what about it?

[Guest guest]

Dear Sergei Prabhu,

 

Please accept my dandavats.

 

I liked your text, but there were a few things that I didn't agree with.

 

> As far as the jiva-tattva concerned, we know that there are two

> kinds of puruas (souls): fallible (kara) and infallible (akara)

 

Fallible here means perishable, or temporary, and infallible means

imperishable, or eternal.

 

> Let us start with akara-puruas. They are of three kinds:

 

The aksara-purusas are the spirit souls, which are imperishable. They may be

nitya-baddha, nitya-siddha, sadhana-siddha, krpa-siddha or whatever. Within

this category not only Bhaktivinoda Thakura's soul falls, but our souls as

well.

 

> Now, kara-puruas, who are a considerable majority of us.

 

Ksara-purusas are the material bodies, which are perishable. Within this

category not only our physical bodies fall, but Bhaktivinoda Thakura's

physical body as well. Ksara and aksara have nothing to do with spiritual

advancement. They are simply descriptions of the body and the soul.

 

However, in your analysis you placed nitya-siddha Bhaktivinoda Thakura in

one category and us nitya-baddhas in another. But factually our "fallen"

souls are just as aksara, i.e. as imperishable, as his soul.

 

Of course the rest of your analysis is correct: the pure devotees (like

Bhaktivinoda Thakura) are not motivated by kama (lust), but act to set an

example. Besides setting an example, he accomplished other, much greater

things, through his marriage as well:

 

1) He was able to work with the Britishers, and thus gain their respect,as

well as the respect of the educated Indians of his time. Because of this he

could draw their attention to Srimad-Bhagavatam and the cult of Sri Caitanya

Mahaprabhu. If he wouldn't have had a wife and a house, this would not have

been possible.

 

2) He begot such a great preacher, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, on

whose order Krsna consciousness was spread all over the world.

 

3) He wrote, translated and published numerous literatures, and sent them

all over the world. He could devote so much time to these activities because

his wife took care of his maintenance.

 

There are more examples one could give.

 

Similarly not all present grhasthas married because of kama. Even we,

conditioned souls, may want to marry for reasons OTHER than lust.

 

Some devotees, after a few years of hectic asrama-life, decide that they

want their private living facilities. The reasons for this may be quite

spiritual: one might feel disturbed about the mess and noise that are part

of the modern ISKCON brahmacari-asramas. This is especially so for those who

appreciate peace and cleanliness (the brahmanas). Brahminically inclined

brahmacaris may want a place where they can study scriptures, Sanskrit etc.

without disturbance. They may want to get their own house and their own

income, so that they are not dependent on the instable condition of (the

local) ISKCON (temple). After all, indepence is an important thing for the

brahmana.

 

One may want to move out of the temple because in the temple one is

exploited by the temple authorities. One may want to move out of the temple

because one cannot relate to the sentimental and fanatic attitudes in the

temple. One may want to move out because one is not able to get sufficient

sleep when the last brahmacari turns off the light at eleven and the first

one starts singing under the shower at three (an extreme example, but

personally I have experienced this). One may want to get one's own

facilities because one wants to switch to a healthier diet (try to get a

fruit-breakfast in a temple, very difficult).

 

There are so many reasons why one would want to get his own grha. But for

someone who wants to get his own grha it's better to get married, because

living all alone is quite difficult (isolation drives one crazy). Besides,

one must get a job to pay the rent, so there should be a partner who will

cook etc. In other words, this person doesn't want to get married because of

kama, but because he knows that living alone is impossible, impractical and

not very inspiring.

 

Your servant,

bhakta Ivar.