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Saturday, May 16, 2009

A Chaste Wife

A CHASTE WOMAN:
SEES HUSBAND AS REPRESENTATIVE OF THE SUPREME PERSONALITY OF GODHEAD
Worships husband by offering him prasada

HAS A SERVICE MOOD
She renders service to her husband.
She is ready to execute his desires.
She serves him according to time and circumstances.


HAS A GOOD DISPOSITION
She is always favorably disposed toward her husband.
She is equally well disposed toward the husband’s relatives and friends.

IS RELIGIOUS
She follows the vows of her husband.
She should be fully conversant with religious principles.
She follows a husband who is not fallen (He is a devotee of Krishna). 

HAS GOOD QUALITIES
She must be modest and truthful.
She should control her senses.
She should not be greedy.
She should be satisfied in all circumstances.
She should be very careful, always clean and pure.

SPEAKS SWEETLY
She should speak sweet words pleasingly.
She should speak truthfully. 

SERVES WITH LOVE
She should engage in the service of her husband with love and affection

DRESSES NICELY
She should dress nicely and decorate herself, preferably with golden ornaments.
She should dress for the pleasure of her husband.
She should always wear clean and attractive garments.

KEEPS HOUSE
She should sweep and clean the household with water and other liquids.
The entire house should be always pure and clean.
She should collect the household paraphernalia (keep it in order).
She should keep the house always aromatic with incense and flowers.
She must be very expert in handling household management.

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY
She must take care of her children.

SASTRIC SOURCES
SB 6.19.17: Accepting her husband as the representative of the Supreme Person, a wife should worship him with unalloyed devotion by offering him prasada. The husband, being very pleased with his wife, should engage himself in the affairs of his family.

SB 7.11.27-29: To render service to the husband, to be always favorably disposed toward the husband, to be equally well disposed toward the husband’s relatives and friends, and to follow the vows of the husband—these are the four principles to be followed by women described as chaste.

A chaste woman must dress nicely and decorate herself with golden ornaments for the pleasure of her husband. Always wearing clean and attractive garments, she should sweep and clean the household with water and other liquids so that the entire house is always pure and clean. She should collect the household paraphernalia and keep the house always aromatic with incense and flowers and must be ready to execute the desires of her husband. Being modest and truthful, controlling her senses, and speaking in sweet words, a chaste woman should engage in the service of her husband with love, according to time and circumstances.

A chaste woman should not be greedy, but satisfied in all circumstances. She must be very expert in handling household affairs and should be fully conversant with religious principles. She should speak pleasingly and truthfully and should be very careful and always clean and pure. Thus a chaste woman should engage with affection in the service of a husband who is not fallen.

The woman who engages in the service of her husband, following strictly in the footsteps of the goddess of fortune, surely returns home, back to Godhead, with her devotee husband, and lives very happily in the Vaikuntha planets.

KRISHNA'S INSTRUCTIONS
Krishna book, Chapter 29, the Lord personally instructs all women via His beloved gopis:
 "Your feelings of love and affection for Me are very appropriate because I am the Supreme Personality of Godhead. All living creatures are My parts and parcels, and naturally they are affectionate to Me. So this affection for Me is very welcome, and I congratulate you for this. Now you can go back to your homes. Another thing I must explain to you is that for a chaste woman, service to the husband without duplicity is the best religious principle. Not only should a woman be faithful and chaste to her husband, but she should also be affectionate to the friends of her husband, obedient to the father and mother of her husband, and affectionate to the younger brothers of her husband. And most importantly, a woman must take care of her children.”


Srila Prabhupada comments: In this way, Krishna explained the duty of a woman. He also stressed the point of serving the husband: “Even if he is not of very good character, or even if he is not very rich or fortunate, or even if he is old or invalid on account of continued diseases, whatever her husband’s condition, a woman should not divorce her husband if she actually desires to be elevated to the higher planetary systems after leaving this body. Besides that, it is considered abominable in society if a woman is unfaithful and goes searching for another man. Such habits will deter a woman from being elevated to the heavenly planets, and the results of such habits are very degrading. A married woman should not search for a paramour, for this is not sanctioned by the Vedic principles of life. If you think that you are very much attached to Me and you want My association, I advise you not to personally try to enjoy Me. It is better for you to go home, simply talk about Me and think of Me, and by this process of constantly remembering Me and chanting My names you will surely be elevated to the spiritual platform. There is no need to stand near Me. Please go back home.”

Srila Prabhupada continues: The instruction given herein by the Supreme Personality of Godhead to the gopis was not at all sarcastic. Such instructions should be taken very seriously by all honest women. The chastity of women is specifically stressed herein by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore this principle should be followed by any serious woman who wants to be elevated to a higher status of life. Krishna is the center of all affection for all living creatures. When this affection is developed for Krishna, one surpasses and transcends all Vedic injunctions. This was possible for the gopis because they saw Krishna face to face. This is not possible for any women in the conditioned state. Unfortunately, sometimes a rascal, following the philosophy of monism, or oneness, very irresponsibly takes advantage of this räsa-lilä to imitate the behavior of Krishna with the gopis, entice many innocent women and mislead them in the name of spiritual realization. As a warning, Lord Krishna has herein hinted that what was possible for the gopis is not possible for ordinary women. Although a woman can actually be elevated by advanced Krishna consciousness, she should not be enticed by an imposter who says that he is Krishna. She should concentrate her devotional activities in chanting and meditating upon Krishna as is advised herein. One should not follow the men called sahajiyäs, the so-called devotees who take everything very lightly.