On May 8th of 1969, the Krishna conscious society had a wedding of three couples at the Boston Radha Krishna temple, as depicted on these pages. The couples learned of the marriage one day prior to the actual ceremony. Krishna Consciousness means simple living, and so there was no problem preparing for the event in such a short space of time. The boys gathered together enough money to purchase new saris for their prospective brides, and the women on the day of the ceremony made garlands of flowers for themselves and their prospective husbands. Someone was put in charge of collecting the necessary items for the ceremonial fire—rice flour colored with dye, small pieces of wood for fuel, sesame seeds, barley and bananas to sacrifice in the fire, and clarified butter to make the fire burn brightly.
The spiritual master and the couples to be married sat down on opposite sides of the fire pit, each bride sitting to the right of her groom. A flower garland was first offered to the spiritual master and then the couple was offered flower garlands. Much sweet smelling incense was lit and the spiritual master began by reciting auspicious mantras and sipping three small spoonfuls of water from his hand. All the couples followed the sipping of the water. When the mantras were said the spiritual master delivered a lecture stressing the importance of married life:
“Married life for Krishna Consciousness is all right. My spiritual master was a strict celibate all of his life, but he used to say that if he could raise children in Krishna Consciousness then he was prepared to indulge in sex life one hundred times. In The Bhagavad-gita Krishna declares that sex life based on religious principles is a representation of Himself. The regulative principle that married couples should follow regarding sex life is that it should be avoided except for the propagation of children, and then only indulged in once a month until pregnancy. If the couple does not desire children then sex life should be avoided completely. This is known as natural birth control. In our Krishna Consciousness society we are not teaching the cessation of activity, but the regulation of activity. It is natural for young boys and girls to be attracted to each other and to desire enjoyment, but they should not act unrestrictedly on the platform of dog or cat consciousness. Let them be married and live peacefully. In all forms of life there is eating, sleeping, defending and mating. The human form also indulges in these activities, but in the human form there is a fifth activity which distinguishes it from the society of the animals. This we call religiousness.
“True religiousness begins when one asks himself, ‘Why am I suffering? Who am I? What is my true position?’ If someone, no matter who or what he is, sincerely looks for the answers to these important questions and if he has accepted a bona fide spiritual master, then he is said to be on the path of religiousness. Our Krishna conscious society is meant for supplying the answers to these questions as they are answered by the Supreme Lord Himself in various scriptures such as The Bhagavad-gita, Srimad Bhagwatam, Chaitanya Charitamrita, etc.
“Parents, please give your blessings to your children. Let them be happy for the benefit of society, country and humanity.”
From BTG # 27, 1969.