There is a proverb in Bengali that kañcaya noyale bhas pas korbe nyastas (?). Bhas means bamboo. Bamboo, while it is green, you can bend it, but when its yellow or dry, oh, it cannot be bent. It will break. It will be break. Therefore school children... Just like Prahlāda Mahārāja is instructing his class fellows. School children, from five years old, they should be given lesson about Kṛṣṇa consciousness or God consciousness. Otherwise, in advanced age, oh, it is not possible. Generally, we find in our class or in this Kṛṣṇa conscious movement, the youngsters, they become little more interested, but we don't find any old men. Why? Because whatever they have been taught, they cannot forget. It is very difficult to forget what he has been already taught. So they do not become interested.
- ko gṛheṣu pumān saktam
- ātmānam ajitendriyaḥ
- sneha-pāśair dṛḍhair (baddham)
- utsaheta vimocitum
- (SB 7.6.9)
"One who has passed his life simply being attached to household affairs, sneha-pāśair, and when the affection of household life is too strong, it is very difficult to get out of it." That will be very nicely explained, one after another.
Therefore, according to Vedic civilization, there is compulsory get-out from household life. Compulsory get-out means pañcāś ordhvaṁ vanaṁ vrajet. Pañcāś means fifty years. "As soon as one passes over fifty years of age, he should get out." That is the injunction of the scriptures. No more in household affairs.