Satisfying both Parents and Krishna in your marriage!

 Satisfying both Parents and Krishna in your marriage!

This is where the devotees should balance their family and their devotion.

Of course this is a difficult matter to decide by us.

You need to satisfy both your expectations as well as parents’ expectations in a single decision.

This happens in many families of the devotees.

Here, I do not wish to give an adamant advice. I like to guide you practically.

In any marriage, we need the satisfaction and blessings of the parents.

You are not an initiated devotee yet.

So, you are not bound by any limits and rules right now except the principles.

If you decide to satisfy your parents’ wish, you should relax your plans.

Before doing that, first try your best to convince your parents through any of your influencial relative(s). Explain your genuine stand to them and request them to convince your parents. If any relative who has more influence or respect to your parents advise your parents, they may agree.

If this is not possible or if your parents do not agree even after the advice of influential persons, you may decide to satisfy their wishes.

But, you can make this little favourable to you.

How?

See, Were you a devotee before getting in touch with the ISKCON movement? You too were a devatha worshiper or materialistic person.

Even now, you might not have deserted your attachments and you may be just a satthaka practicing devotion.

So, you are now in a growing stage in devotion though you are chanting 16 rounds now

Not in a grown up stage.

And, not yet initiated.

You became a good devotee from the stage of materialistic person.

Similarly, select a girl from your caste who is sincerely worshiping other gods or who is interested in following devotion packed life after marriage.

She need not be an ISKCON devotee.

See, ISKCON is an organization that has devotees here and there in some cities only all over the world.

There are many pockets of countries where ISKCON has not started its centers.

And, there are just some lakhs of people are sincerely associated with the ISKCON whereas this world contains 800 billion people.

So, it may not be possible for all the ISCKON devotees to get matching groom or bride from within ISKCON itself in the same devotional level.

In ISKCON, women are more than men as in other fields (!!!).

So, your parents will more appreciate you if you marry a girl within your caste but with keen interest in devotion.

Discuss this with the girl before fixing her.

Then, marry her and take her to the ISKCON temple every week with you.

See, within six months, she too will become a better devotee than you because the girls are fast in taking up devotion as they have more emotional quotient (EQ).

In this process, there are double benefits:

(i) You give a new devotee to the movement and Krishna.

(ii) You have satisfied your parents.

Warning: Never marry a girl who has least or no interest in the devotional way of life to any god. It may be difficult to change her as a devotee of Krishna as per the stanndards recommended by Srila Prabhupada.

Hope you are now clear about satisfying both Parents and Krishna in choosing match for marriage.