A Nice Wife Versus the Standard of Śrī Caitanya
Śrīla Prabhupāda frequently analyzes the core desires that drive conditioned souls within the material world. Chief among these is the desire for a comfortable family life, specifically the aspiration to have a "nice wife." While recognizing that a good marriage is a genuine material blessing, Śrīla Prabhupāda warns against the illusion that such arrangements can permanently solve the problems of life. For the karmīs, acquiring wealth, a nice home, and a beautiful wife feels like ultimate perfection. However, Śrīla Prabhupāda contrasts this temporary, illusory satisfaction with the supreme, unalloyed standard set by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who famously rejected all such material allurements in favor of pure devotional service to Kṛṣṇa.
A Symbol of Material Fortune
According to Vedic calculations and astrology, possessing a good family is a sign of previous pious activities. Śrīla Prabhupāda acknowledges that within the material sphere, a nice wife brings peace, opulence, and energy to her husband's life.
- If one has a nice wife, he is to be considered a most fortunate man. In astrology, a man is considered fortunate who has great wealth, very good sons or a very good wife. Of these three, one who has a very good wife is considered the most fortunate.
- They (women) should be respected as goddess of fortune. If one man has got nice wife, actually he has got goddess of fortune. That is astrological calculation.
- To have great amount of money, that is also opulence. Dhanam janam. And another a opulence, to have a very nice wife, beautiful, obedient, very pleasing. So these are material necessities.
- If we can train up nice wife, or the society trains the girls to become nice wife, she becomes a great source of energy to the husband.
The Illusion of Material Perfection
The danger of material opulence is that it creates a false sense of security. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that people often think that a good job, a nice apartment, and a nice wife mean their struggles are over. But because this world is asat (temporary), death eventually kicks everyone out of their comfortable arrangements.
- They are thinking that "Here this small span of life, say fifty years, sixty years, hundred years utmost, if we get a nice wife, a nice apartment and nice motorcar, running with seventy miles speed, and a nice whiskey bottle. . ." That is his perfection.
- I have got so much bank balance, and I will live very happily. I have got so nice wife and so many children. Now my problem is solved - No, sir, your problem is not solved. Real problem is not solved.
- You may try to become very comfortable, good income, good bank balance, or nice wife, nice car, but one day it will come you'll be kicked out: "Please get out." Finished.
- We are now interested with nonpermanent goal of life. People are thinking, "If I get a nice car, a nice apartment, a nice wife, a nice bank balance, then I will be happy." But this is asat, because none of this will stay.
- In this way, King Puranjana was captivated by his nice wife and was thus cheated. Indeed, he became cheated in his whole existence in the material world.
Prayers for Material Benefit vs. Pure Devotion
It is a common tendency to approach God or demigods simply to fulfill material desires. However, Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu taught humanity how to transcend this lower standard of religion.
- People generally pray for material benefits: "O God, give us our daily bread. Give me nice position. Give me nice wife, nice following or this or victory," so on, so on, so on, simply for material enjoyment.
- Regularly going to the church, regularly going to the mosque or temple, but the love is for material things, not for God. How I get money, how I get motorcar, how I get dog, how I get nice wife, how I get nice . . . the love is here.
- Another demand of the karmis is that "I must have very nice, beautiful, obedient wife." Caitanya Mahaprabhu said: "No, I don't want that." Na dhanam. This is finishing materialism.
- Everyone is praying to God with some interest, but even if we pray to God, "Give me some money, give me some relief, a nice house, a nice wife, or nice food," that is also good. Yet this is not to the standard of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu's prayer.
Utilizing Family Life for Spiritual Progress
While fully exposing the pitfalls of material attachment, Śrīla Prabhupāda was also extremely encouraging to his householder disciples. When a marriage is centered around Kṛṣṇa, a nice wife is not an instrument of illusion, but a partner in making steady spiritual advancement.
- The Lord informed Kardama Muni, "The girl who is coming to be married with you is a princess, the daughter of Emperor Svayambhuva, and so just suitable for your purpose." Only by God's grace can one get a nice wife just as he desires.
- I thank you once more for your progress, in the matter of Krsna consciousness, and I shall always pray to Krishna for your steady progress more and more, along with your nice wife.
Conclusion
Śrīla Prabhupāda compassionately navigates the conditioned soul's attachment to family life. He does not deny that a nice wife brings a degree of comfort and fortune within the material world. However, he vigorously attacks the karmī illusion that such temporary comforts equate to the true perfection of life. As long as our love remains anchored in obtaining a nice car, apartment, and spouse, we remain trapped in the cycle of birth and death. To achieve ultimate liberation, Śrīla Prabhupāda implores us to follow the standard set by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu: to transcend the desire for beautiful women, wealth, and followers, and to instead cultivate causeless, unmotivated love for the Supreme Lord. By shifting the center of our lives to Kṛṣṇa, even a comfortable family situation can be successfully dovetailed in the pursuit of the ultimate spiritual goal.
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Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category Nice Wife. We invite you to click this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.