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Sri Swami Sivanandaji
Marriage is entry into the second order of life. The
life of the householder begins here. Now he takes up his duties as man
and pays his debts by means of sacrifice, by study and by procreating
children. The bridegroom tells the bride: "I take your hand for good
fortune. I seize your hand so that we may have good progeny, that you
may live with me, your husband, till you become old. The one God has given
you to me for performing the duties of a householder, to give birth to
heroes, and, worshipping the one God, to bring about our happiness."
The husband repeats sacred formulae during the wedding ceremony. When
a child is conceived, it should be done so amidst the vibration of sacred
formulae. Good impressions are impressed in the brain cells of the embryo.
To a real Hindu who is endowed with pure intellect and right understanding,
sexual union is not for the sake of mere enjoyment. He utilises the divine,
creative, vital energy for the formation of a human body.
The Hindu Ideal of Marriag :
Marriage is a sacrament for a Hindu. The wife is his
partner in life. She is his consort. He cannot perform any religious ritual
without her. She stands by his left side when he performs any religious
rites. The husband and wife keep Rama and Sita as their ideal.
What the wife is to a Hindu husband is well illustrated by a verse in
the Ramayana where Lord Rama, referring to Sita, says: "In counsel
she is my counselor; in action she is my servant; in religious performances
she is my partner; in tolerance she is like the earth; in affection she
is like unto my mother; in bed she is like the celestial Rambha; and in
play she is my companion. Such, indeed, O Lakshmana, is my beloved."
This is the Hindu ideal of a wife.
Of all the orders of life, the second is the most important because it
supports all the others. As all creatures live supported by air, so also
the other orders exist supported by that of the householder. As all streams
and rivers flow to rest in the ocean, so also all the orders of life flow
to rest in the householder. The householder is the very heart of Aryan
life. Everything rests and depends on him.
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