A man has got attraction for woman; a woman has got attraction for man. This is nature's bondage. Shackle. And when they are actually united, either by the father, mother, or by their own way, that shackle, that attraction, increases. Puṁsaḥ striyā mithunī-bhāvam etaṁ tayor mitho hṛdaya-granthim āhuḥ. Hṛdaya-granthim. Knot in the heart. "She is my wife." "He is my husband." Of course, now that knot is very slack. Formerly it was very strong because the woman was not allowed to mix with any other man, and the man was also not allowed with any other woman. This intermingling has slackened even that knot, hṛdaya-granthim. Therefore, even trifle cases, quarrel between husband and wife, there is divorce. Because that unity is not very strong now. That is good. Some way or other, it is slackened. So this "own-menship" comes from bodily concept of life.
Husband of... (Lectures)
Lectures
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures
Pradyumna (leads chanting, etc.):
- pāpam evāśrayed asmān
- hatvaitān ātatāyinaḥ
- tasmān nārha vayaṁ hantuṁ
- dhārtarāṣṭrān svabāndhavān
- svajanaṁ hi kathaṁ hatvā
- sukhinaḥ syāma mādhava
- (BG 1.36)
Translation: "Sin will overcome us if we slay such aggressors. Therefore it is not proper for us to kill the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra and our friends. What should we gain, O Kṛṣṇa, husband of the goddess of fortune, and how could we be happy by killing our own kinsmen?"
Prabhupāda: So pāpam eva. Pāpam means sinful activities, and puṇyam is pious. So people should consider in every activity, whether it is pāpam or puṇyam, whether it is virtuous or sinful activities. But the asuras, they do not know. Pravṛttiṁ ca nivṛttiṁ ca na vidur asurā janāḥ (BG 16.7). Those who are asuras, they do not care what is sinful or what is right. "I like it; I must do it." This is asura. There is no reference to the authorities, whether the action which I am going to do, whether it is pious or impious. Because by impious activities I will be degraded. Adho gacchanti tamasaḥ (BG 14.18).
And he is explaining why. Pāpam eva āśrayed asmān. "Because these are bāndhavān." Sva-bāndhavān dhārtarāṣṭrān. The dhārtarāṣṭrān means the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Duryodhana and others. So sva-bāndhavān. "They are our family members, bāndhavān." Sva-janaṁ hi kathaṁ hatvā sukhinaḥ syāma mādhava (BG 1.36). "Mādhava, my dear Mādhava, You are the husband of the goddess of fortune. So you are always very happy. Do you think I shall become happy by killing my own men? Do you think like that?" Because friend and friend talking.
So this is the position. Just see, they were ātatāyinaḥ, aggressor. There is no doubt about it. Because these dhārtarāṣṭrān, the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, they insulted Draupadi. Arjuna's wife. There was betting. The wife was betting. So they defeated, they were defeated in the chess play, and the wife was taken by the other party. So Karṇa took the opportunity. Because during Draupadi's svayamvara, Karṇa was insulted by Draupadi.
He is considering, he is consulting with Kṛṣṇa that "Do you think that killing this kind of aggressor, I will be benefitted or not?" Therefore in the last line he said, sva-janaṁ hi kathaṁ hatvā sukhinaḥ syāma mādhava: (BG 1.36) "My dear Kṛṣṇa, do you think by killing my family men, my relatives, shall I be happy? You are Mādhava. You are always happy because You are husband of goddess of fortune. But do you think I shall be happy in this way?" This is consultation.
So this is the proof of Arjuna's character, a devotee's character. A devotee is always devatā, demigod. So one who is devotee, one who is Kṛṣṇa conscious, sarvair guṇais tatra samāsate surāḥ (SB 5.18.12). Sura means devatā. All the good qualities of devatā. A devotee of Kṛṣṇa will never accept that killing is very good. No. "For the satisfaction of my tongue, I shall kill so many animals." A devotee will never accept. Ahiṁśa. Ahiṁśa. That is the third quality. Amānitvam adambhitvaṁ ahiṁśā kṣāntir ārjavam (BG 13.8).
You need not change your present occupation. Just like the example, this Singhania family, they do not change. They are doing just like ordinary... But they are always spiritually conscious. The aim is, aim is toward Kṛṣṇa. That is very nice example. It is very ordinary. Everyone will understand it. Now, suppose a man or woman is in love, and the man is a third person, beyond the husband of the wife, beyond the, of the woman. Now, it is a, it is a example given in scripture that the woman who is fallen in love, the woman of man with other woman, other man, opposite sex. So he may be engaged in so many duties, but his mind is always to that point when he or she will meet his lover. With all his duty, or her duties, during the daytime, she or he always thinks, "Oh, when that moment will come when we shall meet together?" That means the mind is always there. The example is said because when there is ecstasy, when there is ecstasy of love, even within our, within the midst of our multifarious duties, we can remember that thing always.
Vāsāṁsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya (BG 2.22). Just like we change our dress, similarly, we change our body. And as soon as we change our body, now, we forget everything. Death means forgetfulness. That's all. Just like at night, when you sleep, you forget yourself. You forget yourself that "I am the father of such and such children, I am the husband of such and such..." You dream that you are in a different place. Sometimes you are on the sea, sometimes on the sky, sometimes on something. You forget yourself. You forget yourself. Again, when you wake up, oh, you remember, "Oh, I am such and such person. I have to do such and such and such and such..." So this is going on. So death means forgetfulness. That's all.
Now, at the present moment, I am covered by, I am embarrassed by so many designations. My senses are engaged in performing or satisfying my designational position. "I am American." "I am Indian." "I am Hindu." "I am Muslim." "I am the father of such and such." "I am the husband of such and..." So my position is now embarrassed with so many designations. So my senses are engaged in satisfying or fulfilling the obligation of this, mean, embarrassment. Now, when these senses are purified by Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then like Arjuna we shall say, "Yes." Kariṣye vacanaṁ tava: (BG 18.73) "Now I am prepared to satisfy Your senses. I am not going to satisfy any more my senses." That is the difference between spiritual promotion to the highest state and the lowest grade of life. And this you'll find in the Bhagavad-gītā very nicely, how he's improving, how he's improving...
Otherwise, God is here. Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena. Tat-paratvena nirmalam (Bs. 5.38). Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11). Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam (CC Madhya 19.170). Now I want to see Kṛṣṇa, but I want to keep my identity as member of this family or member of this nation or father of this child or husband of this wife. So I keep myself in this material condition, and I want to see God. That is offense. So we have to first of all become clear of all designation.
Nighttime also, when we sleep, we forget all our business in daytime. We have got everyday experience. We are different person at night. We are dreaming something, dreamland, somewhere I have gone, and forget that I have got a body which is lying on the bed, I am the father of such and such sons, I am the husband of such and such... No, you forget everything. And again, in the daytime, you forget everything, what you dreamed. This is our practical experience.
Similarly, we had our last birth, but we have forgotten. But Kṛṣṇa does not forget. That is the difference between Kṛṣṇa and the living entities. I have explained already. We forget because we change body. Tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13). Dehāntara-prāptiḥ, we do not know what kind of body I had in my last life or what kind of body I am going to accept next life, but there is the law: tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ. But Kṛṣṇa does not forget. He knows. That is perfect knowledge. And because we are imperfect, we do not... When we'll be perfect also, we'll remember.
Just like Kṛṣṇa takes the incarnation of becoming a pig, but that does not mean He is a pig. Ordinary conception of pig we have got. Or He takes the incarnation of a fish, but that does not mean He's ordinary fish.
So similarly, He comes here as a human being, as son of Nanda Mahārāja, or husband of Rukmiṇī, or son of Vasudeva, but actually, He is nobody's son. He is everybody's father. He is the origin. Nobody can be cause of His creation. This idea should be understood. And if anyone understands that Kṛṣṇa, or God, is not under any rules and regulation and laws of this material world, then he understands Kṛṣṇa perfectly.
Just like Kṛṣṇa performed the rāsa dance. At the midnight many young girls came by hearing His flute, and He danced with them. This is, from Vedic standard, it is not very moral. Because at dead of night, with others' wives or sisters or daughters, to dance... Kṛṣṇa was young. That is not very good example from Vedic principles.
So in this way, when they came back, one day the old man proposed to his eldest son that "Your youngest sister should be married with that boy. That I have promised." Oh, the eldest son of that old man become very angry: "Oh, how you have selected that boy to be husband of my sister? He's unfit. He's poor man. He's not so educated. Oh, this cannot take place." He did not agree. Then the mother of the girl, he(she) came to the old man: "Oh, if you get my daughter married with that boy, then I shall commit suicide." Now the old man is perplexed. Then, one day, the boy was anxious that "The old man promised before the Deity. Now he is not coming." So he... One day he came to his house: "Well, my dear sir, you promised before the Lord, Kṛṣṇa, and you are not fulfilling your promise? How is that?" The old man was silent because he was praying to Kṛṣṇa that "I am now perplexed. If I persist in offering this daughter to this boy, now there will be great trouble in my family." So he was silent.
We find out from the śāstra that Nārāyaṇa has got four hands. So where is your four hands? You are claiming to become Nārāyaṇa. So where are your four hands? Just manifest your four hands at least so that we can understand you are Nārāyaṇa. (chuckles) No. Without four hands. And Nārāyaṇa is Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa. He's the husband of Lakṣmī, the goddess of fortune. So where is your goddess of fortune? You are begging from door to door. Where is your goddess of fortune? You have become Nārāyaṇa. This kind of God and Nārāyaṇa is going on, bluffing.
But we are not bluffed in that way. We follow the shastric injunction, what is Nārāyaṇa. We cannot accept Nārāyaṇa as daridra. Daridra-nārāyaṇa. What is this? Nārāyaṇa is the husband of the goddess of fortune.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
The family head is the... Actually, he is servant of his wife, of his children or of his even servants. He is servant, but he is thinking that "I am the master of this family." In your country especially, if the husband cannot satisfy the wife, immediately there is divorce. So although in the name one is husband of the wife, but actually he is servant of the wife. The head of the family, just to keep the family members satisfied, he must be ready to serve all of them. If he dissatisfies any one of the family members, even to the servant, the whole family is disturbed. Therefore, constitutionally, we are all servant, but we are serving misguidedly the senses. Why I serve my wife? Because she gives me facility of sense gratification. Actually, I do not serve even my wife, but I will serve my own senses. In this way, if you make an analytical study of everyone, you will find that everyone is engaged to serve his senses.
Kṛṣṇa says, dharmāviruddhaḥ kāmaḥ. Lust, lust which is sanctioned by religious principles... Sanctioned means... This is sanction: you can have sex life in married life, not otherwise. If you want, more wife. But not more husband. No, that is not allowed. More wife is allowed. A man can have more wives, but woman cannot have more husband. Of course, in special cases, that is another... But generally, this is the rule. This is Vedic civilization. So as far as possible, we shall try to avoid this illicit sex, because that is very detrimental for advancing in the path of spiritual life. Therefore our first principle is no illicit sex. Mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimuktes tamo-dvāraṁ yoṣitāṁ saṅgi-saṅgam.
So things are difficult, at the same time very easy, provided we are determined that "In this life, I shall go back to home, back to Godhead." So these are the processes. So?
So this Parāśara actually was not husband of Satyavatī. When Satyavatī was not married, Parāśara gave birth to Vyāsadeva. Later on Satyavatī became the wife of Mahārāja Śantanu, father of Bhīṣmadeva. This Satyavatī was the daughter of a fisherman. She was neither born of a brāhmaṇa father or kṣatriya father. So formerly, a higher-caste man could accept a girl born of lower caste, but a lower-caste man could not accept a girl born of higher caste. That was the system. Because in the śāstra it is... Ordinary, I mean to say, instructive śāstra.
Just like Cāṇakya, in his moral lessons, he says that viṣād apy amṛtaṁ grāhyam. When there is a tub of poison, but, if there is little nectar, then you take it. Don't think that "It is in the poison pot, why shall I take it?" No, you can take it. Viṣād apy amṛtaṁ grāhyam amedhyād api kāñcanam. Suppose in a very filthy place where people pass stool, urine, there is some gold. So you should take it. Don't think that because the gold is in the polluted place, gold has become polluted. No. You take it. Viṣād apy amṛtaṁ grāhyam amedhyād api kāñcanam, nīcād apy uttamā vidyā. Vidyā, education, was to be received from a brāhmaṇa, because it was the brāhmaṇa's business to become highly learned scholar and make others educated.
And Deity worship and going to the temple is bogus." You may think like that. But that, your opening of hospital is sinful. That is going on nowadays. One becomes very great philanthropist, rejecting... They say, "What is the use of this temple worship?" The daridra-nārāyaṇa-sevā. Nārāyaṇa has now become daridra. Formerly Nārāyaṇa was husband of the goddess of fortune. And now he has become daridra. So serve this Nārāyaṇa. This, they're manufacturing, concoction. This is not... That means sinful activities. Because he has manufactured something, that is sinful. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says plainly that "You rascal, you give up any other engagement, even if you think it is very pious activity, very philanthropic. You give up." Sarva-dharmān. Sarva means whatever you think pious and whatever you think impious, both of them should be given up. Because there are two kinds of activities: pious or impious. And sarva includes pious and impious.
He is not for you." So anyway, he accepted all the fifty daughters. In this way he became very elevated householder. But at some time he began to think, "What is my, this enjoyment? Simply by seeing the sex affairs of the fish... I was a yogi, I was a tapasvī, I've lost everything. Now I am a householder and pet husband of these women." So he came to his senses. Again he went to the forest for tapasya.
So this material life, however opulent it may be, it is māyā-mohita-cetasaḥ. It has no value. It has no value. Why? Because in this life I may be very favorably situated by arrangement by improving my material condition. But after death—dehāntara-prāptiḥ (BG 2.13)—you do not know, we do not know what kind of body we are going to get. It may not be as comfortable. So karmīs, they, those who are little advanced than the ordinary foolish persons... There are... First of all, ordinary foolish person means animals. They are just like animals.
So therefore it was enquired by Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja... There is a verse in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that... This question was raised by Parīkṣit Mahārāja to Śukadeva Gosvāmī. So "Your Honor, we see just the opposite thing, that one who is devotee of Lord Viṣṇu, the wife, the husband of the goddess of fortune, they become gradually poorer." Because a Vaiṣṇava, generally, they remain humble and poor, brāhmaṇa also. "Whereas the worshiper of Lord Śiva..." Lord Śiva means..., at least, he voluntarily accepts all poverty. His wife is Durgā devī, so powerful. Sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya-sādhana-śaktir ekā (Bs. 5.44). She can make a new universe, she is so powerful. But this couple, Lord Śiva and Pārvatī, they have no house even to live. They live under the tree, so poor, no residential house even. "So when one becomes devotee of Lord Śiva, he gets material opulence. He becomes rich. He gets good wife. He gets all material opulences. And when one becomes the devotee of Viṣṇu, the husband of goddess of fortune, he becomes poor. Why this contradiction? This is contradiction.
This is the secret. Tatra tiṣṭhāmi nārada yatra gāyanti mad-bhaktāḥ. So we, if we keep ourself pure devotee, without any other desire, material desire, then you should know that Kṛṣṇa is present there. And as soon as Kṛṣṇa is present there, then, on account of His presence, all opulences are there. Kṛṣṇa is Mādhava. Mādhava means the husband of the goddess of fortune, Rādhā-Mādhava. So try to keep Kṛṣṇa always. Then all opulence is automatically there. Yaṁ labdhvā cāparaṁ lābhaṁ manyate nādhikaṁ tataḥ. If you can gain Kṛṣṇa... This is intelligence. The devotees, they don't want to become very powerful yogi, mystic yogi by practicing gymnastic. No, they don't require it. Simply peacefully, if we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, then everything is there.
Just like Haridāsa Ṭhākura. He did not visit Jagannātha Temple. He considered himself... Or there was some agitation that "This man belonged to the Muhammadan family, and now he is trying to enter the Jagannātha Temple. There will be some roar."
I belong to this color, I belong to..." So many things we have created, there is no possibility of become Kṛṣṇa conscious. No. So long I shall think, "I am American," "I am Indian," "I am African," then we are attached. So long I am thinking that "I belong to this family, that family," then I'm attached. So long I'm thinking, "I'm father of this, mother of this, husband of this, wife of this," that is attachment.
So we have... These are designations. Because I am spirit soul. All these attachments, they belong to the body. But I am not this body. That is the essence of understanding. If I am not this body, then I am whose father? If I am not this body, then I am whose mother? The supreme father, mother is Kṛṣṇa. We are simply playing the part of father, mother, sister, this, that. They're on the stage. The māyā, the material nature, is causing to dance like this, that "You are father of this, you are mother of this, you are member of this family, member of this nation." This is our dancing, monkey's dancing. Yes.
So Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira is very much repentant: "I have killed so many men, and they are, some of them are father, some of them are brother, some of them are sons, some of them are husbands of the women. And because I have killed them, now this woman class, they have become friendless." So he is... Just see how much he is aggrieved, thinking of the condition of the woman. And people accuse that India, woman are considered just like slaves. Just see. The king is thinking of woman so seriously, and is it a fact that in India woman is taken as slaves? Who cares for the slaves? So much anxiety. And that is king. Yes. A king shall give protection to everyone, especially those who are helpless.
Our Nārāyaṇa is not daridra. Daridra means poor. Here our Nārāyaṇa is described. Our Nārāyaṇa is not... Here it is... He is... Tatrākhila-sātvatāṁ patiṁ śriyaḥ patiṁ yajña-patiṁ jagat-patim. He is not daridra. How He can be poor? He is jagat-pati. He is the master, He's the Lord. He is the proprietor of all universes, jagat-pati. Śriyaḥ pati. He is the husband of the goddess of fortune. So how He can be poor? Just see how they concoct word, daridra-nārāyaṇa. Simply bogus. Here it is stated that God is śriyaḥ patim. Śriyaḥ means all opulences—all riches, all fame, all strength. He is the master of... Śriyaḥ patim. Yajña-patim. Bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvar... (BG 5.29). Yajña-patim. Yajña means who accepts only sacrifices. Yajña-patim. And jagat-patim. This is the description of the Lord. How He can be poor? But they describe as daridra-nārāyaṇa. Wherefrom this word was concocted?
The, this desire, that "I shall become one with the Supreme," that is also material desire. That is not spiritual desire. That is artificial.
Now, just like we want to beco..., to hold very big post. So when we are baffled, then we want to become one with the Supreme, Nārāyaṇa. That means "Nārāyaṇa is the husband of Lakṣmī, so I shall become the husband of Lakṣmī. Now, in this material world, I am hankering after Lakṣmī, but I could not get it. Now let me become the husband of..." This is their theory. They want to become Nārāyaṇa. Such a foolish theory. Nārāyaṇa is the Lakṣmī-pati. Can anyone attempt to enjoy Lakṣmījī? Because they are not bhaktas, they think like that, this rascaldom. How I can be Nārāyaṇa? That is not possible.
That is their foolishness. At least you must show the four hands of Nārāyaṇa. Where is your four hand? You are begging, and you are Nārāyaṇa? What kind of Nārāyaṇa you are? Now daridra-nārāyaṇa they have manufactured. "Yes, I am Nārāyaṇa, but daridra-nārāyaṇa." But we do not know daridra-nārāyaṇa. Nārāyaṇa is Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa. He is the husband of Lakṣmī.
So they manufacture all these concocted ideas. Therefore it is called māninaḥ. They are thinking they have become liberated. Vimukta-māninaḥ. They are ordinary living being, but they can befool some foolish persons. But they are not liberated. They are under the spell of māyā. Māyā is dictating. Just like in the material world, māyā is dictating, "Now you are prime minister. Now you are president. Now you are very rich man, so your life is..." (break) Then you can surrender. Yes. Mattaḥ... Actually, He is na mattaḥ paratara... That is fact.
And they have got different types of activities—hands, legs, tongue, ear, eyes. And above these, there is ahaṅkāra, false ego in the material world. The eleven senses, and the twelfth is the false ego. The false ego means I am thinking, "I am this body. I am body." Then expansion of body: "I belong to this family"; "I am the husband of this body"; "I am the father of this body"; "I am the brother of this body." Or "I belong to this nation"; "I belong to this species." This is called twelfth conception. It is different consciousness according to different body. And then "It is mine." With all these eleven senses, I form an idea of "I" and then my possession, "mine." Ahaṁ mameti (SB 5.5.8). Janasya moho 'yam. This is called illusion, māyā.
So mind, it is expansion of the mind, different way. Mānasa-vṛtti. This is called the characteristic of the mind. Then subtle action of mind: thinking, feeling, willing.
That's all. Then when he becomes helpless, he becomes firmly convinced and he has no other shelter." Then automatically he takes shelter of Kṛṣṇa, what Kṛṣṇa demands, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām (BG 18.66). When he has no other help, he fully surrenders to Kṛṣṇa. That is Kṛṣṇa's special mercy. And so far Lord Śiva is concerned, he is the husband of mother Durgā, and Durgā is the supreme material power, sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya sādhana-śaktir ekā chāyeva yasya bhuvanāni vibharti durgā (Bs. 5.44). So he gets all material benediction, and Vaiṣṇava, instead of material benediction, he gets all spiritual benediction. That is the difference.
So in the previous verse it has been described that kas taṁ svayaṁ tad-abhijño vipaścid. The guardian should be abhijñaḥ, and vipaścit, very learned. The government, the father, the guru, the teacher, or even husband of... Because we are guided, everyone is guided by somebody else. That is society. Not cats and dogs. Just like the cats and dogs, they give birth to the children and then they have no responsibility. The dogs are loitering in the street; nobody takes care. But human society should not be like that. There must be responsible guardians. The some of the responsible guardians are described here. First of all, guru. Either you take ordinary teacher in the school or colleges, they are also called guru, and the sublime guru is the spiritual master. Not only the spiritual master, but anyone who has taken the post of becoming guru to teach others, he must be very learned, very responsible, vipaścit, abhijñaḥ. Abhijñātaḥ, it is the qualification of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As it is said in the beginning of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, abhijñaḥ. Janmādy asya yataḥ 'nvayād itarataś ca artheṣu abhijñaḥ (SB 1.1.1). The controller must be abhijñaḥ.
Kānyakubja is still existing. That is also historical place. That place is now known as Kanauj. Yes. (some discussion in Hindi) "In the city of Kānyakubja, formerly there was a brāhmaṇa." Kānyakubje dvijaḥ kaścit. "There was a brāhmaṇa." Āsīd dāsī-patir ajāmilaḥ. Dāsī-pati means one who keeps woman; it is not married. He kept one woman, dāsī; therefore he was the husband of a dāsī. He was living with a woman who was not married wife. So a brāhmaṇa of the name Ajāmila who was husband of a kept woman, kānyakubje dvijaḥ kaścid dāsī-patir ajāmilaḥ, nāmnā naṣṭa-sadācāraḥ. But he lost all good qualification of a brāhmaṇa. That is the result of illegitimate connection with woman.
Sad-ācāra, just like we are teaching sad-ācāra, rise early in the morning, taking a bath, change your cloth, wash your mouth, and then go to the Deity room and have maṅgala arotika, then study, so many, so many..., simply sad-ācāra. Sad-ācāra means, sat means "that will exist," and ācāra means "behavior." Sad-ācāra So here it is said that Ajamila, he became the husband of a prostitute. It is not the sastric injunction. You can become husband, but not the husband of a prostitute. Then your life is finished. Naṣṭa sad-ācāra. You will be lost all... Therefore so much stress is given that wife should be chaste and husband should be very well behaved, then life will be successful. Arjuna argued with Kṛṣṇa that "You're asking me to kill my brothers and relatives on the other side, so don't You think that if I kill them, their wives will be widowed and they'll be polluted? And as soon as they'll be polluted, there will be varṇa-saṅkara." Varṇa-saṅkara, the practical example of varṇa-saṅkara is the hippies in your country: no caste, no creed, neither useful for the material world, neither useful for the spiritual. That is called varṇa-saṅkara.
So this chaste woman and this sad-ācāra, brāhmaṇa, ideal is brāhmaṇa, he'll become married. Then there will be peace, there will be progress, there will be peace in the society, peace in the family. There is a poetry in English, "Society, friendship and love, divine (indistinct)." But that society is not this society. If we become husband of the prostitute, no, that is not possible. Then sad-ācāra will be finished. Nāmnā sad-ācāra. Dāsyāḥ saṁsarga-dūṣitaḥ: as soon as you become associated with prostitute, then everything will be lost. Sad-ācāra means your progress in spiritual life is lost. Therefore we are stressing so much on the four avoidances: no illicit sex, no meat-eating, no intoxication, no gambling. This is the way. If you are serious... But if you take it as a fashion, that is another thing. But if you take it seriously to progress, then these things will done. This is the basic principle of spiritual progress. Otherwise we shall learn, bandy-akṣaiḥ kaitavaiś cauryair garhitāṁ vṛttim āsthitaḥ, bibhrat kuṭumbam aśucir... Aśuci, aśuci. Aśuci means unclean. Spiritual life means purification.
No botheration." So he's trained properly, but still if he has desire, then he's allowed to become a gṛhastha. That is also for a limited time. The whole plan is how to stop, because as soon as here, that Ajāmila, he was not properly married, he became the husband of a prostitute. But there are ten children, but he's entangled with the family, with children, and now he's engaged bhuñjānaḥ prapiban khādan bālakaṁ sneha-yantritaḥ, one after another. First of all sex desire, puṁsaḥ striyā mithunī-bhāvam etam (SB 5.5.8).
This world, what is this world, material world? The material means sex desire. That's all. The woman is hunting after man, and the man is hunting after woman. Either in human society or bird society or beast society or dog society or cat society, the principle is sex. And the human society means to understand this, that what is the basic principle of material life. If we understand it is sex, therefore we have to cut down the sex desire gradually by becoming brahmacārī, gṛhastha, vānaprastha, sannyāsa. This is the process. Otherwise, if I do not know what is the cause of my material bondage, then how we can take remedy? This is the cause, puṁsaḥ striyā mithunī-bhāvam etam. The desire is there. As soon as one is grown up, reaching youthful time, the sex desire is very strong, very strong. So they unite, a man..., a boy finds out a girl, a girl finds out a boy.
Nitāi: "As the order carriers of Yamarāja were snatching out the soul from the core of the heart of Ajāmila, the husband of the prostitute, the order carriers of Viṣṇu forbade them with great resounding voices to do so."
Prabhupāda:
- vikarṣato 'ntar hṛdayād
- dāsī-patim ajāmilam
- yama-preṣyān viṣṇudūtā
- vārayām āsur ojasā
- (SB 6.1.31)
So when the order carriers of Yamarāja were trying to take away Ajāmila from this world to the other lower planetary system... Below this universe there are many planetary systems. They are called Pātāla, Atala, Vitala, Talātala, Rasātala, Mahātala, Sutala—seven layers. So below that layers there is hellish planets. Just like up there are heavenly planets, similarly, down there are hellish planets. So Yamarāja, his kingdom, his jurisdiction, is within these hellish planets.
"There is no disagreement between husband and wife." If these three things are there, then you haven't got to pray to the goddess of fortune, "Kindly be merciful." She will automatically come. "Here is a very nice place. I shall stay here."
So this Ajāmila, he was dāsī-pati. He was a husband of a prostitute. So he was not happy. He was attached. Another thing is... That is also Cāṇakya Paṇḍita. He says, duṣṭā-bhāryā. Duṣṭā-bhāryā means this prostitute. Duṣṭā, who is polluted by another man, he is called duṣṭā. Strīṣu duṣṭāsu varṇa-saṅkaraḥ abhibhavāt. Therefore human civilization must be very careful that the women may not become polluted. Strīṣu duṣṭāsu. Duṣṭā means she is not satisfied with husband. She wants new, new. That is called duṣṭā. So Cāṇakya Paṇḍita says, duṣṭā-bhāryā: "If the wife is duṣṭā," duṣṭā-bhāryā śaṭhaṁ mitram, "and friend is śaṭham, hypocrite, talking very friendly, but he has got something, design..." That is called śaṭhaṁ mitram. Śaṭham means hypocrite.
Pradyumna: "The order carriers of Yamarāja were snatching the soul from the core of the heart of Ajāmila, the husband of the prostitute. But with resounding voices the messengers of Lord Viṣṇu, the Viṣṇudūtas, forbade them to do so."
Prabhupāda:
- vikarṣato 'ntar hṛdayād
- dāsī-patim ajāmilam
- yama-preṣyān viṣṇudūta
- vārayām āsur ojasā
- (SB 6.1.31)
So the Yamadūtas were dragging Ajāmila—not this body, but the soul. Body will stay there, but the soul (indistinct). Now wherefrom? Vikarṣato antar hṛdayād. From the core of the heart. Now, from the śāstra you can understand where the soul is. Soul is not in the brain, not in the here, there. No. Therefore when the soul is taken away, going away from the heart, we say "heart failure." Heart failure means the soul has gone. The soul lives in the heart. This is proof from the śāstra. Not only the soul, but the Supersoul also is there. Supersoul is God, Kṛṣṇa, and the individual soul, they're living together. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe (BG 18.61). Īśvara, the Supreme Lord, He's also there, very minute form, aṇor aṇīyān mahato mahīyān. The dimension of the soul is also mentioned in the śāstra: one ten thousandth part of the tip of a hair.
The welfare activities are increasing, and the candidates for receiving the welfare, they are increasing. You are trying to serve the daridra-nārāyaṇa, but actually the number of daridra-nārāyaṇas are increasing daily. So that is the position. Here, practically, Nārāyaṇa cannot be daridra. That is another illusion. Nārāyaṇa is the husband of the goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī. How He can be daridra? It is also manufactured word. Lakṣmī-sahasra-śata-sambhrama-sevyamānaṁ govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi (Bs. 5.29). Here we keep one Lakṣmī, but as soon as there is any little discrepancy, the Lakṣmī immediately becomes angry and there is divorce. Practically there is no respect from the side of Lakṣmī to the so-called daridra-nārāyaṇa. But there, thousands and thousands of Lakṣmīs are very respectfully serving the Lord. You'll read in the story of Rukmiṇī, the prime Lakṣmī of Lord Kṛṣṇa.
Now, just like Hiraṇyakaśipu, Rāvaṇa. Rāvaṇa was materially very much powerful, but he defied Rāma: "What is Rāma? I am more than Rāma. I shall kidnap His wife, and I shall enjoy." So this is Rāvaṇa, Rāvaṇa spirit. Sītā... Sītā is Lakṣmī. Lakṣmī is the goddess of fortune. So God is the husband of the goddess of fortune, and goddess of fortune is under His control. Lakṣmī-sahasra-śata-sambhrama-sevyamānam (Bs. 5.29). Thousands and millions of goddesses of fortune are serving the Supreme Lord, and I am thinking that "God has become poor, daridra, daridra-nārāyaṇa." And what...? Nārāyaṇa, He is so great authority that His words are accepted as Vedic truth, and He has become daridra? These are all demonic declarations.
So sincere..., those who are actually followers of Vedas, they should understand that there is no difference between the Lord and His words—absolute.
So the purport is that yadā nārāyaṇa āyeti jagāda catur-akṣaram. So Ajāmila was benefited, although he did not know the distinction between pious and impious activities on account of too much attachment with this material world. He was the husband of a prostitute, and he got some children. So to maintain the family and children he used to adopt any means. Never mind. He did not know what is sinful and what is not sinful. But his only credit was that he was chanting "Nārāyaṇa." He was chanting "Nārāyaṇa." It does not mean knowingly we shall commit sinful activities and chant "Nārāyaṇa." It is not meant, that. He did not know what is sin, what is not sin, what is Nārāyaṇa, but circumstantially he was doing all the sinful activities; at the same time he was chanting "Nārāyaṇa." This is by accident. He did not know that "I am becoming sinless by chanting Nārāyaṇa." He did not have that concept.
So this is the special mercy for the unalloyed devotee. So unalloyed devotee means anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam, sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam (Brs. 1.1.11). Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam (CC Madhya 19.170). Upādhi means artificially. "I am the husband of this wife." "I am the father of these children." "I am the inhabitants of America." "I am American." "I am Hindu." "I am Muslim." "I am Christian." "I am brāhmaṇa." "I am fat." "I am thin." "I am white." "I am black." So many. These are all upādhis. So one has to become free from these upādhi. "I am not this. I am not that. I am not this." Then what you are? Gopī-bhartur pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsa. When one becomes like that... "I am the servant of the servant of the servant of Kṛṣṇa, gopī-bhartuḥ (CC Madhya 13.80)." This is called paramparā system. This is our real identification. Caitanya Mahāprabhu gave. Sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam (CC Madhya 19.170). So if you want to be happy, you cannot become happy by your so-called endeavor, by tidbits: "This I will do and I will be happy." No, this is all nonsense. You can be happy only when you fully surrender to Kṛṣṇa without any abhilāṣa.
Their house was set in fire, the other party, his cousin brothers. So Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja, the eldest brother of the Pāṇḍavas... Practically this question was raised by Parīkṣit Mahārāja to Śukadeva Gosvāmī. The question was that Viṣṇu or Nārāyaṇa, He's the supreme opulent, Lakṣmī-pati, the husband of the goddess of fortune. So persons who are Viṣṇu-bhakta or Vaiṣṇava, why they become poorer? Why this contradiction? And the devotees of Lord Śiva... Śiva presents himself as the poorest man. He has no dwelling house even. He lives underneath a tree. And his wife Durgā, she is the proprietor of this universe. She is also following the husband. She has also agreed to live underneath the tree. Never complains, "Oh, my dear Śiva, you don't construct a house even. What is this?" She also agrees. That means they live very, in a wretched, poor condition. So this was the question of Parīkṣit Mahārāja, that those who are worshiper of this wretched Lord Śiva—not wretched, but he places himself in such condition—they become very opulent materially.
This is brahmacārī's... And jitendriya, self-controlled. That is the brahmacārī. He is not agitated by the senses. The whole practice is to control the senses. That is Vedic civilization. I have several times explained that senses cannot be let loose. Senses must be controlled. That is called swami or gosvāmī. Swami does not mean that "I am the swami, husband of my wife, and I can use her to my best capacity." No. Swami means the master of the senses. That is called swami or gosvāmī. Go means senses, and svāmī... Everyone in this material world is controlled by the senses. That is material world. We cannot control our senses. The tongue is dry and dictating, "Take a cigarette, take a cigarette," and immediately I begin to smoke. That means I am dictated by the tongue. Then tongue, then belly. The belly is filled up, and still, there is some nice food stuff—"All right, let me eat." Control, cannot control.
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures
That means he has diminished the opulence and value of God. Suppose if I call a third-class man "His Majesty," then what is that? This word, "His Majesty," is misused. Just like they are saying, daridra-nārāyaṇa. The foolish Ramakrishna mission has, I mean to say, discovered a word, daridra-nārāyaṇa, "poor Nārāyaṇa." Nārāyaṇa, who is the husband of many thousands of goddess of fortune, He has become poor. Just see the theory. You can ask Nikhilananda what is the meaning of daridra-nārāyaṇa. They have discovered. Vivekananda has discovered. Nārāyaṇa has become poor. When you ask him, "Why do you call daridra-nārāyaṇa?" they will explain like that, "Because Nārāyaṇa is there, therefore Nārāyaṇa has become daridra." Just see. Suppose a rich man comes into this store, so he becomes poor just like us. Because he has kindly come here in this store, so because we are all poor men, he'll also becomes poor man? This is the reason. But these are all nonsense. Nārāyaṇa never becomes poor.
Without any hesitation, he began to compose Sanskrit verses in praising Ganges. So he composed about one hundred verses immediately while talking.
So out of the one hundred verses, on the sixty-fourth verse Lord Caitanya pointed out, "Will you kindly explain this line? I am little in difficulty to understand." What is that? There was a word, bhavānī-bhartā. Bhavānī-bhartā. Bhavānī... Means "husband of Bhavānī." So Caitanya Mahāprabhu pointed out that Bhavānī... "Bhava means Lord Śiva, and bhavānī means Lord Śiva's wife, and bhartā means husband. So this bhavānī word itself indicates that she is the wife of Lord Śiva, and why you have stated again bhartā, again 'husband'?" This is called dvirukti-doṣa (?). Sanskrit language is very scholarly language, reformed. You cannot deviate even a line, even a letter in the sense, in the poetry, in the writing. There are all regulation, strict regulation, grammatical and metric and so many things.
Initiation Lectures
Prabhupāda: Next. Come on. (japa)
Aravinda: Sītā-Rāma dāsa.
Prabhupāda: Oh. Sītā-Rāma. Raghupati rāghava. Lord Rāmacandra, husband of Sītā. You are servant of Sītā-Rāma. Very high position. Come on. Hare Kṛṣṇa. You know the rules and regulations? All right. Thank you. Next.
Aravinda: Puṣpavana.
Prabhupāda: Eh?
Aravinda: Puṣpavana. P-u-s-p-a-v-a-n.
Prabhupāda: Puṣpavana?
Aravinda: P-u-s-p-a-v-a-n.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Puṣpavana. Puṣpavana is the name of Cupid. He throws the arrow of flower. And Kṛṣṇa is the supreme Cupid. You know the rules and regulation? Yes. Come on. (sings softly) Rādhe jaya jaya mādhava dayite, gokula taruṇī maṇḍala... Hm?
General Lectures
In the Vedas the injunction is that if anyone wants to understand the transcendental science, he must approach to a bona fide person or a spiritual master in such humbleness as Sanātana Gosvāmī is approaching. He is born of a very high aristocratic family, but he says that "I am born very low." He's very learned man, but he says that "People say me learned man, but actually I am not." Just the position. So why he's saying that? That will be explained. Because actual learning means to know oneself. That is real knowledge. This knowledge that "I am American," "I am Indian," "I am born of this family," "I am father of this person," "husband of that lady," and this and that, so many designations, that is not real knowledge. Real knowledge is to know oneself. That is being taught by Sanātana Gosvāmī, that "I do not know what I am. I am simply identifying myself with this body. That is not real knowledge." He's presenting in that way. Read next.
Why? Why He's specially giving? Nowadays it has become a fashion, daridra-nārāyaṇa-sevā, to give protection to the daridras. That is good idea. But why you should bring Nārāyaṇa amongst the daridras? Nārāyaṇa is not daridra. Nārāyaṇa is the husband of Lakṣmī, Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa. Not only one Lakṣmī, millions of Lakṣmīs. Lakṣmī-sahasra-śata-sambhrama-sevyamānam. Cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa-lakṣāvṛteṣu surabhīr abhipālayantam (Bs. 5.29). Surabhīr abhipālaya. In the transcendental world, in Kṛṣṇaloka, there are..., there that is called goloka. Goloka means that planet is full of many cows, and those cows are known as surabhī. Surabhī. The Kṛṣṇa is habituated to take care of the cows. Just like nowadays any respectable gentleman is supposed to take care of dog, similarly, Kṛṣṇa (indistinct) take it as hobby, so He has got the hobby of giving protection to the cows. Surabhīr abhipālayantam. Lakṣmī-sahasra-śata-sambhrama-sevyamānam (Bs. 5.29).
Anyone, what to speak of with ordinary person, even personalities, big, big personalities like Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva, if one equalize Nārāyaṇa, then he is called a pāṣaṇḍī. At the present moment a poor man has been equalized with Nārāyaṇa as daridra-nārāyaṇa. So why one should say daridra-nārāyaṇa? What is the reason? Nārāyaṇa is Lakṣmī-pati, the husband of the goddess of fortune. How He can become daridra-nārāyaṇa? And where is this word in the śāstra, "daridra-nārāyaṇa"? So in this way people are being misled.
So we have to save ourself from this misconception of life. Then we can make progress in the matter of understanding what is God. Therefore we are presenting Bhagavad-gītā as it is, without any deviation, and people are appreciating. Our, this Bhagavad-gītā As It Is is being accepted by big, big scholars and professors. We have got innumerable certificates or their opinion, and it is being well received.
Philosophy Discussions
Hayagrīva: His ultimate goal is to merge into what he calls the universal ego.
Prabhupāda: That universal ego, so just like I have got some ego, "I am the husband of my wife," "I am the chief man in my family," "I am the president of the state"—these are egos. But you cannot say that "I am the master of this whole universe." That is false ego.
Hayagrīva: So he feels that one can go through the universe assimilating everything, until one finally unifies with the impersonal Absolute.
Prabhupāda: Impersonal Absolute means the Absolute, as soon as you say Absolute, there is no distinction between impersonal and personal. Then it is no Absolute. If you have got distinction that "This is personal; this is impersonal," then that is not Absolute. Do you think it is Absolute? It is contradictory.
Hayagrīva: Well for, for him, God is simply the universal ego, nothing more, and that...
Prabhupāda: No. You say Absolute. As soon as say Absolute there is relative also. Otherwise what is the meaning Absolute?
Purports to Songs
So I have come to You because I am most unhappy. So if You kindly put Your glance over me, then I may also become happy."
Then he prays to Advaita Prabhu: hā hā prabhu sītā-pati advaita gosāi. Advaita Prabhu's wife's name was Sītā. Therefore He is sometimes addressed as sītā-pati. So "My dear Advaita Prabhu, the husband of Sītā, please You also be kind upon me because if You become kind upon me, then naturally Lord Caitanya and Nityānanda also will be kind upon me." The reason is that actually, Advaita Prabhu invited Lord Caitanya to come down. When Advaita Prabhu saw the fallen souls, they are all engaged simply in sense gratificatory processes without understanding Kṛṣṇa consciousness, He felt very much compassionate upon the fallen souls, and He felt Himself as incapable of claiming all these fallen souls. He therefore prayed to Lord Kṛṣṇa that "You come Yourself. Without Your personal presence, it is not possible to deliver these fallen souls." So by His invitation Lord Caitanya appeared. "Naturally..." Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura prays Advaita Prabhu that "If You be kind upon me, naturally Lord Caitanya and Nityānanda also will be kind upon me."
Then he prays to the Gosvāmīs. Hā hā svarūpa, sanātana, rūpa, raghunātha. "My dear Gosvāmī Prabhus," svarūpa. Svarūpa was Svarūpa Dāmodara was personal secretary of Lord Caitanya. He was always keeping with Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and whatever He wanted, he immediately arranged for that. Two personal attendants, Svarūpa Dāmodara and Govinda, they were always, constantly with Lord Caitanya.
| Page Title: | Husband of... (Lectures) |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, RupaManjari |
| Created: | 10 of Nov, 2012 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=48, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 48 |