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In the calm, quiet solitude of his room in Honolulu, Prabhupada showed the depths of his realisation on the subject. While working on his Bhaktivedanta purports, he narrated the story of Gajendra the elephant, and his fight with the crocodile in the heavenly planets. The crocodile had attacked the elephant as he bathed in the river. A fight ensued for a considerable period of time, and while the elephant's strength reduced, the crocodile's increased, for he was in his natural habitat, whereas the elephant was not.

In this regard, Srila Prabhupada drew a natural comparison. "From this, we may take the lesson that in our fight with maya, we should not be in a position in which our strength, enthusiasm and senses will be unable to fight vigorously. Our Krsna consciousness movement has actually declared war against the illusory energy, in which all the living entities are rotting in a false understanding of civilisation. The soldiers in this Krsna consciousness movement must always possess physical strength, enthusiasm and sensual power. To keep themselves fit, they must, therefore, place themselves in a normal condition of life.

"What constitutes a normal condition will not be the same for everyone," Prabhupada continued. "Therefore there are divisions of varnasrama: brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, sudra; brahmacarya, grhastha, vanaprastha and sannyasa. Especially in this age, Kali-yuga, it is advised that no-one take sannyasa .. From this we can understand that, in this age, the sannyasa asrama is forbidden because people are not strong. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu showed us an example in taking sannyasa at the age of twenty-four years, but even Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya advised Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to be extremely careful because He had taken sannyasa at an early age. For preaching, we give young boys sannyasa, but actually it is being experienced that they are not fit for sannyasa.

"There is no harm, however, if one thinks that he is unfit for sannyasa; if he is very much agitated sexually, he should go to the asrama where sex is allowed, namely the grhastha asrama. That one has been found to be weak in one place, does not mean that he should stop fighting the crocodile of maya. One should take shelter of the lotus feet of Krsna, as we shall see Gajendra do, and at the same time one can be a grhastha if he is satisfied with sexual indulgence.

"There is no need to give up the fight. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu therefore recommended: sthane sthitah sruti-gatam tanu-van-manobhih. One may stay in whichever asrama is suitable for him; it is not essential that one takes sannyasa. If one is sexually agitated, he can enter the grhastha asrama. But one must continue fighting. For one who is not in a transcendental position, to take sannyasa artificially is not a very great credit. If sannyasa is not suitable, one may enter the grhastha asrama and fight maya with great strength. But one should not give up the fighting and go away."


- From "The Great Transcendental Adventure" by HG Kurma Prabhu