Spiritual Evolution and Samsara

[Jaldhar H. Vyas]

On Wed, 9 Apr 1997, Neeta Pasrija wrote:

> I was blessed by Grace a few years ago and turned towards light.  Now I am
> extremely worried, because I am at a crossroad of my life.  I have learnt not
> to get attached to material things but I still don't think I am at a point
> where I can give up the world and go to the Himalayas, so what choice do I
 have
> but to get married and live a worldly life.

You are right, there is no choice.

>Also, how else do I pay my
> ancestral debt?    By the way, are the 3 debts applicable to both men and
 women
> or applicable to men only?

The three debts (To Devas, fullfilled by performing Vaishvadeva Yagna, to
Pitrs, by performing Shraddha, and to Rshis by Svadhyaya) are incumbent
upon married men of the Dvija castes only.  Women however have an obligation
to get married.  (Some of the Dharmashastris think women cannot be vairagis at
all but this is a minority view.)

> My all consuming fear these days is: as soon as I get married and have
> children I will get lost in samsara and maya.
> Any help on how to avoid that would be greatly appreciated.
>

You are anyway.  All of us who are not vairagis are entwined in samsara.
Complete detachment is the only way out.  While you are waiting for that
to come about, it is a good and noble to get married, practice dharma and
raise a family.  All the while you will be purifying yourself until the
time when detachment will be perfectly natural.  In the Smrtis it is said
after giving praise to the qualities of a teacher, that ones father should
be given 10 times as much respect as a teacher and ones mother 100 times
as much.  Would any of the Rshis have achieved moksha if their mothers
hadn't given birth to and raised them?

--
Jaldhar H. Vyas [jaldhar at braincells.com]   And the men .-_|\ who hold
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