So any house he would stand before, and those who were milking, they would give him a glass of milk. That's all—finished, for the whole day. That was Śukadeva Gosvāmī's practice. So in this way one has to depend . . . in the renounced order of life, one has to depend completely on God. That's all. That is renounced order.
So here all the five husbands, how much responsible they were. Because their one wife was insulted, they declared the war, Battle of Kurukṣetra, and killed the whole family. Similarly, Lord Rāmacandra, His wife was kidnapped, Sītā, by Rāvaṇa. So Lord Rāmacandra is God. He could create many millions of Sītās. But no. For that one Sītā, war was declared against Rāvaṇa, and the whole family dynasty with kingdom, everything was finished. So this is the duty of the husband, that . . . not like the modern days' husband: marries for three months; on the sixth month, they were no more husband. Not like that. Husband means one who takes charge of the girl for life, and wife means the girl who has the resolution to serve the husband throughout life. That is husband and wife. And when the wife is in danger, the husband's duty is to give protection, at any cost. That is husband-wife relationship.
But when one is going to retire, that is another thing. Because life is divided into four parts: brahmacārī, gṛhastha, vānaprastha and sannyāsa. So woman has got three positions. They require protection. Women is never allowed to become in renounced order of life. No. They are supposed to be under the care of somebody. So early age under the care of father, young age under the care of husband, and old age under the care of grown-up children, sons. This is woman's position. They remain always under the care of. So Draupadī was being taken care of, their husbands, but when the husbands were going for renounced order of life, anapekṣatām, without caring, she could understand, "Now I will be uncared for. No more . . . my husbands are no more in duty bound to give me protection." She could understand. Tadājñāya. She could understand.
And there is no such obligation. That is the sanction of the śāstra.
- devarṣi-bhūtāpta-nṛṇāṁ pitṟṇāṁ
- nāyam ṛṇī na kiṅkaro rājan
- sarvātmanā yaḥ śaraṇaṁ śaraṇyaṁ
- gato mukundaṁ parihṛtya kartam
- (SB 11.5.41)
We have got so many duties. So long we are not fully surrendered to Kṛṣṇa . . . it is not that this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to give shelter to some irresponsible man who does not carry the responsibilities of family life or brahmacārī life. But that is now forgotten. Everything is topsy-turvy. So Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that kṛṣṇa-bhakti, Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, may be offered even to the caṇḍāla. Caṇḍāla means the lowest of the human society, the dog-eaters. A caṇḍāla. This is the, mean, benefit of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement can be accepted by anyone, and it can be bestowed to anyone, without any discrimination. Without any discrimination. And that is happening. We have no discrimination that, "This movement is meant for such-and-such class of men or such-and-such nation or such-and-such country." No. It is meant for everyone. And anyone who takes to the shelter of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he is happy.