The brahmacarya is very strictly enjoined in the Vedic śāstra. Brahma . . . to maintain brahmacarya, it is advised, mātrā svasrā duhitrā vā nāviviktā . . . mātrā svasrā duhitrā vā (SB 9.19.17). So one should not sit down with woman in a secluded place, even though the woman is mother, sister or daughter. So much restriction. And why? Balavān indriya-grāmaḥ: "The senses are very powerful." Vidvāṁsam api karṣati. "Oh, senses may be powerful for the fools and rascals." No. Vidvāṁsam api karṣati: "Even one is very learned, advanced, still, senses are so powerful that it can be agitated even before the mother, sister and daughter." This is Vedic injunction, brahmacarya. Tapasā brahmacaryeṇa damena śamena (SB 6.1.13). These are the human life: to accept brahmacarya life, tapasya, controlling the senses, controlling the mind, tyāgena, by giving in charity whatever you possess. These are the different processes. But if you take to bhakti-yoga, then all these processes become automatically accustomed. That is the profit of bhakti-yoga.
So brahmacārī-karma, gṛhastha-karma, vānaprastha-karma, sannyāsa-karma, then brāhmaṇa's karma, then kṣatriya's karma, vaiśya's karma, śūdra's karma. The society which knows perfectly well all these different karmas, that is perfect society; that is human society. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says that kiṁ karma akarmeti kavayo 'py atra mohitāḥ. Kavayaḥ, very learned scholars, they are also become bewildered how to specify duty to a particular person. That is not being done at the same time. Everyone is going to the schools and colleges, passing their examination, but because he is not trained up according to his tendency or according to his quality, after education he is unemployed, because he has not been trained up according to the tendency, according to the qualification. That is the basic principle of karma. Kṛṣṇa has begun in this chapter, cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ (BG 4.13). That is very essential, the varṇāśrama-dharma, because we must have the aim of life. At the present moment there is no aim of life. The aim of life is sense gratification, that's all. Indriya-tṛpti. That is forbidden in the śāstra. Nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vikarma (SB 5.5.4). Kiṁ karmeti kiṁ vikarmeti will be described. So karma and vikarma, prescribed duties according to qualification, position, occupation, that is called karma. And just opposite, it is called vikarma. Karma akarma vikarma. That Kṛṣṇa will explain.
So at the present moment . . . not at the present moment. It is the tendency of materialistic life to act vikarma, forbidden karma. That is explained by Ṛṣabhadeva in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vikarma yad indriya-prītaya āpṛṇoti (SB 5.5.4). That is visible at the present moment in the Kali-yuga all over the world. Vikarmeti. All kinds of sinful activities they are performing. That is called vikarma. The vikarma we have specified especially: illicit sex, meat-eating, intoxication up to drinking tea, coffee and smoking—these are all vikarma. So they do not know. But they are going on. Therefore Ṛṣabhadeva, many, many years ago He warned His sons, "My dear boys, nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vikarma." Pramattaḥ. Pra means sufficiently, or extraordinarily. Prakṛṣṭa-rūpeṇa. Mattaḥ. Mattaḥ means mad. Nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vikarma (SB 5.5.4): "All people, being mad, they are committing all sinful activities." They do not know what is sinful activity. They think everything is all right. No. Nature will take account of everything and he will give you a next body.
The same example—if you infect some disease and the after-result, you must suffer from that disease. This is nature's law. Similarly, kāraṇaṁ guṇa-saṅgo 'sya sad-asad-janma-yoniṣu (BG 13.22). That is explained in Bhagavad-gītā. Why one gets low-grade life and why one gets high-grade life? What is the reason? That is explained by Kṛṣṇa, that kāraṇaṁ guṇa-saṅgo 'sya. The reason is, as he is being infected by the different qualities of material nature. Therefore we have to be very careful. There are three qualities and mixed qualities. Originally three qualities: sattva-guṇa, rajo-guṇa, tamo-guṇa. Then three multiplied by three, mixture, then it becomes nine. Then nine multiplied by nine it becomes eighty-one, different, just like color mixture. So therefore there are 8,400,000's of species of life, this mixture of qualities. Karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa (SB 3.31.1). We are infecting different types of qualities of material nature, and we are becoming fit for the next life. But next life there is. Tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13). People do not know it. Therefore we should be very careful to take instruction from Bhagavad-gītā and make our life successful, following the rules and regulation as it is prescribed there. Otherwise we are animal.