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DISCOURSE 33
girl fascinated by her beauty, his love for her cannot be permanent. If after the marriage, she becomes ugly on account of some disease what happens to her husband's love for her? Would she get her husband's love in spite of her ugliness? The husband loved her beauty but now she has lost her beauty. The result is she will have to be drudging like a slave at home and he will pursue other beautiful and attractive girls.
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In the same manner, if a girl marries a young man fascinated by his wealth, she may despise him afterwards, when he loses his wealth. After the marriage, he may suffer a heavy loss in business; he may become poor; he may have to sell away his bungalow and he may lose all his luxuries like his car etc. Now, when her husband is in such reduced circumstances, she may not continue to love her husband. She may become intimate with some other rich man who can provide her with money for her amusements, merriments, dress, decorations and shopping and who can take her to movies and to other places of amusement. She may begin loving and admiring such a man. Now-adays, there are many such women who are outwardly respectable and cultured but who are inwardly immoral even in cultured families. In the same manner, the number of immoral men also has been increasing.
Now-a-days, there has been a deterioration in man's individual life, domestic life, social life and national life. What a fall has come about? How much of agitation has appeared in the lives of people? How violent, worried and sinful people have become? All this has happened because people have ignored or broken the noble ideals of marriage. The relationship between husband and wife has been greatly deteriorating. Spiritual objectives and the aspiration to attain salvation have been completely "ex-communicated" from modern life.
Jain Education International
The great author and Acharya while discussing grihasthadharma describes here the second principle of grihastha dharma namely the propriety of marriage. We shall discuss this principle of propriety later.
This is enough for to-day.
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