> March 25, 1999 VNN3417
> Lord Ramachandra's Example: Only One Wife
> BY BABHRU DAS
> EDITORIAL, Mar 25 (VNN) — Ameyatma prabhu's lengthy response to
> Prtha's complaints about polygamy "We Are, Therefore, In Favor Of Polygamy"
> seems to miss one important source: a verse and purport in the
> Ninth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam. Chapter 10, verse 54 says,
> Lord Ramacandra took a vow to accept only one wife and have no
> connection with any other women. He was a saintly king, and
> everything in His life was good, untinged by qualities like
> anger. He taught good behavior for everyone, especially for the
> householders, in terms of varnasrama-dharma. Thus He taught the
> general public by His personal activities. In his purport,
> Srila Prabhupada explains this further: Eka-patni-vrata,
> accepting only one wife, was the glorious example set by Lord
> Ramacandra.
> One should not accept more than one wife. In those days, of
> course, people did marry more than one wife. Even Lord
> Ramacandra's father accepted more wives than one. But Lord
> Ramacandra, as an ideal king, accepted only one wife, mother
> Sita. When Mother Sita was kidnapped by Ravana and the
> Raksasas, Lord Ramacandra, as the Supreme Personality of
> Godhead, could have married hundreds and thousands of Sitas,
> but to teach us how to be faithful He was to His wife, He
> fought with Ravana and finally killed him. The Lord punished
> Ravana and rescued His wife to instruct men to have only one
> wife. Lord Ramacandra accepted only one wife and manifested
> sublime character, thus setting an example for householders. A
> householder should live according to the ideal of Lord
> Ramacandra, who showed how to be a perfect person.
> Srila Prabhupada makes abundantly clear in this purport his
> desire that we establish daivi-varnasrama-dharma by marrying
> only one wife and remaining faithful to her throughout our
> lives. Since Ameyatma invests much in dates, let's note that
> this volume was published in 1977.
> Ameyatma's research shows that, in the abstract, we should have
> little objection to the kind of polygamy practiced by men with
> qualifications similar to King Dasarath. We should also note,
> however, that even Dasarath's household was not perfectly
> peaceful. If men less qualified than he try to care for more
> than one wife, we can expect just the sorts of problems we have
> experienced over the years.
> In fact, our godbrothers' attempts at polygamy were really
> meant for increasing their sense gratification, regardless of
> their attempts to rationalize their behavior. I know of no such
> arrangements in which the wives were all equally satisfied with
> the results over the long run. In the conversation Ameyatma
> cites as Srila Prabhupada's last and final instruction on the
> matter, Srila Prabhupada says another wife would be allowed
> [i]f the woman allows husband. He imposed the same restriction
> on acceptance of the sannyasa ashram by his married disciples.
> This shows the wife's importance in the family and underscores
> Srila Prabhupada's assertion that both husband and wife should
> be faithful.
> In trying to introduce spiritual culture to the world, we need
> to be bold, as Srila Prabhupada showed by his own example. We
> must also be humble and honest enough to acknowledge the limits
> of our actual understanding of varanasrama's cultural
> manifestations, as well as the limits of our understanding of
> Srila Prabhupada's desires. Otherwise, we risk minimizing his
> significance and missing the richness of genuine spiritual
> culture.
> Babhru das
Conversations With Srila Prabhupada Vol. 15 pg. 251:
Srila Prabhupada: Ksatriyas may marry more than one wife. They can take so that all girls must be married.
Conversations With Srila Prabhupada Vol. 7 pg. 300:
Srila Prabhupada: Those who are fit for management and protection they should be trained as ksatriya . . . so in our society this division should be there.
---------------------------------------------
Dear Prabhus
Please accept my respectful obeisances.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
Have I committed any offenses,
taken any quotes out of context,
made any mistakes, and/or
done anything I shouldn't have?
If so, I'm sorry.
Aspiring to be the sincere
servant of the servant,
Yours Truly,
Gauranga Prema Dasa
Hare Krsna