Question: Is drinking alcohol and having sex with one’s spouse is bad? Please explain.
Answer by Romapada Swami: Human life is a life of responsibility as opposed to animal life; animals need not follow any law except those of their natural instinct for eating, mating, sleeping and defending. However, in human form of life, we have to regulate these activities in accordance with scriptures, and utilize the higher facilities that we have for self-realization.
Activities forbidden in the scripture are principally the following four: meat eating, intoxication, illicit sex and gambling. Such activities are called sinful and are forbidden because they bring down our consciousness rather than elevating it, and thus push us down to animalistic existence.
Sex life in accordance with religious principles, i.e. strictly for the sake of begetting good progeny, is accepted as religious. However, sex life based on sense gratification, even with one’s spouse, is considered sinful because it degrades one’s consciousness. So does drinking alcohol.
Maharaj has taken so much trouble to develop these contents for all of us to benefit.
I am very grateful to Maharaj for giving us this gift of mercy.
Beg Maharaj s mercy to focus my mind on Krsna always till the end of my life.
Hare Krsna