TEXT 105
vesya-gane kahe,--"ei vairagi haridasa
tumi-saba kara ihara vairagya-dharma nasa"
SYNONYMS
vesya-ganeunto the prostitutes; kahesaid; eithis; vairagimendicant; haridasaHaridasa Thakura; tumi-sabaall of you; karacause; iharahis; vairagya-dharmafrom the life of a mendicant; nasadeviation.
TRANSLATION
Ramacandra Khan said to the prostitutes, "There is a mendicant named Haridasa Thakura. All of you devise a way to deviate him from his vows of austerity."
PURPORT
Devotional service is the path of vairagya-vidya (renunciation and knowledge). Haridasa Thakura was following this path, but Ramacandra Khan planned to induce him to break his vows. Renunciation means renunciation of sensual pleasure, especially the pleasure of sex. Therefore a brahmacari, sannyasi or vanaprastha is strictly prohibited from having relationships with women. Haridasa Thakura was strictly renounced, and thus Ramacandra Khan called for prostitutes because prostitutes know how to break a man's vow of celibacy by their feminine influence and thus pollute a mendicant or a person engaged in devotional life. It was impossible for Ramacandra Khan to induce any other women to break Haridasa Thakura's vow, and therefore he called for prostitutes. Free mingling with women has never been possible in India, but for one who wanted to associate with society girls, they were available in a district of prostitutes. There were prostitutes in human society even in Lord Krsna's time, for it is said that the prostitutes of Dvaraka City came forth to receive the Lord. Although they were prostitutes, they were also devotees of Krsna.

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