If you can stop your children’s birth and death, then beget children. This is the sastric injunction. And if the father does not know how to stop his own birth and death, then what is the use of producing children? The father should be so sympathetic with the children, with the sons, that he must know what is the pains and pleasure of birth and death.

So every parent desires welfare of his children, of their children. So this is the greatest welfare, that “This child has come in my womb, he has become my son. This is the last time. No more birth and death. He will be educated in that way.” That is father’s responsibility. Not that eat him, get him meat-eating, and get him fat. However fat he may be, he’ll die. [laughter]

You cannot stop his death simply by making him fat like elephant. Therefore it is said, dharmaviruddha. Don’t beget children if you have no responsibility. But they think that “We’ll have sex life, but we shall avoid this responsibility. So then let us use contraceptive.” This is greatest sinful life. Greatest sinful life. You are killing, murderer. Now in the Western countries they are actually killing. They have made law. So if the society has become so awfully sinful, how they can expect peace and prosperity? That is not possible.

From Srila Prabhupada’s lecture on Bhagavad-gita 7.11–12 — February 25, 1974, Bombay