A woman should think of her husband as the Supreme Lord.
--Srila Madhvacarya
Srila Prabhupada explains that a wife should regard her husband as the representative of Krsna, nay, even as the Supreme Lord Himself. This not only helps the wife to become Krsna conscious, but it also helps her to render more and more careful, conscientious, loving, devoted service to her husband.
Not only does this type of meditation help the wife become Krsna conscious, but it also helps the husband become Krsna conscious. According to the famous German philosopher, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, “If you treat an individual as he is, he will remain as he is. But if you treat him as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he ought to be and could be.” Not that a jiva soul like our husband can ever become God. No. But when we respect our husband as the representative of God in our life just as we respect all the bona fide gurus of our disciplic line as being saksadharitva--because their hearts are fully in agreement with Krsna's desire--our husband becomes uplifted and elevated. His Krsna consciousness increases as he endeavors to reciprocate with our loving, Krsna-conscious service.
"I and the Father are one," said Lord Jesus Christ, meaning one in purpose. Such gurus who are one in purpose with the Lord are seen by their disciples as non-different from God because of their being absolutely surrendered servants of God. So the idea is not only that by seeing our husband as the representative of Krsna in our life we become Krsna conscious, but by being treated so nicely by us and served so nicely by us and thought of so nicely by us, our husbands feel so thankful and appreciative of our devotion that they become elevated in their own thinking and behavior. In other words, both husband and wife, by meditating on Krsna represented in the form of guru, become more and more Krsna conscious.
One phrase Srila Prabhupada used to describe the elevated status of the guru was "the supreme personality of servitor godhead." Because he is the completely surrendered, confidential servant of the Supreme Lord, the guru is the supreme personality of servitor godhead. Therefore our pati-guru, being our immediate guru, is worshipable by us. If we practice seeing him as the representative of Krsna in our life, as our supreme deity, even as the Supreme Lord Krsna Himself, we will naturally become Krsna conscious and our husband will naturally come to want to live up to our expectations of him as someone who is worth following, serving and worshiping.
As Krsna's representative in our life, our husband has a natural desire to bestow blessings upon us and fulfill our desires. That is natural. Devahuti saw her husband Kardama Muni as the manifestation of the Supreme Lord in her life, and she served her husband with love, enthusiasm, and diligence. "The daughter of Manu, who was fully devoted to her husband, looked upon him as greater even than providence. Thus she expected great blessings from him." (SB 3.23.4) And Kardama Muni blessed her with the greatest of gifts: pure Krsna consciousness and freedom from fear.
--Srila Madhvacarya
Srila Prabhupada explains that a wife should regard her husband as the representative of Krsna, nay, even as the Supreme Lord Himself. This not only helps the wife to become Krsna conscious, but it also helps her to render more and more careful, conscientious, loving, devoted service to her husband.
Not only does this type of meditation help the wife become Krsna conscious, but it also helps the husband become Krsna conscious. According to the famous German philosopher, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, “If you treat an individual as he is, he will remain as he is. But if you treat him as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he ought to be and could be.” Not that a jiva soul like our husband can ever become God. No. But when we respect our husband as the representative of God in our life just as we respect all the bona fide gurus of our disciplic line as being saksadharitva--because their hearts are fully in agreement with Krsna's desire--our husband becomes uplifted and elevated. His Krsna consciousness increases as he endeavors to reciprocate with our loving, Krsna-conscious service.
"I and the Father are one," said Lord Jesus Christ, meaning one in purpose. Such gurus who are one in purpose with the Lord are seen by their disciples as non-different from God because of their being absolutely surrendered servants of God. So the idea is not only that by seeing our husband as the representative of Krsna in our life we become Krsna conscious, but by being treated so nicely by us and served so nicely by us and thought of so nicely by us, our husbands feel so thankful and appreciative of our devotion that they become elevated in their own thinking and behavior. In other words, both husband and wife, by meditating on Krsna represented in the form of guru, become more and more Krsna conscious.
One phrase Srila Prabhupada used to describe the elevated status of the guru was "the supreme personality of servitor godhead." Because he is the completely surrendered, confidential servant of the Supreme Lord, the guru is the supreme personality of servitor godhead. Therefore our pati-guru, being our immediate guru, is worshipable by us. If we practice seeing him as the representative of Krsna in our life, as our supreme deity, even as the Supreme Lord Krsna Himself, we will naturally become Krsna conscious and our husband will naturally come to want to live up to our expectations of him as someone who is worth following, serving and worshiping.
As Krsna's representative in our life, our husband has a natural desire to bestow blessings upon us and fulfill our desires. That is natural. Devahuti saw her husband Kardama Muni as the manifestation of the Supreme Lord in her life, and she served her husband with love, enthusiasm, and diligence. "The daughter of Manu, who was fully devoted to her husband, looked upon him as greater even than providence. Thus she expected great blessings from him." (SB 3.23.4) And Kardama Muni blessed her with the greatest of gifts: pure Krsna consciousness and freedom from fear.
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