Vedic Marriage

 (from Dasha Maha Vidyas):

Guruji:

The most important promise which a couple makes to each other at the time of Vedic marriage is contained in the Saptapadī-mantra, walking the seven steps around the fire. The mantra is:

sakhā sapta-padī bhāva — Be my friend for life, walking the seven steps with me.

The seven steps are the seven vyāhṛtis of Gāyatrī, which are symbols for the seven cakras:

1. mūlādhāra

2. svādhiṣṭhāna

3. maṇipūra

4. anāhata

5. viśuddhi

6. ājñā

7. sahasrāra

sakhyaṁ te gameyam — May we be friends with exactly equal rights of freedom.

sakhyaṁ te mā yoṣaḥ — May my friendship with other women walking these seven steps not come in the way of our friendship.

sakhyaṁ te mā yoṣṭaḥ — May your friendship with other men walking these seven steps not come in the way of our friendship.

Marriage, according to the Vedic rites, is a contract of indestructible, inviolable friendship which is not binding with one and only partner for all the time. Other members are permitted in friendly enjoyments for the purpose of walking the seven steps. A male friend to a female outside marriage is called Gaṇapati. A female friend to the male outside marriage is called Gaṇapatnī. Recognition of wifehood and husbandhood is accorded not only to the rightfully married partners, but others also who participate in yajñas involving homa of semen into the strī yoni. Stability is needed for the good of offspring. Freedom is needed by the individual to experience in full the richness of variety in life. Both are accorded their rightful place in Vedic marriages.

The walking of seven steps around fire is a symbolic act, which is to be interpreted in real life as engaging in coitus with a view to transcend. First arousing the kāmāgni, the homa is done. In wasting the mind away of all the impurities of duality, the tātpanam occurs as clear thinking, and seeing God within.

Such are the secrets contained in the Vedic rituals. Unfortunately, the language has become a barrier to understanding instead of promoting it. In the interim period, the so-called reformers stepped in who knew nothing of the lofty ideas and ideals of the Vedas. They surreptitiously interposed non-Vedic promises such as na ticarāmi meaning, “I will not have physical union with anyone other than you.” These are not in Vedic, archaic language, and can be clearly recognized as interpositions of recent origin. These promises completely contravene the earlier promise. The mercenary elite left the loophole for those who know and understand Sanskrit to question and get clarifications, but the majority, who were not exposed to Brahmajñāna, were bound hopelessly. So marriage here became, in due course, not the means for spiritual uplifting, but the dull physical act, worse than prostitution. These interpositions came to existence owing to the device to protect the Indian women from the ravages of foreign invaders and were meant to delimit the area of marital conduct to the husband and wife, making the marriage a very inflexible, rigid institution, where divorce becomes impossible and misery magnified, liberty curtailed. Not understanding Sanskrit, being subject to the tyranny of vested interests of some mercenary Brāhmins, has resulted in a departure from the original values. To break loose from the chains of such morbid orthodoxy, and to breathe the air of divine joy, one must either go to the roots and spend a lifetime of study, or one must be guided by a Sad Guru, whose purpose it is to annihilate the ego structure and to make the chela realize Advaita in action. A Guru who does not do this is not a Guru; he is only after the wealth of the disciple, not after the mind and ahaṁkāra. The aim of all self-realization is to know, feel, and experience the oneness with all in thought, word, and deed. Nothing short of this will do.

The purpose of these comments is not to incite “immorality”, but to point out the regrettable loss that Indian culture has suffered due to the ravages of time. We have lost Brahmajñāna, we have lost our understanding of the deeper meanings of life, death, and beyond. We become minimized, living superficially, dying the death of rats, steeped in bondage and loving that bondage!

Śrīvidyā is one shining light amidst the darkness, and attempts are afoot to put that light out. So beware! Do not succumb to Tamas. Rise, awake to the light within you, get the knowledge directly from God, be God. That is your duty. Having become God, make others so, because utter happiness is not happiness unless it is shared. No realized soul ever remains content until he has tried to wipe away the tears from every eye, to point out the way to bliss as lying in the merger of self with God.

Here and now is the command to liberate yourselves! Do not be bonded by anything! Your true nature is limitless! Love has a starting point. But all these are waves, which are not happy unless they extend over the entire cosmos. Do not limit your love, do not limit your knowledge, do not limit your affection, do not limit your music, do not limit your silence, do not limit your vision, do not limit your God, because you are God! Tat tvam asi.