Divorce - an essential subject

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In today's world, marriage and divorce occur according to the whims and fancies of people, instead of being meaningful and allowing one's spiritual progress, as marriage was originally meant for. Srila Prabhupada says, in line with Vedic literature, that divorce is strictly prohibited and is not encouraged by any religious person. It causes disruption of healthy family life, carrying with it numerous negative consequences, which ultimately steer one away from happiness, peace and most importantly, spiritual progress. A question then arises; if divorce does not aid spiritual progress, does marriage do so, and if it does, then how so? More importantly, what is the relationship between divorce and spiritual progress?

Srila Prabhupada's books, lectures, conversations and letters offer a comprehensive presentation of this essential subject as seen in the Vaniquotes Divorce category. An introduction from his books is given below in the following 8 quotes.

Quotes from Srila Prabhupada's books


vanipedia.org 		The wife and children are naturally dependent on the father, but the father, being unable to maintain the family properly, becomes mentally distressed and therefore chastises the family members unnecessarily. As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (12.2.8): ācchinna-dāra-draviṇā yāsyanti giri-kānanam. Being disgusted with family life, one separates from the family by divorce or some other means. If one has to separate, why not separate willingly? Systematic separation is better than forced separation. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.13.8)



vanipedia.org 		Although marriage by personal selection or by agreement took place in the past, we find no such thing as divorce by disagreement. Of course, divorce by disagreement took place among low-class men, but marriage by agreement was found even in the very highest classes, especially in the royal kṣatriya families. Mahārāja Duṣmanta's acceptance of Śakuntalā as his wife was sanctioned by Vedic culture. How the marriage took place is described in the next verse. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 9.20.15)



vanipedia.org 		In the modern day, the wife is never submissive, and therefore home life is broken even by slight incidents. Either the wife or the husband may take advantage of the divorce laws. According to the Vedic law, however, there is no such thing as divorce laws, and a woman must be trained to be submissive to the will of her husband. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 9.3.10)



vanipedia.org 		When a man becomes qualitatively like the cats and dogs, he forgets his duties in cultivating spiritual values, and thus he accepts his wife as a sense gratificatory agency. When the wife is accepted as a sense gratificatory agency, personal beauty is the main consideration, and as soon as there is a break in personal sense gratification, there is disruption or divorce. But when husband and wife aim at spiritual advancement by mutual cooperation, there is no consideration of personal beauty or the disruption of so-called love. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.14.19)



vanipedia.org 		In the Western countries, due to the dissatisfaction of the family members, there is actually no family life. There are many cases of divorce, and out of dissatisfaction, the children leave the protection of their parents. Especially in this age of Kali, family life is being reduced. Everyone is becoming self-centered because that is the law of nature. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.13.8)



vanipedia.org 		Misconceiving one thing for another thing is called illusion. For example, accepting a rope as a snake is illusion, but the rope is not false. The rope, as it exists in the front of the illusioned person, is not at all false, but the acceptance is illusory. Therefore the wrong conception of accepting this material manifestation as being divorced from the energy of the Lord is illusion, but it is not false. And this illusory conception is called the reflection of the reality in the darkness of ignorance. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 2.9.34)



vanipedia.org 		The happiness of family life is compared to a drop of water in the desert. No one can be happy in family life. According to the Vedic civilization, one cannot give up the responsibilities of family life, but today everyone is giving up family life by divorce. This is due to the miserable condition experienced in the family. Sometimes, due to misery, one becomes very hardened toward his affectionate sons, daughters and wife. This is but part of the blazing fire of the forest of material life. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.14.19)



vanipedia.org 		Although people may be enemies, in order to fulfill their desires again and again, they sometimes get married. Unfortunately, these marriages do not last very long, and the people involved are separated again by divorce or other means. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.14.37)


Divorce - explore more within this category.

Vanipedia has now over 903 introductory articles compiled from Srila Prabhupada's books under the series titled Essential Subjects. All these articles can be seen in the Table of Content on the right side of this article and also here in this Umbrella Category. Browse through them to relish the breadth and depth of Srila Prabhupada's teachings - There is a subject for everyone.


   
 

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