Prabhupada on sex and intoxication.

Conversation with devotees — Tokyo, April 25, 1972
Prabhupāda: That means your lavatory. Therefore the demigods do not come here even to urine. (laughter) Formerly they used to come. Now they do not come because it is not fit for their urinating. Here, we are very much proud of our advancement, but the demigods do not come even to pass urine. Why they should come? Now, because another house is raised here, even a common man is not coming to urine here. A little less facility, so they are not occupying. So why the demigods will come to this nonsense place? You can understand. These apartments are lying vacant on account of a little less facility. So why the demigods? Their comforts and their standard of living is many millions times better than yours. You cannot imagine it even. The more you go to the higher planetary system, their standard of living is still higher, higher-duration of life, standard of living, beauty, other facilities. Why they are called higher planetary system? Here in this planet even you don’t get the sunshine sufficiently. The bare necessities. Now you can experience that when you go above the cloud by airplane you see there is no more cloudy. The sunshine is free. You can imagine how in the higher planetary system the sunshine is so free. And here as soon as there is little sunshine, oh, today, “Good morning.” Today is very good morning. In London, Lennon’s gardener, he was meeting, I was walking. He was Mr. Johnson or something.
Śyāmasundara: Frank.
Prabhupāda: Frank? So, “Today is really good morning.” “Yes.” Otherwise it is dark. And actually countries which have no sufficient sunshine, they are condemned. I told you frankly, your London is hell, in that television. Actually it is hell. We could understand from outside London, simply dark, moist, everything damp. The trees, they have got, what is called?
Devotee: Moss.
Prabhupāda: Moss. Yes. That moss for want of sufficient sunshine.
Devotee: People get little relief from their misery and they say, “Oh, I am happy now.”
Prabhupāda: Yes. From the miseries, Mr. John is happy by becoming naked and having fireplace. He is bringing the wood personally, putting there. And Yoko is very happy. Japanese wife. She was talking philosophy with me.
Śyāmasundara: Now he has made one song, “I don’t believe in Hare Kṛṣṇa.”
Prabhupāda: Who?
Śyāmasundara: John.
Sudāmā: “He is me.”
Prabhupāda: That’s all right. So our Hare Kṛṣṇa will be advertised. (laughter) People will be inquisitive, “What is this Hare Kṛṣṇa?” at least. One who does not know. That is good.
Śyāmasundara: Because nobody believes in John Lennon anymore either.
Prabhupāda: How long it will go bluffing?
Śyāmasundara: He is losing his…
Prabhupāda: Popularity.
Śyāmasundara: His popularity. People are becoming disappointed because formerly he was very brilliant songwriter, but now it’s become very degraded.
Pradyumna: He formerly was married before, and he had family I think. But then he divorced to marry…
Prabhupāda: Not divorce. The contract is her former husband should live also. She has got double husband. He is living there along with him. I know that.
Śyāmasundara: Cox.
Prabhupāda: Cox. He is living there.
Devotee: Simply insanity. Insanity.
Prabhupāda: Insanity. Yes. He is the manager. What manager? He has got motorcycle and goes round. He must be given some post. And he has also married another? That…
Śyāmasundara: Dan? I don’t think he is legally married.
Prabhupāda: Friend. She has got, he has got a child?
Śyāmasundara: One or two small children.
Prabhupāda: So he has to maintain all of them. On this contract that Yoko is there.
Śyāmasundara: Yes. Dan was her old friend. Dan was her friend. That’s why he became manager.
Prabhupāda: So all this business on the basis of sex. That’s all. Yan maithunādi-gṛhamedhi-sukhaṁ hi tuccham SB 7.9.45 . For very insignificant happiness they are encumbered in so many ways. Yan maithunādi-gṛhamedhi-sukhaṁ hi tucchaṁ kaṇḍūyanena karayor iva duḥkha-duḥkham.
Śyāmasundara: And every time she tried to have a child, because they lead such a decadent life, she has miscarriage every time.
Prabhupāda: That means she has got syphilitic poison. Girls who cannot bear child means there is syphilitic poison. Either the man has got syphilitic poison or the woman has got syphilitic poison. And for these men, syphilis is not very uncommon.
Sudāmā: In this country, it is now also very, like epidemic.
Prabhupāda: Syphilis. All over Europe. When Dr. Ghosh, who is my friend, he came to see me in Allahabad? One doctor? So he is friend. He told me that when he was student, Colonel (indistinct), one big professor, medicine, he was lecturing. He was Englishman. He said that “In our country, seventy to eighty percent of the student community, they are suffering from syphilitic attack.” So in our country, in India, if one is attacked with syphilis, then he is taken as very abominable. His character is not good, it is understood. So he said, “Horrible,” Dr. Ghosh, because he was Indian student. So Colonel (indistinct) replied, “Why you are saying horrible? In your country ninety percent people are attacked malaria. So there, syphilis. So as a medical practitioner why you take this disease as bad or that disease as good? Your business is to see that there should be no disease. Don’t consider in that way, that ‘This disease is good, this disease is bad.’ ” That’s nice explanation. But fifty years ago or hundred years ago syphilitic poison was very much prevalent. Still it is in Europe and America. And now it is spreading all over. And in Āyur Veda it is said, phiraṅga, phiraṅga. Phiraṅgī. The Europeans are described in Vedic literatures as phiraṅgī, their name is phiraṅgī. So this syphilitic disease is mentioned in the Āyur Veda, the disease brought by the phiraṅgīs. And the doctor says that originally it was spread through dog. The unmarried girls, they keep dog for sex. You do not know? He knows. You will find very beautiful girl is keeping very big dog. They are trained to have sex life. And that is cause of syphilis. The dog is full of syphilitic germs. It is called phiraṅga in the Āyur Veda. And one who has got syphilitic germs, his life is doomed. Unless it is properly treated and cured, so many disease will follow. So many. This craziness is also due to syphilitic poison, parents.
Sudāmā: There is a case of a very famous gangster, Al Capone, and others. They died in the prison house of syphilis of the mind, brain.
Prabhupāda: Just see.
Sudāmā: They went crazy.
Prabhupāda: So how much by nature the sex life is condemned in so many ways. Therefore we say “No illicit sex.” It will save you from so many encumbrances. Sex life is not denied, but this unrestricted sex life is very very abominable in human society. But they are encouraging unrestricted sex life. They are distributing tablets, encouraging others to have sex life. Never mind. Unmarried girls they are keeping dogs. One lady in America, she told me that the dogs are kept for this purpose. When I was going to walk in that park in Brooklyn, the young girls are bringing dogs, big, big dogs. You were not at that time with me?
Śyāmasundara: Yes. I don’t remember.
Prabhupāda: Bhavānanda. Bhavānanda was taking me to that big park.
Śyāmasundara: Yes. I went. Prospect. Was it called Prospect?
(…)
Prabhupāda: Gambling, kṣatriyas, they can gamble. They must have the sporting spirit. Otherwise when they are defeated they will succumb to death. So they have to… The gambling, I lose one hundred thousand dollars, “Never mind. It is sporting.” Otherwise I will succumb to death. I have been… What? That is being done in gambling clubs. But if you do it in a sporting habit, then “Never mind. I gain or lose, it is nothing.” That’s all. Kṣatriyas are allowed because when they fight they will have to gain or to lose. But if they lose, if they become succumbed, then it will be very difficult for them. They are allowed to hunt. If they cannot kill, then how can they rule over the criminals? The kṣatriya king, “Oh, he is a criminal”? Just like Parīkṣit Mahārāja. Such a Vaiṣṇava king. As soon as he saw somebody is trying to kill a cow, immediately took his sword: “What nonsense you are doing? Immediately I shall kill you.” A kṣatriya must be spirited. Immediately cut off. Even in England, that was the practice. They used to practice dummy men cut head. The king must be like there.
Sudāmā: Here also. Here also there was a class of men called samurai, and they carried long sword and short sword. And they had certain rules for fighting. They would never fight a man unless he was equally matched. And if he lost, then he must take… If I lose the battle then I must take the short sword and kill myself for shame, for dishonor.
Prabhupāda: Not only that, when Kṛṣṇa was fighting with Rukmiṇī’s brother, he lost his chariot. So, and Rukmiṇī took the sword. So Kṛṣṇa also throw His bow and arrows. He also took the sword. Not that “I shall possess better weapons to kill you.” No. Equal. Equal terms. “If you have no sword, I will give you a sword.” Yes. “Take this sword. I take another.” That is kṣatriya spirit. Sporting. So for kṣatriya, this animal killing, this, which is abominable, but they require.
Devotee: Intoxication too?
Prabhupāda: Intoxication also. Just like Balarāma, He was drinking madhu (mead). Yes. You have not seen it? He was also enjoying in the company of women. Because He is kṣatriya. The kṣatriyas are allowed polygamy, drinking, intoxication, because they are king. They must have facility. At the same time they are ruling over the country. They take consulting great sages, saintly persons. And if he is not in order, these saintly persons would dethrone him. Pṛthu Mahārāja’s father was killed, Veṇa. He was not according to the system. He was killed.
Pradyumna: I don’t understand how sometimes we…, how the intoxication of some type of wine would go along with the ruling of a country.
Prabhupāda: Well, for rulers is a pleasure. They must have some pleasure. Just like ordinary men, they drink with woman, dancing, it is a recreation. So this is material recreation, to be little intoxicated and several nice young girls around. That gives him some encouragement. You see? They have to take so much risk, so much responsibility. For recreation they require it. They should be given little facility.
Devotee: Can they still make spiritual advancement?
Prabhupāda: Well, spiritual advancement is going on. They are taking advice from great saintly persons, they are observing, they are performing big sacrifices, spending money, treasury. That is their spiritual advancement. You are satisfying Kṛṣṇa in spite of… All these devatās, the demigods, they also enjoy. In higher planetary system, like Indra, he is prostitute hunter number one, Indra. (laughter) But he is a great devotee at the same time.