Advice To Householders by Swami Sivananda

                              Great Rishis of yore were married, but they did not lead the life of passion and lust. Their life of Grihasthasrama was a life of Dharma only. If it is not possible for you to emulate them to the very letter, you will have to keep their lives before you as landmarks, as the ideal for emulating, and you must tread the path of Truth. Grihasthasrama is not a life of lust and loose living. It is a strict life of selfless service, of Dharma pure and simple, of charity, goodness, kindness, self-help, and all that is good and all that is helpful to humanity. If you can live such a life, the life of a Grihastha is as good as the life of a Sannyasin.

                                            Married life, if lived in a perfect ideal manner, is no bar to the attainment of Mukti. A good woman is to man what banks are to the river. She is the rhythm which leads him to Truth. Her love is God’s grace.
                          At night, all the members of the house should sit in a circle and do Kirtan for an hour before the picture of their respective Deities. The servants of the house also should be included. In the evening, some four people can join together and read the Bhagavata, the Ramayana, etc. This will give peace of mind and strengthen the spiritual Samskaras. This will fill the mind with purity and divine thoughts.
                                 That house is really Vaikuntha where the husband and wife lead an ideal divine life, singing the Lord’s Name, repeating His Mantra, studying the Ramayana, Bhagavata, controlling the Indriyas and serving Bhaktas and Sannyasins. Householders should daily read in the early morning hours, after a cold bath, some chapters in the Gita, Ramayana, Bhagavata, Upanishads and Yoga Vasishtha, Vishnu Sahasranama, Lalita Sahasranama, Aditya Hridayam, etc.
                         Constant repetition of the Names of the Lord (Japa, Smaran) is an easy means of crossing the ocean of mortal Samsara or earthly existence. This is more suitable for the householders.
It is quite possible for a man to practise celibacy while remaining in the world, albeit there are various sorts of temptations and distractions. Many have achieved this in times of yore. There are many even at the present moment also.
                           A well-disciplined life, study of religious scriptures, Satsanga, Japa, Dhyana, Pranayama, Sattvic and moderate food, daily introspection and enquiry, self-analysis and self-correction, Sadachara, practice of Yama, Niyama, physical, verbal and mental Tapas in accordance with the teachings of the Gita will go a long way in the attainment of this end.
                            
                         Nectar’s sons! Shake off all weaknesses. Stand up. Gird up the loins. Do your Svadharma satisfactorily in accordance with your caste or stage of life. Evolve quickly in spirituality. Eternal Bliss, Supreme Peace, Infinite Knowledge can be had only in God. Practice of Svadharma will surely lead to the attainment of God-consciousness. There is no happiness in finite objects. The Infinite alone is Bliss. Understand the truth through the practice of Svadharma. This world is unreal. It is like a mirage.
                              
                                            Senses and mind are deceiving every moment. Wake up. Open your eyes. Learn to discriminate. Do not trust your Indriyas. They are your enemies. It is very difficult to get a human birth. Life is short. Time is fleeting. Those who cling to unreal things of this world are verily committing suicide. Struggle hard to practise your Svadharma. Keep the ideal before your eyes always. Have a programme of life. Attempt to realise the ideal. Stick to your daily spiritual practices with leech-like tenacity. Practise it and realise Sat-chit-ananda state right now in this very birth.