grhastha (family life)

 
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As a householder, Prthu Maharaja had five sons by his wife Arci, and all these sons were begotten as he desired them. They were not born whimsically or by accident. How one can beget children according to one's own desire is practically unknown in the present age (Kali-yuga). In this regard the secret of success depends on the parents' acceptance of the various purificatory methods known as samskaras. The first samskara, the garbhadhana-samskara or child-begetting samskara, is compulsory, especially for the higher castes, the brahmanas and the ksatriyas. As stated in Bhagavad-gita, sex life which is not against religious principles is Krsna Himself, and according to religious principles, when one wants to beget a child he must perform the garbhadhana-samskara before having sex. The mental state of the father and mother before sex will certainly affect the mentality of the child to be begotten. A child who is begotten out of lust may not turn out as the parents desire. As stated in the sastras, yatha yonir yatha bijam. Yatha yoniḥ indicates the mother, and yatha bijam indicates the father. If the mental state of the parents is prepared before they have sex, the child which they will beget will certainly reflect their mental condition. It is therefore understood by the words atma-sammatan that both Prthu Maharaja and Arci underwent the garbhadhana purificatory process before begetting children, and thus they begot all their sons according to their desires and purified mental states. Prthu Maharaja did not beget his children out of lust, nor was he attracted to his wife for sense gratificatory purposes. He begot the children as a grhastha for the future administration of his government all over the world.    (More...)
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As it is necessary for one to become very active in family life, similarly, after retirement from family life, it is necessary to control the mind and senses. This is possible when one engages himself fully in the devotional service of the Lord. Actually the whole purpose of the Vedic system, the Vedic social order, is to enable one to ultimately return home, back to Godhead. The grhastha-asrama is a sort of concession combining sense gratification with a regulative life. It is to enable one to easily retire in the middle of life and engage fully in austerities in order to transcend material sense gratification once and for all. Therefore in the vanaprastha stage of life, tapasya, or austerity, is strongly recommended. Maharaja Prthu followed exactly all the rules of vanaprastha life, which is technically known as vaikhanasa-asrama. The word vaikhanasa-susammate is significant because in vanaprastha life the regulative principles are also to be strictly followed. In other words, Maharaja Prthu was an ideal character in every sphere of life. Mahajano yena gataḥ sa panthaḥ: one should follow in the footsteps of great personalities. Thus by following the exemplary character of Maharaja Prthu, one can become perfect in all respects while living this life or while retiring from active life. Thus after giving up this body, one can become liberated and go back to Godhead.    (More...)
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To maintain such a life of strict vigilance, one needs encouragement from his wife. In the varnasrama-dharma system, certain classes, such as the brahmanas and sannyasis, do not need encouragement from the opposite sex. Ksatriyas and grhasthas, however, actually need the encouragement of their wives in order to execute their duties. Indeed, a grhastha or ksatriya cannot properly execute his responsibilities without the association of his wife. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu personally admitted that a grhastha must live with a wife. Ksatriyas were even allowed to have many wives to encourage them in discharging the duties of government. The association of a good wife is necessary in a life of karma and political affairs. To execute his duties properly, therefore, Maharaja Priyavrata took advantage of his good wife Barhismati, who was always very expert in pleasing her great husband by properly dressing herself, smiling, and exhibiting her feminine bodily features. Queen Barhismati always kept Maharaja Priyavrata very encouraged, and thus he executed his governmental duty very properly. In this verse iva has twice been used to indicate that Maharaja Priyavrata acted exactly like a henpecked husband and thereby seemed to have lost his sense of human responsibility. Actually, however, he was fully conscious of his position as a spirit soul, although he seemingly behaved like an acquiescent karmi husband. Maharaja Priyavrata thus ruled the universe for eleven arbudas of years. One arbuda consists of 100,000,000 years, and Maharaja Priyavrata ruled the universe for eleven such arbudas.    (More...)
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Srila Prabhupada has encouraged the artists to work nicely together. He has said that by painting together and discussing the subject matter of their work they will remain in samadhi, or absorption in constant thought of the Personality of Godhead. One cannot imagine how fortunate one must be to meet a bona fide spiritual master, for it is only with the guidance of such a spiritual master that one can perfect one's life. The Krsna conscious art students always scrupulously follow the descriptions in the scriptures. Also, the spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, has often given them additional descriptions. A team of four artists-Devahūti Devi, Jadurani Devi, Muralidhara Das, and Bharadraja Das-painted the illustrations for Krsna, and they received many specific instructions. For example in the second volume of Krsna there is a description in the text of prayers offered unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead by the personified Vedas, but there is not much reference to their appearance. So the artists asked Srila Prabhupada, and in a letter of May, 1970, he replied: "The personified Vedas are just like great sages in appearance. Some of them may look like Vvasadeva, Valmiki, Narada, etc. Some of them are older, some of them are younger, some of them have full hair like Vyasa because they are householders, and others are brahmacaris, with shaved heads, but they are all great souls, paramahamsas, highly elevated in the transcendental science. As you suggest, these pictures will be needed for illustrating a long portion of text describing the prayers. It is a very important chapter, and it should be appropriately illustrated. You are very able to choose suitable subject matter for the pictures, so please execute them carefully for Krsna's satisfaction. If you need any other information, please write your inquiry to me, and I shall be glad to give you the proper direction." On occasion the spiritual master has corrected the artists, as in a letter of 20 August 1970 regarding a picture showing the great sage Sukadeva reciting Srimad-Bhagavatam to the renowned King Maharaja Pariksit: "This picture is not to the point. Sukadeva Gosvami should be offered a nice raised throne, and King Pariksit should be sitting along with the sages on the floor on the bank of the Ganges. King Pariksit has no beard. His face should be very nice looking. He is a young king, between thirty and forty years of age." Srila Prabhupada, however, has also told the artists to work on their own: "The best thing will be that you paint pictures to your best discretion. The controversial points you can send to me, and I will send instructions. All of you are expert painters, so your mutual decision for painting a picture is more valuable than my suggestion. The descriptions are already given in the books, so it should not be difficult to take out the points and prepare a sketch." Such instructions from the spiritual master, although seemingly dealing with artistic techniques, reveal something of the extent of his philosophical realization. One can acquire transcendental knowledge after thousands of years of yogic meditation, or one can receive it in a minute by submissively accepting the word of the self-realized spiritual master. For example a letter of June 22, 1970, describes how to paint Lord Visnu, the form of the Absolute Truth who is seen by a yogi at the very culmination of his meditation. "Regarding the cover for The Lord in the Heart, Lord Visnu should be distinguished by Srivatsa on His chest. The Kaustubha jewel should be painted to look like a very precious jewel. Lord Visnu should be surrounded by an effulgence emanating from His person. The first concentration should be on the lotus feet of the Lord. They should be very distinct and very nicely decorated with jewels, sandalwood and tulasi."    (More...)
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Prabhupada: Well, Arjuna was grhastha 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 grhastha? Arjuna was not a sannyasi. So it was spoken to him only, and Krsna selected that "You are the right person." There is no question of grhastha, sannyasi. The person must be right to understand.    (More...)
Prabhupada: Grhastha is also asrama. It is as good as sannyasa asrama. You can accept any asrama suitable for you, but asrama means cultivation of spiritual knowledge. That is the difference between asrama 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 asrama. Otherwise it is house.    (More...)

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