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EDITORIAL  The Purpose Of Marriage BY ARJUNANATHA DASA EDITORIAL, Oct 12 (VNN) — In his article "Now Try To Define A 'Man' Or A 'Woman", Bhakti Anand Goswami mentions a proposed American bill which apparently would outlaw all marriage except that between a man and a woman. Maharaja does this by arguing that there are many people of indeterminate and unprovable gender, and that implementation of such a law would therefore collapse in a legal-scientific mess. Maharaja makes completely correct logical statements and conclusions, but his is a kind of argument which takes an issue and examines how an opposing view would work in particular unusual circumstances. The facts are that hermaphrodites are extremely rare, and the issue at large is legal and, in this forum, religious acceptance of same-sex marriages. I'm not going to try to defend the bill, which I had never heard of before reading Maharaj's article. However, I do wish to defend heterosexual marriage, and my considered view is that legalising and religiously blessing same-sex marriage puts another nail in the coffin of heterosexual religious marriage. As vaishnavas, we have little to do with making laws; our role is to understand and explain Vedic philosophy. Marriage is a very important part of every society. It binds families together, and provides the social glue by which we regulate our senses. Whether grihasta or gramhidi, it defines obligations, rights and expectations, particularly benefiting children. In fact, its primary purpose is to provide a religious and stable environment for children to grow up in. Srila Prabhupada often pointed out that if women are freely available for sexual exploitation by men, then there is less incentive for the men to marry and protect women. ("When there is milk available in the marketplace, why keep a cow?"). His position is that women should always be protected by a father, husband or son. Krishna states in Bhagavad-Gita, "I am sex-life which is not contrary to the vedas". Conversely, unwanted children, the product of illicit sex, bring about a chaotic society, a fact which Arjuna states in the first chapter of Bhagavad-Gita. The twentieth century has seen a steady erosion of the institution of marriage through the liberalisation of divorce laws and growing social acceptability of sex outside marriage, illegitimacy and divorce. It is now the case in many countries that a married couple receive no or little financial benefits compared to a co-habiting couple in the areas of tax, pensions and other benefits. Many of these 'reforms' have come about as part of a zealous movement of non-discrimination to be applied whatever a person's circumstances, whether unmarried, female or homosexual: circumstances seen as liable to unwarranted negative discrimination. The upshot of all this is that there is little external incentive for people, especially men, to marry; when they do, little incentive for them to keep their vows, and every incentive to divorce if not completely satisfied. It should be understood that marriage is, in some ways, an austerity, an ashrama, and a set of obligations. Without it, human society is degraded further along the path of Kali-Yuga. When cohabiting partners of whatever sex are given 'equal rights', to share tax allowances, to inherit pensions and to receive religious blessings on their union, this reduces the finances available to be distributed to married couples, devalues society's expectations of marriage, degrades the meaning of religious marriage, and enfeebles whatever right-on religion is bending with Kali-Yuga cultural norms to bless such unions. I applaud GALVA's writings about spirituality and the 'third sex'. I'm sure there are lots of gay/lesbian/'other' devotees with great devotion and ability to regulate their senses just as well or better than many heterosexual devotees. I know that heterosexuality is rarely a 100% thing. I also understand what marriage is, from shastra: "The purpose of accepting a wife in religious marriage, as sanctioned in the Vedas, is to have a putra, a son qualified to deliver his father from the darkest region of hellish life. Marriage is not intended for sense gratification but for getting a son fully qualified to deliver his father." SB 4.21.46p So how is this purpose of marriage served by 'marrying' people who cannot conceive children, whatever their sex? Perhaps a way out for the legislators Maharaja attacks would be for marriage to be defined as legal 'between two people where there is a reasonable expectation that they are capable of procreation'. Your servant, Arjunanatha dasa Contact VNN about this story  Send this story to a friend
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