THE HUSBAND IS THE WIFE’S HIGHEST DEITY From the Mahabharata, Santi Parva, Section CXLIV Since the marriage union takes place in the presence of fire, the husband is the wife’s highest deity. She is no wife with whom her lord is not content. In the case of women, if their lords be gratified with them all the deities also become so. That wife with whom her husband is not pleased becomes consumed into ashes, even like a creeper adorned with bunches of flowers in a forest conflagration. A woman has no protector like her lord, and no happiness like her lord. Abandoning all her wealth and possession, a woman should take to her lord as her only refuge. What chaste woman is there that would, when deprived of her lord, venture to bear the burden of life? A householder’s home, even if filled with sons and grandsons and daughters-in-law and servants, is regarded empty if destitute of the housewife. One’s house is not one’s home; one’s wife only is one’s home. A house without the wife is as desolate as the wilderness. In the Mahabharata, a husband describing her truly devoted wife says: "She never eats before I eat, and never bathes before I bathe. She rejoices if I rejoice, and becomes sorry when I am sorry. When I am away she becomes cheerless, and when I am angry she ceases not to speak sweetly. Ever devoted to her lord and ever relying upon her lord, she was ever employed in doing what was agreeable to and beneficial for her lord. Worthy of praise is that person on earth who owns such a spouse. That amiable wife knows that I am fatigued and hungry. Devoted to me and constant in her love, my spouse is exceedingly sweet-tempered and worships me devoutly. Even the foot of a tree is one`s home if one lives there with one`s spouse as a companion. Without one`s spouse, a very palace is truly a desolate wilderness. One`s spouse is one`s associate in all one`s acts of Virtue, Profit and Pleasure. It is said that the wife is the richest possession of her lord. In this world the wife is the only associate of her lord in all the concerns of life. The wife is ever the best medicines that one can have in sickness and woe. There is no friend like unto the wife. There is no refuge better than the wife. There is no better ally in the world than the wife in acts undertaken for the acquisition of religious merit. He that has not in his house a wife that is chaste and of agreeable speech, should go to the woods. For such a man there is no difference between home and wilderness.
It isnt sexist, in this same forum, I refer you to the thread women must always be worshipped, started by Jedi.
those who "choose" to get married in the sense of a husband or wife, or even wife and wife, and husband and husband, should worship thier partner, not try to own, hold, become deeply attached... so thier partner is the face of the divine, of god, and the time and effort devoted to such a union should be a spiritual act, not one of fear, attachment or desire, the desires involved should be transformed so the act is an act in order to escape suffering not create more. It becomes a path to the divine, no more or less important then any other. the marriage is not as important, as the bond of love between the partners, it a chance for powerful and deep learning, for beautiful relationship yoga, each partner must be worshipped for it to be spiritual and become not a bond of attachment but a doorway to the divine. Unconditional love is not some dream, it is what is NEEDED for such a union to benifit each partner and all of mankind... it can become a base of love, a home within a home, and the partner's physical presence is not as imporant as realizing she or he is always in your heart! this includes, the not mentioned tantric aspects of marridge, the sensual play can lead to suffering if attachment, jelously, anger, and all sorts of things develop around it... It must be used as a doorway to higher consciousness to divinity, going through the act to get free from the act... an expression of love for the beloved, and essentially a dance of cosmic union, so you see the roles of lover and beloved, husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend, or whatever, were not real, for you are, and always will be one, bathed in the divine consciousness, you are one!
i also believe the same thing about my dog maggie, she is my highest worshipable deity... and likewise for her as i am her highest worshipable deity... but too, maggie just seems to love everybody very very much, i don't think one could say she loves one more than another...she's kinda like god
yeah dog is backwards for god, that means something special "The best form to worship god, is in all forms." - neem karoli baba
