When one is on the transcendental platform, brahma-bhūtaḥ stage, his symptom is that he's always joyful. Joyful. There is no moroseness. No. And what is joyful? That is also explained. What is joyfulness? Na śocati na kāṅkṣati: he does not hanker after anything, neither he laments.
In the material platform we have got two symptoms: hankering and lamenting. The things which we do not possess, we hanker after it, "I must have it. I must have it. I must have this, this, that . . ." Gṛha-kṣetra-sutāpta-vittaiḥ (SB 5.5.8). There is nice explanation how this hankering, hankering is expanded. This hankering expanded: this whole material world is hankering after sex life. That is the basic principle of hankering. Puṁsāṁ mitho. Puṁsāṁ striyo mithunī-bhāvam etam. This is Sanskrit language. Mithunī-bhāvam means sex life. Either in human society or animal society or bird society or insects'—everywhere you will find that sex life is very prominent. That is materialistic way of life, indriyāṇi, senses.
So the everyone . . . a boy is hankering after a girl, a girl in hankering after a boy; or a man is hankering after woman, woman is hankering . . . this is going on. This is not unnatural. This is the natural life. And tayor mitho, the hankering is there. But as soon as they meet, or unite, it becomes a hard knot, tayor mitho hṛdaya-granthim āhuḥ (SB 5.5.8), a hard knot in the heart, that "I am matter. I am this matter. This world belongs to me. This country belongs to me. This body belongs to me." That means hard knot. Instead of transcending from the concept of body life, it becomes still more hard knot. It is very difficult.
Therefore those who are practicing yoga, or trying to be on the transcendental platform, the restriction is that one must cease from sex life, if you at all interested. But that is not possible. Therefore our this method, we don't say, "Stop sex life," but we say: "Don't have illicit sex life." Illicit sex life . . . of course, even there is no question of transcendental life, that is a question of civilized life. Civilized life.
In every civilized society—it may be Hindu society or Muslim society or a Christian society—any civilized human society, there is the system of marriage. And beyond marriage, if there is sex life, that is called illicit sex life. That is never indulged in any society. So what to speak of transcendental life? Transcendental life must be purified from mental concoction or bodily concept of life. It is the transcendental platform. Tayor mitho hṛdaya-granthim āhuḥ.
So these things are very restricted in order to reach that transcendental platform. But in this age, in this Age of Kali, where everything is disturbed, always full of anxieties, and the life is very short . . . that is also explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: prāyeṇa kalau asmin yuge janāḥ. Life is very short, and they are not interested for any transcendental subject matter. They are interested only with the bodily concept of life. Mandāḥ sumanda-matayo manda-bhāgyā hy upadrutāḥ (SB 1.1.10). And always disturbed by so many anxieties. How he can ascend to the platform of transcendental realization? It is very difficult in this age.