20
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 6, Ch. 1]
words and intelligence;  dhīrāḥ —those who are sober;  dharma-jñāḥ —fully imbued with knowledge of religious principles;  śraddhayā an-vitāḥ —endowed with faith;  kṣīpanti —destroy;  agham —all kinds of sinful activities;  mahat api —although very great and abominable;  veṇu-gulmam —the dried creepers beneath a bamboo tree;  iva —like;  analaḥ —fire.
TRANSLATION
To concentrate the mind, one must observe a life of celibacy and not fall down. One must undergo the austerity of voluntarily giving up sense enjoyment. One must then control the mind and senses, give charity, be truthful, clean and nonviolent, follow the regulative principles and regularly chant the holy name of the Lord. Thus a sober and faithful person who knows the religious principles is temporarily purified of all sins performed with his body, words and mind. These sins are like the dried leaves of creepers beneath a bamboo tree, which may be burned by fire although their roots remain to grow again at the first opportunity.
PURPORT
Tapaḥ  is explained in the  smṛti-śāstra  as follows:  manasaś cendriyāṇāṁ ca aikāgryaṁ paramaṁ tapaḥ . “Complete control of the mind and senses and their complete concentration on one kind of activity is called  tapaḥ .” Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is teaching people how to concentrate the mind on devotional service. This is first-class  tapaḥ .  Brahmacarya , the life of celibacy, has eight aspects: one should not think of women, speak about sex life, dally with women, look lustfully at women, talk intimately with women or decide to engage in sexual intercourse, nor should one endeavor for sex life or engage in sex life. One should not even think of women or look at them, to say nothing of talking with them. This is called first-class  brahmacarya . If a  brahmacārī  or  sannyāsī  talks with a woman in a secluded place, naturally there will be a possibility of sex life without anyone’s knowledge. Therefore a complete  brahmacārī  practices just the opposite. If one is a perfect  brahmacārī , he can very easily control the mind and senses, give charity, speak truthfully and so forth. To begin, however, one must control the tongue and the process of eating.