The fear was palpable in his voice when he spoke of the events that he saw. Anurag prabhu told me about a dream which all of us fear getting translated into reality. He was going to get married, albeit forcibly, by his “well wishing” relatives. His obvious anxiety stemmed from the fact that no one back in Pune was informed about it. He was in an absolute state of terror. After all, he is the coordinator of Gauranga Sabha, the elite group of aspiring monks who wish to dedicate themselves fully in the mission of Srila Prabhupada. Thankfully, he started running away. His relatives were behind him. Drops of perspiration trickling down his cheeks, he ran and ran and ran till he woke up.
That was just a dream. The aversion to marriage is a kind of self-evident feeling in an aspiring monk. The marriage ceremony however is a sacred Vedic tradition of inducting a husband and wife into a vow of Grihasta Ashram which entails living a life together centered around serving and pleasing Krishna. So, does that mean that “marriage” as a vow of being together is non-existent in a monk’s dictionary? Perhaps not! The couple of conversations that follow attest to that.
Once, a monk disciple of HH Mahavishnu Swami Maharaj (of Nashik) approached him with an oft encountered problem in our lives. How to deal with the upheaval of lusty desires? “Get Married”, came the answer. The disciple was visibly perplexed. “Get married to Srimad Bhagavatam”, Maharaj smilingly clarified. The disciple was more than delighted at this answer.
In another conversation HG Tamohara prabhu from Florida mentioned to HH Bhakti Marga Swami Maharaj that he’s been married to the same lady for forty years. It was during a lunch time at the recently concluded GBC meetings at Juhu. Showering his praise at this accomplishment Maharaj pondered to himself, “who am I married to?”, “Who is my companion?” Maharaj writes in his blogspot* that the answer came at the time of his morning beach walk. “It’s the mantra that is whom I am used to. And like in relationship sometimes my mood in dealing with my companion (whatever) it is sometimes hot and sometimes cold but there definitely is a companionship there”.
In other words, one needs to foster a life long friendship with the Holy Name and Srimad Bhagavatam in order to successfully fight a life long war against Maya.
*courtesy: www.thewalkingmonk.blogspot.com
