SB 11.17.39 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

गृहार्थी सद‍ृशीं भार्यामुद्वहेदजुगुप्सिताम् । यवीयसीं तु वयसा यां सवर्णामनुक्रमात् ॥ ३९ ॥

Verse text

gṛhārthī sadṛśīṁ bhāryām udvahed ajugupsitām yavīyasīṁ tu vayasā yāṁ sa-varṇām anu kramāt

Synonyms

gṛha — household ; arthī — one who desires ; sadṛśīm — possessing similar characteristics ; bhāryām — a wife ; udvahet — one should marry ; ajugupsitām — beyond reproach ; yavīyasīm — younger ; tu — indeed ; vayasā — by age ; yām — another wife ; sa — varṇām — the first wife who is of the same caste ; anu — after ; kramāt — in succession .

Translation

One who desires to establish family life should marry a wife of his own caste, who is beyond reproach and younger in age. If one desires to accept many wives he must marry them after the first marriage, and each wife should be of a successively lower caste.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

One who desires to establish family life should marry a wife of his own caste, who is beyond reproach and younger in age. If one desires to accept many wives they may be of lower caste than the first wife. Speaking of the rules for the householder, rules of varṇa are discussed. If he desires to marry a second woman, he should do so after the first marriage and they may be of lower caste. tisro varṇānupūrvyeṇa dve tathaikā yathā-kramam | brāhmaṇa-kṣatriya-viśām bhāryāḥ svāh śūdra-janmanaḥ || The brāhmaṇa can marry women of four castes. The kṣatriya can marry women of three castes. The vaiśya can marry women of two castes. The śūdra can marry a woman of only one caste. Yājṣavalkya-smṛti 1.57

Purport

As stated in the Vedic literature, tisro varṇānupūrvyeṇa dve tathaikā yathā-kramam brāhmaṇa-kṣatriya-viśāṁ bhāryāḥ svāḥ śūdra-janmanaḥ The purport of this verse is that one’s first wife must always be sadṛśīm, or similar to oneself. In other words, an intellectual man should marry an intellectual wife, a heroic man should marry a heroic wife, a business minded man should marry a woman who can encourage him in such activities, and a śūdra should marry a less intelligent woman. The wife must be beyond reproach in terms of her background and character and should always be younger than oneself, ideally five to ten years younger. If one desires to marry a second wife, then, as stated in this verse by the word varṇānupūrvyeṇa and in the verse spoken by Lord Kṛṣṇa by the word anukramāt, one must wait until the first marriage is established and then select a second wife from the next-lower caste. If one marries a third time the wife must be, again, from the next-lower caste. For example, a brāhmaṇa’s first wife will be a brāhmaṇī, his second wife will be from the kṣatriya community, his third wife from the vaiśya community and fourth wife from the śūdra community. A kṣatriya may first marry a kṣatriya lady and then vaiśya and śūdra ladies. A vaiśya can accept wives from two classes, and a śūdra will accept a wife only from the śūdra class. By this progression of marriages there will be relative peace in the family. These Vedic marriage injunctions, as mentioned in the previous verse, are especially for those who are not pure devotees of the Lord.