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Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.31.42
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A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT 42
- tām ātmano vijānīyāt
- paty-apatya-gṛhātmakam
- daivopasāditaṁ mṛtyuṁ
- mṛgayor gāyanaṁ yathā
tāmthe Lord's māyā — the Lord's māyā; ātmanaḥof herself — of herself; vijānīyātshe should know — she should know; patihusband — husband; apatyachildren — children; gṛhahouse — house; ātmakamconsisting of — consisting of; daivaby the authority of the Lord — by the authority of the Lord; upasāditambrought about — brought about; mṛtyumdeath — death; mṛgayoḥof the hunter — of the hunter; gāyanamthe singing — the singing; yathāas — as.
A woman, therefore, should consider her husband, her house and her children to be the arrangement of the external energy of the Lord for her death, just as the sweet singing of the hunter is death for the deer.
In these instructions of Lord Kapiladeva it is explained that not only is woman the gateway to hell for man, but man is also the gateway to hell for woman. It is a question of attachment. A man becomes attached to a woman because of her service, her beauty and many other assets, and similarly a woman becomes attached to a man for his giving her a nice place to live, ornaments, dress and children. It is a question of attachment for one another. As long as either is attached to the other for such material enjoyment, the woman is dangerous for the man, and the man is also dangerous for the woman. But if the attachment is transferred to Kṛṣṇa, both of them become Kṛṣṇa conscious, and then marriage is very nice. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī therefore recommends:
- anāsaktasya viṣayān
- yathārham upayuñjataḥ
- nirbandhaḥ kṛṣṇa-sambandhe
- yuktaṁ vairāgyam ucyate
- (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.255)
Man and woman should live together as householders in relationship with Kṛṣṇa, only for the purpose of discharging duties in the service of Kṛṣṇa. Engage the children, engage the wife and engage the husband, all in Kṛṣṇa conscious duties, and then all these bodily or material attachments will disappear. Since the via medium is Kṛṣṇa, the consciousness is pure, and there is no possibility of degradation at any time.