Grihasta is a man who is in tune with his real self, who works within the frame work of Grihasta Dharma, then, his life becomes Grihastashrama. When his evolution within compliments outside living, then it becomes Grihastashrama. A Grihasta is a Karma yogi, for whom Lord Krishna while explaining the nature of right action, has advocated a path of Spiritual Action by performing all works as oblations (Yajna). Yajna is any selfless act or sacrifice offered solely to God. It is the religious rite in which the soul offers itself in the Fire of Spirit. It is said that Grihastashrama is the best of all ashrams because it is the one that feeds the other ashrams.

1. 1
Spiritual Significance of Marriage
Part – 3
Grihastashrama
Part 3
Grihastashrama
(Marriage should be Grihastashrama, it should bring peace within to
both husband and wife, and they in turn should work together to
bring peace to the world)
धन िप एिह न आखीअिन बहिन इकठे होइ ॥
एक जोित दुइ मूरती धन िप कहीऐ सोइ ॥३॥
(Adi Granth, Raag Suhi M3, Page 788: 11)
They are not to be called husband and wife
who only sit together; rather they are husband
and wife who have one spirit in two bodies.

2. 2
Spiritual Significance of Marriage
Part – 3
Grihastashrama
Spiritual Significance of Marriage
Grihastashrama
Unlike recent time, in the olden days in India there were no educational
institutions:
• Young boys were sent to the forests and young girls would be taught
at home by their parents.
• The boys would reside at the house of the Guru, this place was
called ‘Ashrama’. Ashrama means a place where we get protection.
• And what is protected is our inner peace, our state of mind. The
outside situation might change or be the same, but because of the
grace of the guru, we will be still.
• What we must learn is that outside situations are not the cause for
our peace and happiness, it is what we have inside. If one can find
peace within, then no calamity outside can disturb him.
• Ashrama was a place where one would learn this. The guru would
teach the students how to live a life of Dharma.
Griha means Home, “sta” means ‘to stay’, so Grihasta would mean, one
who stays at home:
• Now let’s understand what home is. Home is a place where we are
at peace. The only place where we will be at peace is deep within us,
in our true self, when our mind is silent.
• We experience that when we are in deep sleep, we go home, but we
are not aware of it. A Jnani or a Sadguru has realized his true self;
he is settled in his ‘self’ that is why nothing outside bothers his
peace.
• Grihasta is a man who is in tune with his real self, who works within
the frame work of Grihasta Dharma, then, his life becomes
Grihastashrama. When his evolution within compliments outside
living, then it becomes Grihastashrama.

3. 3
Spiritual Significance of Marriage
Part – 3
Grihastashrama
Marriage should be Grihastashrama, it should bring peace within to
both husband and wife, and they in turn should work together to bring
peace to the world:
• Grihastashrama involves certain code of conduct aligned with the
purpose of purification and service.
• It is said that Grihastashrama is the best of all ashrams because it is
the one that feeds the other ashrams.
Everything in Nature exists as an offering to everything else:
• The wind blows, expects nothing. The trees give shade, fruit, wood,
and expect nothing. Rivers flow, and provide life to many, and
expect nothing.
• This is Yajna. Yajna is not only the ritual but all our actions can be
Yajna. Actions done selflessly that purifies oneself and benefits
others is called Yajna.
A Grihasta is a Karma yogi, for whom Lord Krishna while explaining
the nature of right action, has advocated a path of Spiritual Action by
performing all works as oblations (Yajna):
“Worldly people are karmically bound by activities that
differ from those performed as Yajna (religious rites); O Son
of Kunti (Arjuna), labour thou, non-attached, in the spirit of
Yajna, offering actions as oblations”.
(Gita, Chapter 3, Verse 9)
Worldly people perform actions with selfish motives and the desire to
gain material profit and happiness:
• Owing to that inclination, they are karmically tied to the earth
throughout successive incarnations.
• The yogi, however, strives to perform good actions in a spirit of
selflessness and non-attachment; he there by quickens his evolution
toward soul freedom.

4. 4
Spiritual Significance of Marriage
Part – 3
Grihastashrama
• All such liberating divine duties may be termed Yajna. Yajna is any
selfless act or sacrifice offered solely to God. It is the religious rite
in which the soul offers itself in the Fire of Spirit.
For a Grihasta the following five Yajnas are prescribed:
1. Rishi Yajna- Teaching about the higher reality.
2. Pitru Yajna- Taking care of parents and elders.
3. Bhuta Yajna- Taking care of animals.
4. Deva Yajna- Outwardly protecting nature, planting trees, etc. and
inwardly offering life current from the senses, as sacrifices to soul.
5. Manushya Yajna- Serving other people in whatever way possible.
The formal rite of pouring into a fire clarified butter is symbolical of
uniting life energy with cosmic energy:
• The initiate in guru-given yoga meditation performs the esoteric real
fire rite enjoined by the Hindu scriptures.
• He withdraws his life force from the sensory and motor nerves and
pours that energy into the sacred fires of life gathered in the seven
occult cerebrospinal centres.
When the yogi switches off the life current from the nerves, he finds his
mind disconnected from the senses. This act of withdrawing life from
the body and uniting that energy with the light of God is the highest
Yajna.
The true exoteric fire rite of life – by which the bodily life is united with
the Cosmic Life, and the human mind and soul are united with the
Cosmic Mind and Spirit – consists in offering right actions to God,
without desire or attachment.
• These followers of right actions performed as Yajna do not remain
tied to the earth, but are liberated.
This is what is required from a true Grihasta.
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