.
PURPORT
Of the four orders of human society—the student, or brahmacārī order, the householder, or gṛhastha order, the retired, or vānaprastha order, and the renounced, or sannyāsī order—the householder is on the safe side. The bodily senses are considered plunderers of the fort of the body. The wife is supposed to be the commander of the fort, and therefore whenever there is an attack on the body by the senses, it is the wife who protects the body from being smashed. The sex demand is inevitable for everyone, but one who has a fixed wife is saved from the onslaught of the sense enemies. A man who possesses a good wife does not create a disturbance in society by corrupting virgin girls. Without a fixed wife, a man becomes a debauchee of the first order and is a nuisance in society—unless he is a trained brahmacārī, vānaprastha or sannyāsī. Unless there is rigid and systematic training of the brahmacārī by the expert spiritual master, and unless the student is obedient, it is sure that the so-called brahmacārī will fall prey to the attack of sex. There are so many instances of falldown, even for great yogīs like Viśvāmitra. A gṛhastha is saved, however, because of his faithful wife. Sex life is the cause of material bondage, and therefore it is prohibited in three āśramas and is allowed only in the gṛhastha-āśrama. The gṛhastha is responsible for producing first-quality brahmacārīs, vānaprasthas and sannyāsīs.