(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 24 June 2013, Czech Summer Camp, Slovakia. Srimad Bhagavatam 8.2.33)

Sometimes, a household life is compared to a deep dark well, in the scriptures. So it maybe that one is a brahmacari orbrahmacarini and then one feels, “I cannot do this anymore. It is time to get married.”

Some people, when they get married, they go to a deep dark well and they dive in head first! They think that, “Oh, now I am changing ashram, now I am really going to do it and go straight down to the bottom.”But that is not intelligent.

Generally speaking, in these wells – I have seen many in India – they usually have some brackets inside that are made like levers so that maintenance work can be done. So there is no need to go to the bottom; one can keep a strong spiritual culture. In fact, that is the idea, that in the brahmacari or brahmacarini ashram we are cultivating good spiritual habits and then we maintain them in our household attachment. Because after all, we do not forget the long-term goal. All right, we want something in this life but, we cannot risk that we lose our opportunity for going back to godhead.

In some letters or in some other occasions when speaking about the household ashram, Srila Prahbupada made statements like, “Fifty percent less chance of going back to godhead,” or sometimes even stronger statements. So what can we say? The grhasta ashram is also meant for going back to godhead, all theashrams are meant for that purpose and that is what we are doing.

Yesterday we had initiations but initiation into what!? Initiation into the process that takes us back to godhead! So that should be our result. We should always act in such a way that we are faithfully on the path back to godhead, from the very beginning of spiritual life.

When we are new and when we accept the four regulative principles, sixteen rounds, we are under the directions of the spiritual master and other spiritual authorities, then we are on the path back to godhead and we must stay there our whole life - no detours in the forest or in the hills, no vacations. No we must stay within the boundaries of Krsna consciousness.