Pariprashnena — Q&A Archive

Actions of killing is not a sin according to artha sastras, however according to dharma sastras it is even for a Kshatria on the battlefield.

Sub-vedic literature such as Kama-sutras that relate to Kama or sensual pleasure are part of Kamasastras, just like Arthashastras relate to Artha.

According to Gita 16.21 all kind of such sin lead one to hell, be it lust, anger or greed. So even if according to your particular religion it may not be a sin, still being lusty is sinful. According to Catolic faith it is a grave sin:

From the Catechism:

By masturbation is to be understood the deliberate stimulation of the genital organs in order to derive sexual pleasure. "Both the Magisterium of the Church, in the course of a constant tradition, and the moral sense of the faithful have been in no doubt and have firmly maintained that masturbation is an intrinsically and gravely disordered action." "The deliberate use of the sexual faculty, for whatever reason, outside of marriage is essentially contrary to its purpose." For here sexual pleasure is sought outside of "the sexual relationship which is demanded by the moral order and in which the total meaning of mutual self-giving and human procreation in the context of true love is achieved."

If you are a member of ISKCON and masturbate, you commit not just a sin, it is an offence against the Holy Names, because you are disobeying an order of the spiritual master.

"The duties for the grhastha-asrama and brahmacarya-asrama, as well as the duties for sannyasis are prescribed in the sastras. A grhastha is not meant to enjoy sex life without restriction. Indeed, the whole purpose of Vedic life is to become free from sexual indulgence. All the asramas are recognized for spiritual progress, and therefore although the grhastha-asrama gives a kind of license for sex life for a certain time, it does not allow unrestricted sex life. Therefore, in grhastha life also, there is no illicit sex. A grhastha should not accept a woman for sexual enjoyment. Wasting semen is also illicit sex." Bhag. 7.12.Summary

A devotee once told me that Srila Prabhupada said it was "a waste of semen."

At the end of the day there are activities and thoughts (all actions are preceded by thought) that will take you towards the center, the hidden treasure (Radha and Krishna) and there are activities and thoughts that will take you away. Call it what you like a sin, sex desire, release of frustration whatever. For lifetimes we have been moving away from Krishna by engaging in sense gratification.

Even if by thinking that by masturbating you are avoiding the sin of illicit sex because no partner is involved, you are still creating attachment for sense gratification and this will only serve to take you away from Krishna.

Personally I feel that most of us at least from the West should take the path of marriage (Grhasta), most Indians also take the path of Grhasta as well. In the West we are brought up on so many sexual images and sexuality is now an open subject that is even taught to children and we can see that children are becoming more sexual at a much younger age. Also let us not kid each other its the most difficult obstacle in devotional life both gross and subtle sex desire.

So having dreams of becoming some elevated Sannyasi (which can also be a trap, an attachment to pride and position) only to fall as most Western ones do (and most if not all of the fall downs are of a sexual nature), why add more difficulties? Just get married. Its the safest Ashram and the science of Krishna Consciousness is transcendental it can be achieved from any Ashram. Not that I am saying the Grhasta Ashram is a free ticket to sense enjoyment where you can have your cake and eat it. It can also be a trap if you think like that. However one is still permitted to have sex for the procreation of children and one gains many realizations in that Ashram that will help you to overcome sex desire and will help you to move through that desire to eventually giving it up totally and being fully focused on the divine absolute, Radha and Krishna.

We say that eating,mating,sleeping and defending are the 4 activities that a conditioned soul cannot leave without.
In other words, as we are conditioned souls we must eat,sleep,defend and mate also.(May be in a limited manner if we are practising KC)
So, how can we completely avoid mating immediately?
I feel it is just like giving up eating or sleeping (at least logically).
Please guide me.