annad bhavanti bhutani
parjanyad anna-sambhavah
yajnad bhavati parjanyo
yajnah karma-samudbhavah
"All living bodies subsist on food grains, which are produced from rains.
Rains are produced by performance of yajna [sacrifice],
and yajna is born of prescribed duties."
Bhagavad-gita 3.14
Yajna is born of prescribed duties. I love that sentence, because it sums up the totality of the marriage experience in six words. In human life, we are instructed by Krsna to perform yajna, sacrifice. Marriage is a perfect altar on which we have the opportunity to perform constant sacrifice. By daily performing our prescribed duties as wives, for instance, we ladies overcome laziness, distractions, temptations, and boredom. We cultivate self-discipline. We learn tolerance, humility, forbearance, loyalty, courage, steadfastness, detachment, and selflessness. The sacrifice we are instructed to perform is built in--into our service as wives to our husbands and as mothers to our children. To sacrifice our own desires in order to accomplish what the Lord has asked us to do--our prescribed duties, or regulated activities--day in and day out, brings great rewards, not the least of which is the blessing of felicity in our marriage.
Bhagavad-gita 3.14, quoted above, states that yajna, or sacrifice, is born of prescribed duties. In the very next verse, Sri Krsna explains, "Regulated activities are prescribed in the Vedas, and the Vedas are directly manifested from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Consequently the all-pervading Transcendence is eternally situated in acts of sacrifice." (Bg 3.15) That means that Lord Sri Krsna Himself--the all-pervading Transcendence--is present in our daily duties, our daily acts of sacrifice! When we perform them for Him, He is manifest in our prescribed duties as wives! Therefore, the greatest reward we taste when we have dedicated our every thought, word and deed--our every breath--for the satisfaction of the Lord in the execution of our regulated activities, is a realization that we are always in the association of the Lord.
That realization of closeness with Krsna can especially be understood as we are blessed with an ever-increasing taste for the sweetness of Lord Krsna's holy names. This taste for the Lord's holy names provides us with the fuel to continue, nay, to ever-increasingly expand our service to the Lord. It gives us hope that our love for Krsna will someday be fully uncovered and that very soon--hopefully at the end of this very lifetime--we will be blessed to return to the spiritual world where we will resume our eternal, loving service at His lotus feet.
Bhagavad-gita 3.14, quoted above, states that yajna, or sacrifice, is born of prescribed duties. In the very next verse, Sri Krsna explains, "Regulated activities are prescribed in the Vedas, and the Vedas are directly manifested from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Consequently the all-pervading Transcendence is eternally situated in acts of sacrifice." (Bg 3.15) That means that Lord Sri Krsna Himself--the all-pervading Transcendence--is present in our daily duties, our daily acts of sacrifice! When we perform them for Him, He is manifest in our prescribed duties as wives! Therefore, the greatest reward we taste when we have dedicated our every thought, word and deed--our every breath--for the satisfaction of the Lord in the execution of our regulated activities, is a realization that we are always in the association of the Lord.
That realization of closeness with Krsna can especially be understood as we are blessed with an ever-increasing taste for the sweetness of Lord Krsna's holy names. This taste for the Lord's holy names provides us with the fuel to continue, nay, to ever-increasingly expand our service to the Lord. It gives us hope that our love for Krsna will someday be fully uncovered and that very soon--hopefully at the end of this very lifetime--we will be blessed to return to the spiritual world where we will resume our eternal, loving service at His lotus feet.
Human life is meant for sacrifice. It's meant for performing sacrifice for the pleasure of Lord Sri Krsna. Lord Sri Krsna is known as Yajna-purusa. He is the enjoyer of all sacrifices. Srila Prabhupada has kindly taught us that the easiest and most sublime method of pleasing the Yajna-purusa, or the Lord of all sacrifices, in this present Age of Quarrel, is to chant His holy names. And the best way to keep God, or Krsna, in the center of our marriage is to chant Krsna's holy names together as husband and wife. Our children can join in, too. They can gradually be taught to chant Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare and thus the family will remain centered around the most important purpose of human life: to always remember Krsna and never forget Him.
The best and most highly recommended method for always remembering Krsna and never forgetting Him is to chant the maha-mantra: Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. It is said that a family that prays together stays together. When we perform the sacrifice of chanting the Lord's holy names together as husband and wife, along with our children, we strengthen our attachment to Krsna, we loosen the grip of Maya, and we, our spouses and our children become strong and clear in the understanding that Krsna is the Supreme worshipable Lord--the Supreme enjoyer of all sacrifices--and that we are all His eternal family members, His eternal, loving servants.
The best and most highly recommended method for always remembering Krsna and never forgetting Him is to chant the maha-mantra: Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. It is said that a family that prays together stays together. When we perform the sacrifice of chanting the Lord's holy names together as husband and wife, along with our children, we strengthen our attachment to Krsna, we loosen the grip of Maya, and we, our spouses and our children become strong and clear in the understanding that Krsna is the Supreme worshipable Lord--the Supreme enjoyer of all sacrifices--and that we are all His eternal family members, His eternal, loving servants.
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