Can married couples also attain enlightenment?
There are people who are married and are happy, and there are people who are single and still happy – you better belong to this category. There are people who are single and unhappy, and there are people who are married and unhappy. It is better you do not get into that category of people.
See, the example of Ramakrishna Paramahamsaji. He was married, Sharada Devi was his wife. There are many such examples like this. So even couples can attain enlightenment. Enlightenment is not something that just drops from somewhere. It is present in us all. Lord Rama was married, Lord Krishna was married. Of course, you cannot compare Rama and Krishna. In the previous birth of Lord Krishna when he was Kapila Muni, he was a Brahmachari (celibate) from childhood. In the next life he chose to be married. But he was anyway a Siddha (perfected being).
The other day, someone was asking me, “When Lord Shiva can have Bhang (an intoxicating drink made from the fruit of the Cannabis plant) and smoke opium, why can’t I?”
I said, “Well, before Lord Shiva drank Bhang and smoked opium, he also consumed the deadly Halahala poison (a fiery poison that emerged during the churning of the Cosmic Ocean). Why don’t you also first take poison and after that you can consume all these? Do not take that as an excuse to consume Bhang. Lord Shiva also consumed poison. When poison could not affect him, then Bhang also cannot affect him in any way. But both of these substances can affect you!" (Laughter)
There is a story of Lord Krishna. Once when the river was in full spate, he said, “If I am a true Brahmachari then may the river stop swelling and resume its gentle flow”. It is said that when he said this, the flood in the river disappeared. Have you all heard this story?
