Sex (Sexual intercourse)

gatānugatiko mūrkhaḥ śāstronmādaś ca paṇḍitaḥ

gatānugatiko mūrkhaḥ śāstronmādaś ca paṇḍitaḥ |
nitya-kṣībāś ca veśyānāṁ jaṅgamāḥ kalpa-pādapāḥ ||
(Samaya-mātṛkā: 5.67; cited in Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha: 7755)

“A fool is an imitator [lit., ‘a goer after that which has gone,’ i.e., just an uncritical follower of what those before them have done], a scholar (paṇḍita) is crazed by śāstra [i.e., undone as a result of pedantry, excessive concern for theory that results in a lack of practical application, etc.], and the ever-debased [alt., weak-minded] are the mobile desire-trees of prostitutes.”

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aho imaṁ paśyata me vināśaṁ

aho imaṁ paśyata me vināśaṁ
tapasvinaḥ sac-carita-vratasya |
antarjale vāri-cara-prasaṅgāt
pracyāvitaṁ brahma ciraṁ dhṛtaṁ yat ||
saṅgaṁ tyajeta mithuna-vratīnāṁ mumukṣuḥ
sarvātmanā na visṛjed bahir-indriyāṇi |
ekaś caran rahasi cittam ananta īśe
yuñjīta tad-vratiṣu sādhuṣu cet prasaṅgaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 9.6.50–51)

“Aho! See this ruination of mine, an ascetic avowed to the conduct of the sat [situated] underwater, wherein [my] long-sustained austerity was lost because of [observance of] the intercourse of fish. A seeker of mukti should completely forsake the association of those avowed to matrimony [alt., those who engage in sexual intercourse] and should not cast forth the external senses. Dwelling alone in seclusion, one should fix the mind upon the Infinite, Īśa, and upon the sādhus devoted to him if ideal association [with such sādhus] should come about.”

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smaraṇaṁ darśanaṁ strīṇāṁ guṇa-karmānukīrtanam

smaraṇaṁ darśanaṁ strīṇāṁ guṇa-karmānukīrtanam |
samīcīnatva-dhīs tāsu prītiḥ saṁbhāṣaṇaṁ mithaḥ ||
sahavāsaś ca saṁsargo’ṣṭadhā maithunaṁ viduḥ |
(Śaṅkarācārya’s Sarva-vedānta-siddhānta-sāra-saṅgraha: 109-110)

“Know intercourse to be eightfold: remembering women, looking at them, mentioning their qualities and activities, thinking of the suitability of them, favoring them [alt., taking pleasure in them], conversing with them privately, cohabiting with them, and copulating with them.”

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smaraṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ keliḥ prekṣaṇaṁ guhya-bhāṣaṇam

smaraṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ keliḥ prekṣaṇaṁ guhya-bhāṣaṇam |
saṅkalpo’dhyavasāyaś ca kriyā-nivṛttir eva ca ||
etan maithunam aṣṭāṅgaṁ pravadanti manīṣiṇaḥ |
viparītaṁ brahmacaryam etad evāṣṭa-lakṣaṇam ||
(Vairāgya-mārtaṇḍa: 12.144-145; cited in Sādhana-dīpikā)

“Remembering, mentioning, playing [alt., joking], looking, conversing privately, fancying, pursuing, and completing the act [itself]—the wise say these are the eight aspects of intercourse. The opposite of these are the eight characteristics of brahmacarya.”

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brahmacaryaṁ sadā rakṣed aṣṭadhā maithunaṁ pṛthak

brahmacaryaṁ sadā rakṣed aṣṭadhā maithunaṁ pṛthak |
smaraṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ keliḥ prekṣaṇaṁ guhya-bhāṣaṇam ||
saṅkalpo’dhyavasāyaś ca kriyā-niṣpattir eva ca |
etan maithunam aṣṭāṅgaṁ pravadanti manīṣiṇaḥ ||
(Dakṣa Smṛti: 7.31–33)

“One should always observe brahmacarya to the exclusion of eightfold intercourse. Remembering, mentioning, playing [alt., joking], looking, conversing privately, fancying, pursuing, and completing the act [itself]—the wise say these are the eight aspects of intercourse. The opposite of these are the eight characteristics of brahmacarya.”

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brahmacaryeṇa saṁtiṣṭhed apramādena maskarī

brahmacaryeṇa saṁtiṣṭhed apramādena maskarī |
darśanaṁ sparśanaṁ keliḥ kīrtanaṁ guhya-bhāṣaṇam ||
saṅkalpo’dhyavasāyaś ca kriyā-nivṛtttir eva ca |
etan maithunam aṣṭāṅgaṁ pravadanti manīṣiṇaḥ ||
viparītaṁ brahmacaryam anuṣṭheyaṁ mumukṣubhiḥ |
(Kaṭharudra Upaniṣad: 8.9–11)

“A sannyāsī (maskarī) should observe brahmacarya with vigilance. Looking, touching, playing [alt., joking], mentioning, conversing privately, fancying, pursuing, and completion of the act [itself]—the wise say these are the eight aspects of intercourse. The opposite [of these eight], brahmacarya, is to be practiced by seekers of mukti.”

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duravagamātma-tattva-nigamāya tavātta-tanoś

duravagamātma-tattva-nigamāya tavātta-tanoś
carita-mahāmṛtābdhi-parivarta-pariśramaṇāḥ |
na parilaṣanti kecid apavargam apīśvara te
caraṇa-saroja-haṁsa-kula-saṅga-visṛṣṭa-gṛhāḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.87.21)

“O Īśvara, some [i.e., a rare few]—who have become free from suffering [alt., fatigue] by swimming in the vast ocean of the nectar of the activities of the form you have revealed to teach the difficult to understand nature of yourself, and who have given up household life by virtue of the association of the flock of swans at your lotus feet—do not desire whatsoever even liberation [i.e., let alone Svarga or the pleasures of earthly life].”

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yat pṛthivyāṁ vrīhi-yavaṁ

yat pṛthivyāṁ vrīhi-yavaṁ hiraṇyaṁ paśavaḥ striyaḥ |
na duhyanti manaḥ-prītiṁ puṁsaḥ kāma-hatasya te ||
na jātu kāmaḥ kāmānām upabhogena śāṁyati |
haviṣā kṛṣṇa-vartmeva bhūya evābhivardhate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 9.19.13–14; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha 98)

“All the rice, barley, gold, animals, and women on earth cannot satisfy the mind of a person afflicted with desire. Desire is never extinguished by enjoyment of objects of desire. It is only again further increased [thereby] like a fire by oblations [of ghee].”

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