But the problem with the majority of these single men was that they were not free of sex desire and so were actually not qualified for real sannyasa. Almost all of his disciples still had strong material desires. So what was he to do? They couldn't possibly be allowed to have sex, or as Prabhupada would word it, "freely mix," without any responsibility of marriage. That would have meant abortions and contraception, which Prabhupada condemned. He never compromised in that way, thereby encouraging another sex cult like Rajneesh. So, as early letters reveal, Prabhupada tried and tried to inspire his disciples to be good householders. He wrote hundreds of letters like the one above to Nandarani encouraging the couples to become attached to one another and preach. Then, when that failed to keep them together, we see how he made them sign documents promising that they would never separate under any circumstances. But even then they refused to obey. Daily he was getting more and more letters from disciples asking if they could divorce, what they should do with the unwanted children, if they could remarry, and so on.
So he finally refused to take part in any more marriages. But there was still the problem of what all these agitated young men should do. They wouldn't remain responsible householders as he wanted. Although Prabhupada said in one letter in 1970 that he was going to forget the whole mission and go back to India to write books with the help of a few of his more mature disciples, that wouldn't have kept the mission alive in the West. The material desires of these men would have to be satisfied if they were to go on preaching. Simply eating opulently would not suffice indefinitely. But the position of sannyasa could supply the material gratifications of profit, adoration, and distinction, or subtle sex life. None of them were actually fit for sannyasa, as Prabhupada later revealed. Many had been homosexuals, gangsters, drug addicts, etc. Except for the rare soul, sannyasa in Vedic culture is a graduation from mature household life. (And are we more advanced than Vedic culture?) None of these men had actually graduated. So, with these "sannyasis," the very same sex desire the householder vents in physical sex with his wife, the "sannyasi" could enjoy through the benefits of adoration and distinction. At least in that way unwanted children wouldn't be produced and the preaching could go on without this constant disturbance. There were still disturbances created by these neophyte "sannyasis," but compared to the alternatives, it was acceptable for the time being. Such a time-and-circumstance adjustment made by the uttama-adhikari does not become a Vedic law to be imitated by anyone regardless of qualification.