Marriage

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.