jihvaikato 'cyuta vikará¹£ati mÄvitá¹›ptÄ
śiśno 'nyatas tvag-udaraṠśravaṇaṠkutaścit
ghrÄṇo 'nyataÅ› capala-dá¹›k kva ca karma-Å›aktir
bahvyaḥ sapatnya iva geha-patiṠlunanti
jihvÄ - the tongue; ekataḥ - to one side; acyuta - O my infallible Lord; vikará¹£ati - attracts; mÄ - me; avitá¹›ptÄ - not being satisfied; Å›iÅ›naḥ - the genitals; anyataḥ - to another side; tvak - the skin (for touching a soft thing); udaram - the belly (for various types of food); Å›ravaṇam - the ear (for hearing some sweet music); kutaÅ›cit - to some other side; ghrÄṇaḥ - the nose (for smelling); anyataḥ - to still another side; capala-dá¹›k - the restless eyesight; kva ca - somewhere; karma-Å›aktiḥ - the active senses; bahvyaḥ - many; sa-patnyaḥ - co-wives; iva - like; geha-patim - a householder; lunanti - annihilate.
The human form of life is meant for God realization, but this process, which begins with Å›ravaṇaá¹ kÄ«rtanaá¹ viṣṇoḥ — hearing and chanting of the holy name of the Lord — is disturbed as long as our senses are materially attracted. Therefore devotional service means purifying the senses. In the conditioned state our senses are covered by material sense gratification, and as long as one is not trained in purifying the senses, one cannot become a devotee. In our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, therefore, we advise from the very beginning that one restrict the activities of the senses, especially the tongue, which is described by ÅšrÄ«la Bhaktivinoda ṬhÄkura as most greedy and unconquerable. To stop this attraction of the tongue, one is authoritatively advised not to accept meat or similar uneatable things nor to allow the tongue to hanker to drink or smoke. Even the drinking of tea and coffee is not permitted. Similarly, the genitals must be restricted from illicit sex. Without such restraint of the senses, one cannot make advancement in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The only method of controlling the senses is to chant and hear the holy name of the Lord; otherwise, one will always be disturbed, as a householder with more than one wife would be disturbed by them for sense gratification.