Sacred Vows and Formal Agreements

(written on April 6, 2020)

Srila Prabhupada wrote in the purport of SB 1.16.21 that, “In this age illicit connection with women will render many women and children uncared for. Circumstantially, the women will try to become independent of the protection of men, and marriage will be performed as a matter of formal agreement between man and woman.” Due to illicit connections, people have grown skeptical of marriages and hence they are performed as a matter of a formal agreement rather than a sacred vow. A formal agreement is a contract that can usually be nullified. Formal agreements occur, but they can also end. Most marriages nowadays are formal agreements. People now perform marriages and stay married only as long as the person will provide them with sense gratification. Many people divorce once they do not want to have sense gratification with that person anymore. A sacred vow, however, is a spiritual tie, that cannot be broken. It is inviolable. Nowadays very few people make a sacred vow when getting married. The purpose of this vow is that the husband and wife will remain together and help each other grow in Krsna consciousness, it is not based on sense gratification, but is all about increasing on the spiritual path.