“Whether you have changed the Taste?”

Prabhupada, Melbourne, May 21, 1975: So there are different grades of sense gratification, but the point is sense gratification. The cats and dogs, the animals, they are also satisfying their senses, and the human being also engaged in the same business. The cats and dogs, they are eating to their taste; the human being is also eating to their taste. The standard may be different, but the taste is the same. Either you have sex intercourse with beautiful wife or husband or as sex intercourse between the she-dog and he-dog, the enjoyment is the same. Just like if you have got a palatable food, either you put it into a golden pot or if you put it into iron pot, the taste is the same. The taste is not different.

One may think that “I am eating in golden pot; therefore I am advanced.” But a learned man will say that “Whether you have changed the taste?” Either you drink something palatable in a golden pot or in iron pot or paper pot, the taste is the same.

So this morning I was talking with one gentleman. He is in charge of the social welfare. So when I proposed that “Our nivrtti-marga…, we recommend these processes: no illicit sex, no meat-eating, no intoxication, and no gambling, beginning,” so he was not satisfied. He said that “Why you stop illicit sex? We get pleasure.” So this is the understanding of the modern civilization. He is risking his life by all these processes, but if we request that “Stop this process. Come to Krsna consciousness,” they will not agree. That is the difficulty. Therefore this line of action, nivrtti-marga, it is little difficult. But it is very easy. If one understands the philosophy, what is the meaning of pravrtti-marga and what is the meaning of nivrtti-marga, and if he is sane man, then he will accept, “Yes.” Just like if you go to a physician and you are suffering from a disease, being… Say, just like nowadays there is prominent alcoholic treatment. People are too much addicted to alcohol, and there are so many departmental treatment, even for the priest also. I have seen one ad in a paper that in America there is a hospital where especially the priestly class drunkard, they are treated. And five thousand patients are there. So if the physician says, “No, no, you give up your drinking habit,” then he will be angry. Then how he will be treated? That is the only medicine, that “You give up.” It is not very difficult thing. Nobody learns drinking from the birth. Now, even one has learned drinking, now, all our students, you see practically. They are young men. They are not old men. Their senses are still strong. But they have given up. They have given up. They have given up illicit sex. They have given up intoxication. They do not take even tea, do not smoke cigarette. Neither they go to cinema, what to speak of going to other places. It is possible. But if we give up all these things, then our beginning to the nivrtti-marga, our progress towards back to home, back to Godhead, that is beginning.

Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.1
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Melbourne, May 21, 1975

full lecture: http://causelessmercy.com/t/t/750521SB.MEL.htm