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Question: What are the parameters we should check before choosing our ashrama?

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Jayapataka Swami: Usually Srila Prabhupada said that if one is thinking whether one should be a brahmacari or grihasta, then he should probably be a grihasta. Brahmacaris are people who are fixed to follow brahmacarya. If you are wavering whether you should be a brahmacari or a grihasta, then it is not a good sign for being a brahmacari. The brahmacari means to live in the ashrama and to engage in service all the time. Being a grihasta you may live in a temple facility or you may have some outside job or business, and maintain your family, and at the same time do some sadhana bhakti and devotional service. A grihasta is allowed to talk to the wife, to touch the wife, but they should try to increase their devotional service. The brahmacari is supposed to stay all day long engaged in devotional service. He does not talk to ladies except official talks. No joking, no meditating, no mobile phoning, except Krsna conscious topics. So one can see what one is more natural with. In Gajendra moksa, the king of the elephants was fighting with the king of the crocodiles, but he was in the water. So being a land animal he gradually became weak in the water, but the crocodile being in his own element in the water was becoming stronger. Srila Prabhupada said we should see, which element, which nature we have, and accordingly we should engage in that ashrama in devotional service.
16-OCTOBER-2019 ISKCON TIRUPATI, INDIA