1. Inspiration for the Grihastha Ashram
The third canto of Srimad Bhagavatam gives us an inspiring example of
successful grihastha life:
Emperor Svayambhuva Manu enjoyed life with his wife and subjects
and fulfilled his desires without being disturbed by unwanted principles contrary
to the process of religion. Every day he used to listen to the pastimes of
the lord with a loving heart.
SB. 3 Ch 22 text 33
Purport (excerpts):
There is no restriction against living with a wife and children, but life
should be so conducted that one may not go against the principles of religion,
economic development, regulated sense enjoyment and ultimately liberation from
material existence.
The Vedic principles are designed in such a way that the conditioned souls
who have come to this material existence may be guided in fulfilling their
material desires and at the same time be liberated and go back to Godhead,
back home.
It is understood that emperor Svayambhuva Manu enjoyed his house
hold life by following these principles.
BG.18th chapter Conclusion - The Perfection of Renunciation
Arjuna asks Krishna to clearly explain renunciation and sannyasa.
The Lord gives his absolute opinion that renunciation is of three kinds -
goodness, passion, ignorance.
Srila Prabhupada directly states that even sannyasis should
encourage the marriage ceremony which is meant to regulate the human mind so
that it may become peaceful for spiritual advancement. For most men this Viraha
Yajna should be encouraged. Especially young men.
BG 18.5 (Purport)
All activities should be performed as a matter of duty.
BG 18.6
Prescribed duties should never be renounced. If one gives them up due to illusion
such renunciation is in the mode of ignorance.
BG 18.7
One who is self controlled and unattached and who disregards all material
enjoyments can obtain, by practice of renunciation, the highest stage of freedom
from reaction.
BG 18.49
The person acting in Krishna consciousness is really a sannyasi,
one in the renounced order of life. A sannyasi is supposed to be free from
the reactions of his past activities, but a person who is in Krishna consciousness
automatically attains this perfection without even accepting the so called
order of renunciation.
BG 18.49 (Purport)
Lord explains for Arjuna how one can achieve the highest perfectional
stage simply by being engaged in his occupational duty, performing that duty
for the Lord.
BG 18:50 (purport)
Important letter showing the current picture of failure presented to our
devotees:
You have written that it has been difficult to develop attachment
because you have been trained that grihastha life is a dark well. grihastha life
is a spiritual life, it is the grhamedhi life which is the dark well. The difference
is that the grihasthas make their home into an ashrama with Krishna in the centre,
whereas the grhamedhis use their home as a place for gratifying their senses.
(Jagadish Letter)
Regarding your having a house and material security, naturally
you should have these things. Every householder should have a house and a piece
of land where he and his family can live com¬fortably and serve Krishna.
There are some rare householders who never want this, and they may live in
the temple ashramas for their whole life, but most of the householders in our
society have their own places, have their own income, and take care of their
own necessities. They don't live opulantly; generally speaking they are quite
simple. When you visit their homes they are very modest, but, nonetheless,
they are economically inde¬pendent.
Notes from Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur’s Sri Bhaktyaloka - Sadhu Vrtti
Following in the footsteps of the previous acaryas, there are
two kinds of sadhus householders and renunciates. I will separately describe
the vritti, or occupation, of each. Although householders and renunciates
have different occupations, there are some they have in common.
By passing life in one’s natural occupation, one can attain
devotional service free from the modes of nature. Otherwise one will fall into
irreligion and be unable to make gradual advancement.
If one acts in his profession according to his position in the
modes of nature and gradually gives up these activities, he attains the transcendental
position.
Therefore people can become free from the modes of nature if
they pass their lives dovetailing everything- sattvika objects, activities,
time and place with the devotional service of the Lord.
From all these conclusions of Srimad Bhagavatam it should be
understood that performing devotional service to Sri Hari is the only purpose
of life, there is no other purpose. Unless one makes the gross and subtle bodies
favourable for devotional service, one cannot engaged in such. There is a need
for some arrangements in order to attain a favourable condition in those two
bodies.
First in order to maintain the gross body there is a need to
accumulate a house, household items, grains, and drinks. For the prosperity
of the subtle body one needs proper knowledge and a proper occupation.
In order to make the bodies completely favourable for devotional
service, there is a need to situate them above the modes of nature. Due to
the results of fruitive activities from time immemorial, whatever nature and
desires a living entity develops is certainly a mixture of goodness, passion,
and ignorance. By first enriching the mode of goodness, one should diminish
and defeat passion and ignorance and make goodness prominent. When the mode
of goodness is completely under the control of devotional service, then it
becomes nirguna.
By following this gradual process one’s body, mind and
environment become fit for devotional service.
The occupational activities a man performs according to his
own position are only so much useless labour if they do not provoke attraction
for the message of the personality of Godhead.
- SB.1.2.8.
From this one should
not conclude that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has ordered us to discard varnashrama
dharma. If that would have been the case, then He would not have instructed
all living entities through his pastimes of completely following the orders
of grihastha and sannyasa.
As long as one has material body the system of varnashrama
dharma must be followed, but it should remain under the full control and domination
of Bhakti. Varnashrama dharma is like the foundation of one’s supreme
occupational duty.
What is proper occupation? To know this, one should see the
behaviour of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s followers. First I will write
about the behaviour and occupation of the grihastha, as found in the character
of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and his devotees.
As a support for his devotional service, a householder should
find a suitable wife. In the Caitanya Caritamrita Adi 15.26.27 the Lord says:
Since I am remaining at home it is my duty to act as a
grihastha; without a
wife there is no meaning to householder life.
A householder should take the principles of renunciation to
heart; but he should not simply dress as a renunciate.
Sri Caitanya said be patient and return home. Don’t be
crazy fellow. By and by you will be able to cross the ocean of material existence.
You should not make yourself a show bottle devotee and become a false renunciate.
For the time being, enjoy the material world in a befitting way and do not
become attached to it. Within your heart, you should keep yourself very faithful,
but externally you may behave like an ordinary man. Thus Krishna will soon be
very pleased and deliver you form the clutches of Maya.
In the Srimad Bhagavatam 11.20.27-8 Lord Krishna describes how a householder
should act until his natural propensity for enjoying sense objects is overcome
and he fully attains the characteristic of a pure devotee:
Having awakened faith in the narrations of my glories, being
disgusted with all material activities, knowing that all sense gratification
leads to misery, but still being unable to renounce all sense enjoyment, my
devotee remains happy and worships me with great faith and conviction. Even
though he is sometimes engaged in sense enjoyment, my devotee knows that all
sense gratification leads to a miserable result, and he sincerely repents such
activities.
A grihastha Vaisnava should model his character after that of Lord
Caitanya and his followers. A householder should follow the ways of life and
obtain his means of livelihood as exhibited by Lord Caitanya and his followers.
If one desires Krishna in all his activities, then those activities are auspicious.
By endeavouring to gratify one’s senses and attain irrelevant fruits,
one becomes a materialist.
For a devotee, to remain a householder or to become a renunciaate is the same
thing. Srila Ramananda Raya, Sri Pundarika Vidyanidhi, Sri Srivasa Pandita,
Sri Sivananda Sena, Sri Satyaraja Khan, and Sri Advaita Prabhu were all grihasthas
and have shown us the way of faultless living. The difference between a householder
and a renunciate is due to their different means of livelihood. If the home
is favourable for a devotee’s devotional service, then he should not
leave. It is his duty to remain a grihastha with detachment. But when
the home becomes unfavourable for his service, he then becomes eligible to leave
home. At that time the detachment he develops for his house through his devotional
service is accepted. For this reason, Srivasa Pandita did not leave home. For
this reason, Svarupa Damodara took sannyasa. All genuine devotees have
remained either at home or in the forest due to this consideration. Whoever
has left home due to this consideration is called a genuine renunciate.
Quotations from Srila Prabhupada
It doesn’t matter which ashrama one is in
Narada is a brahmacari. Lord Brahma is also a grihastha. Lord
Siva is also a grihastha, Kumara, brahmacari, Kapila, brahmacari. So there
are many. Yamaraja is also a grihastha. Sukadeva Gosvami is a brahmacari. So
it doesn’t matter whether one is a brahmacari, a householder or a sannyasi.
He must try to become a confidential servant of the Lord. Then he becomes the
representative of God, Krishna.
Bhagavad Gita lecture 1.5.74
Even Lord Krishna and Lord Caitanya married
We are preaching the cult of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He also
married. All the five associates of Lord Caitanya, they also married. Krishna
also married. So marriage is not bad. - It is not that unless one becomes a
sannyasi or a strict brahmacari, he cannot attain the highest perfection of
life. No. Even in married life. But one has to adjust it. Married life means
not sex enjoyment. It is not a license for sex enjoyment. Although it is some
sort of license, but it can be utilised. It can be utilised for producing children
of Krishna consciousness. And at least, one should be satisfied. The husband
will help the wife, the wife will help the husband advancing in Krishna consciousness
for the benefit of their country, for the benefit of the total human society.
Thank you very much.
Wedding Lecture 5/6/69
Grihastha ashrama is as good as the sanyasa ashrama
Guest (4): But is it possible to lead the life of a grihastha and at the same
time think of that?
Prabhupada: Well, Arjuna was grihastha and a king and a politician.
If he could learn within half an hour the aim of life, then where is the difficulty
for a grihastha? Arjuna was not a sannyasi. So it was spoken to him only, and
Krishna selected that "You are the right person." So there is no question
of grihastha, sannyasi. The person must be right to understand.
Guest (4): Is it possible to develop some such kind of psyche?
Prabhupada: Yes, why not? Arjuna was not willing to fight. Then
he developed; "Yes, I must fight for Krishna." That is development.
Guest (4): So there is no conflict between the...
Prabhupada: Grihastha is also ashrama. It is
as good as sannyasa
ashrama. You can accept any ashrama suitable for you, but ashrama means cultivation
of spiritual knowledge. That is the difference between ashrama and ordinary
house. Now, this building is called temple, and the next building is called
house. Why? The building is the same. But it is meant for cultivating spiritual
knowledge. Therefore it is called temple, to understand God. The other house
is meant for eating, sleeping, mating and defending. Therefore they are house.
So you can change your house into temple provided you try to understand God.
Then it is ashrama. Otherwise it is house.
Room conversation 2/12/75
Srila Vyasadeva was a householder
Yet his residential place is called an ashrama. An ashrama is
a place where spiritual culture is always foremost. It does not matter whether
the place belongs to a householder or a mendicant. The whole varnashrama system
is so designed that each and every status of life is called an ashrama. This
means that spiritual culture is the common factor for all. The brahmacaris,
the grihasthas, the vanaprasthas and the sannyasis all belong to the same mission
of life, namely, realisation of the Supreme. Therefore none of them are less
important as far as spiritual culture is concerned. The difference is a matter
of formality on the strength of renunciation. The sannyasis are held in high
estimation on the strength of practical renunciation.
Srimad Bhagavatam 1.7.2 Purport
If a husband and wife combine together in Krishna consciousness
and live together peacefully, that is very nice. However, if a husband becomes
too much attracted by his wife and forgets his duty in life, the implications
of materialistic life will again resume... Without being attached by sex, the
husband and wife may live together for the advancement of spiritual life. The
husband should engage in devotional service, and the wife should be faithful
and religious according to the Vedic injunctions. Such a combination is very
good. Unfortunately, if the man becomes attracted to the woman simply for sex
enjoyment, then family life becomes abominable.
Srimad Bhagavatam 4.27.1
It is not necessary for one to abandon his family
If we wish to become fully Krishna conscious, we have to give
up the shackles of Maya, or, if we remain with Maya, we should live in such
a way that we will not be subject to illusion. It is not necessary for one
to abandon his family, for there were many householders amongst Lord Caitanya’s
closest devotees. What must be renounced is the propensity for material enjoyment.
Although Lord Caitanya approved of a householder having regulated sex in marriage,
he was very strict with those in the renounced order, and he even banished
Junior Haridasa for glancing lustfully at a young woman. The point is that
one must take up a particular path and stick to it, obeying all the rules and
regulation necessary for success in spiritual life.
C.C. Introduction
A grihastha is a person who lives with family, wife, children and relatives
but has no attachment for them. He prefers to live in family life rather than
as a mendicant or sannyasi, but his chief aim is to achieve self-realisation
or to come to the standard of Krishna consciousness.
Srimad Bhagavatam 9.10.11
One who acts strictly in the line of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu
is competent to offer blessing to sannyasis, even though he be a grihastha
householder... He (Lord Caitanya) set the example of how one should expect
blessings from a Vaisnava, regardless of his social position.
Srimad Bhagavatam 9.10.55
A householder devotee who worships me by execution of his family
duties may remain at home, go to a holy place or, if he has a responsible son,
take sannyasa.
Srimad Bhagavatam 11.17.56
By regulated enjoyment we “gradually” come to the path
of renunciation
So both things are there, pravrtti-marga, nirvrtti-marga, because all the
living entities who have come in this material world with a pravrtti, with
an intention to enjoy this material world, therefore they are regulated. There
are two ways, nirvrtti-marga and pravrtti-marga. Pravrtti-marga means he has
got intention, desire for material enjoyment. So he's regulated, ``Do like
this,'' so that he may come to the point of nirvrtti-marga.
The purpose of Vedas is to gradually, to bring him to the point of nirvrtti. Nirvrtti, he has to make.
Bhag. Lecture 10-17-72
Strict sadhana bhakti is the basis of success
Basis of success - NOI. (P27) 1):
- Enthusiasm;
- Confidence;
- Patience;
- Acting according to religious principles;
- Abandoning association
of non-devotees;
- Following footsteps of previous acaryas;
Without following Srila Prabhupada’s prescribed process of sadhana
bhakti there will be little or no success in the ultimate issue.
