A summary study of this book has been published by my Spiritual Master, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, entitled Nectar of Devotion. It is said in the Bhagavad-gita that lust is situated in the senses, the mind and the intelligence. From experience one can see that sometimes this lust is manifest and sometimes unmanifest. But it is always there ready to 'strike' so to speak. Lust attacks the intelligence in the form of planning for improving one's sense gratification, the idea of which first appears in the mind, and is later carried carried out by the senses.
Actual realization is of greater value than dogmatic following.
However, actual realization should enable, or inspire one to observe vows at least for the sake of others. One should be careful not to confuse intellectual understanding and broadminded thinking with spiritual realization, especially when it yields no taste for chanting Krishna's name. Mostly we see fundamentalists practicing rigidly with little understanding of the deeper meaning of the scripture, and liberals who are not so concerned with the same type of adherence, yet have a better grasp on what the scripture says and means. Unfortunately, neither group exhibits much spiritual realization. Practice based on little or wrong understanding will not yield much result, and intellectual understanding without practice is also of little value.