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DISCOURSE 35
You are still living in the nineteenth century. You must learn to live with society mingling with others. You do not know how much the world has progressed". Many modern men speak thus to their wives.
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On the other hand, there are, today, many men who prefer decent and dignified dress and decorations in their own case, but whose wives are crazy for fashions and styles in dress and decorations. Of course, this point has to be given due consideration before marriage but if you marry without paying due attention to this principle of parity, afterwards there will crop up questions relating to dress and decorations; and dissensions will ensue.
Who are enjoying perfect domestic felicity as husband and wife, now-a-days? People have become self-centred now-a-days. The husband does not care for the wife's welfare and comforts and the wife does not care for the husband's welfare and comfort. Parents do not worry about the welfare and progress of their children and the children are absolutely indifferent to their parents. All are ruining themselves under the illusion of pursuing their own pleasures and enjoyments.
Everyone puts on the dress and ornaments which he or she likes. They do not care for the likes and dislikes of the other members of their family or of their friends. Whether the husband likes it or not, the wife puts on the dress and ornaments which she prefers. The husband puts on the dress and decorations which he likes ignoring the wishes and preferences of his wife. Added to this, each tries to impose on the other his own or her own likes and dislikes and insistence accompanies this imposition. What is the result of all this? Only worries and quarrels !
If men and women are thus full of worries, agitations and dissatisfaction, their minds will not even turn towards spiritual activities. They will not have even the enthusiasm to engage themselves in such internal austerities as spiritual meditation and contemplation. Eventhough they may visit the temple as a matter of formality necessitated by the family traditions, they cannot concentrate on the Paramatma. When their lives become
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