- yad akṣaraṁ veda-vido vadanti
- viśanti yad yatayo vīta-rāgāḥ
- yad icchanto brahmacaryaṁ caranti
- tat te padaṁ saṅgraheṇa pravakṣyāmi
- (BG 8.11)
Here is the transla . . . "I shall briefly describe to thee that state which the knowers of the Vedas call the imperishable, which the ascetics, freed from passion, enter, and desiring which, they lead a life of self-control." Not . . . Brahmacarya is celibacy. Translation is not here. Celibacy means completely ceasing from sex life. Yad icchanto brahmacarya. Brahmacarya means celibacy. No sex life. Therefore the brahmacarya āśrama is recommended.
The first basic principle of religious life, according to Vedic principle, the students are expected to go to the spiritual master's place and learn there how to live without any sex life. For twenty-five years or at least for twenty years, the student is trained up in that way. Then he's allowed to enter into the gṛhastha life to marry. So there is a process. Religion means there must be process. It is not simply mental speculation. Yad icchantaṁ brahmacaryaṁ caranti. Yad icchantaṁ brahmacaryaṁ caranti tat te padaṁ saṅgraheṇa pravakṣyāmi. These things are described in the Bhagavad-gītā.
So to understand, to elevate oneself from the fallen condition to the highest liberated condition, one has to be trained up, one has to follow the rules and regulation as they are prescribed. Otherwise, simply some recreation, spiritual recreation, talking something—"This is that; this is that," "Neti neti"—and I lead my life like anything, that will not help us. Therefore the taṭastha lakṣaṇa.