Text 40
pitṛ-devarṣi-martyānāṁ
bhūtānām ātmanaś ca ha
kṣemyaṁ vadanti śaraṇaṁ
bhave ’smin yad gṛhāśramaḥ
pitṛ — forefathers; deva — demigods; ṛṣi — sages; martyānām — of humanity in general; bhūtānām — of the infinite living entities; ātmanaḥ — of oneself; ca — also; ha — certainly; kṣemyam — beneficial; vadanti — they say; śaraṇam — shelter; bhave — in the material world; asmin — this; yat — that which; gṛha-āśramaḥ — householder life.
The woman continued: According to authorities, the householder life is pleasing not only to oneself but to all the forefathers, demigods, great sages, saintly persons and everyone else. A householder life is thus beneficial.
According to the Vedic system, when one is born in this material world he has many obligations. He has obligations to the demigods — the demigods of the sun and moon, King Indra, Varuṇa, etc. — because they are supplying the necessities of life. We receive heat, light, water and all other natural amenities through the mercy of the demigods. We are also indebted to our forefathers, who have given us these bodies, paternal property, intelligence, society, friendship and love. Similarly, we are indebted to the general public for politics and sociology, and we are also indebted to lower animals such as horses, cows, asses, dogs and cats. In this way, as soon as one is born in this material world as a human being, he has so many obligations and is bound to repay all these obligations. If he does not repay them, he is further entangled in the process of birth and death. The gṛhamedhī, however, who is overly addicted to material things, does not know that if he simply takes shelter at the lotus feet of Mukunda, he is immediately freed from all obligations to others. Unfortunately a gṛhamedhī does not have any interest in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Prahlāda Mahārāja says:
matir na kṛṣṇe parataḥ svato vā
mitho ’bhipadyeta gṛha-vratānām
(Bhāg. 7.5.30)
A gṛha-vrata is the same as a gṛhamedhī. One who takes sex life to be supreme finds action in Kṛṣṇa consciousness confusing. Either due to his own personal consideration or due to his having taken instructions from others or conferring with them, he becomes addicted to sexual indulgence and cannot act in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.