When Krsna with His sixteen thousand wives went to Hastinapura, so Draupadi… It is natural between woman and woman, they talk about their husband. That is natural. So Draupadi was inquiring from each and every wife of Krsna. Not all of them; it is not possible, sixteen thousand. At least the principal queens, beginning from… What is the [indistinct] called? Rukmini, yes. So every one of them were describing their marriage ceremony, that “My…” Rukmini explained that “My father wanted to hand over me to Krsna, but my elder brother, he did not agree. He wanted to get me married with Sisupala. So I did not like this idea. I wrote Krsna a private letter, that ‘I have dedicated my life to You, but this is the situation. Please come and kidnap me.’ So in this way Krsna kidnapped me and made me His maidservant.” The queen’s daughter, king’s daughter — every one of them were king’s daughter; they were not ordinary person daughter — but they wanted to become maidservant of Krsna. This is the idea, to become servant and to become maidservant. This is ideal of human civilization. The every woman should try to become maidservant of her husband, and every man should try to become the hundred times servant of Krsna. This is Indian civilization. Not that “Husband and wife, we are equal rights,” that, in Europe, America, the movement is going on, “Equal rights.” That is not Vedic civilization. Vedic civilization is the husband should be a sincere servant of Krsna, and the wife should be a sincere maidservant of the husband.

From Srila Prabhupada’s lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.9.24 — Mayapur, March 2, 1976