Forbidden marriages and Srimad Bhagavatam

[Guest guest]

My Dear Haladhara das,

 

Please accept my best wishes. All glories to Srila Prabhupada! I have read

you letter carefully and noted the contents. My comments are given below.

 

> ---------- Forwarded Message ----------

>

> Letter PAMHO:3431041 (34 lines)

> ISKCON Denmark

> 01-Aug-00 08:56

> Jayapataka Swami

> Forbidden marriages and Srimad Bhagavatam

> ---------------------------

> DEar Jayapataka Swami. PAMHO AGTSP

>

> I have two questions...

>

> about...

>

> Pariksit Maharaja married Iravati, daughter of his maternal uncle, so a

> cousin.

> Arjuna married Subhadra, his cousin.

> Krsna married His cousin Mitravinda.

> And Rukmi married his grand daughter to the grand son of Rukmini, though

> he knew such marriage alliances to be sinful.

>

> So what is the explanation if these personalities, specially Krsna, then

> Pariksit and Arjuna must set an example, they indulge in this kind of

> alliances.

>

> and the other...

>

> in the 4th Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, the marriages between Mrsa/Adharma,

> Dambha/Maya, Lobha/Nkrti, Krodha/Himsa, Kali/Durukti and Bhaya/Mrtyu...

> all these were brother/sister marriages.

>

> They were real persons or allegories meaning natural associations, that

> every quality of the couples go together and hence their marriage is

> mentioned allegorically, for instance, Mrsa *falsehhod with Adharma have

> natural relation or Krodha *anger with Himsa *violence, violence is a

> corollary of anger.

>

> And at the end all these bad things leads one to hell and the tortures of

> hell, the last children of this horrible genealogy, Niraya and Yatana.

>

> Your servant,

> Haladhara dasa

> (Text PAMHO:3431041) ------

 

To categorically call such illustrious dynasties which are mentioned in SB

as horrible and to call it all as bad would lead one to hell, etc. if you

are referring to Arjuna, etc. It isn't reasonable to list those marriages

and the allegorical marriages of death and fear (mrtyu & bhaya), etc.

 

As far as the allegorical "marriages" between death and fear, envy and

anger, pride and illusion, etc. these things show how such characteristics

are linked together. They are special cases. These are not mortal human

beings. I don't know what category of entity they fit into, but they are

not on our plane.

 

As far as marriage between maternal cousins, it was allowed according to

Vedic culture. Marriage between paternal cousins is prohibited under normal

circumstances. Some exception was made by Rukmi in the list above but the

other seem all to be under the category of maternal cousins which is not

prohibited.

 

I hope this helps you to understand.

 

Your servant,

 

Jayapataka Swami