Nārada Refuses to Marry

In the Brahma Khaṇḍa of the Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 22 to 25, Brahmā tells his son Nārada to marry. Nārada refuses, and gives a long argument about the nature of saṃsāra (worldly life). Brahmā weeps, and then agrees to a plan. Nārada will first go to Kailāsa to receive the Kṛshṇa mantra from Bhagavān Śiva, then go to Bādarī, and then return to marry Ratnamālā.

Brahmā’s command

In Chapter 22, Brahmā spoke of his sons and their qualities. Then he turned to Nārada and told him to take a wife and enter the gṛhastha āśrama (the householder stage of life).

Nārada’s refusal

Nārada’s refusal fills Chapter 23. In it he explains why saṃsāra is duḥkha (suffering) at its root.

Three kinds of women

Nārada spoke of three kinds of women (strī):

  1. Sādhvī — the good woman, true to dharma and to her husband.
  2. Bhogyā — the woman who lives mainly for pleasure.
  3. Kulaṭā — the woman who strays from dharma.

Even the sādhvī, Nārada said, makes an attachment (āsakti) that ties the householder to saṃsāra. The bhogyā makes the tie deeper. The kulaṭā is the cause of ruin.

The qualities of women, as Nārada argued

  • Women have eight times more kāma (desire) than men.
  • They have four times more nishṭhura (hardness, cruelty).
  • They have six times more krodha (anger).

Saṃsāra in general

Nārada said that the householder’s life, even at its best, is a forest of suffering. Its pleasures are short, and around them stand real fears, sickness, old age and death.

Brahmā weeps

Brahmā heard this whole refusal and wept. He did not force the matter. He looked for a middle way.

The plan

Brahmā said to Nārada, “Go first to Śiva at Kailāsa and receive the Kṛshṇa mantra. After that, go to Bādarī. Then come back to me and marry Ratnamālā.”

Chapter 20 names Ratnamālā as the human birth of Mālavatī. Mālavatī was the loving wife of Upabarhana, and she was born again as the daughter of Sṛñjaya in the Manu line. Nārada agreed to the plan and set out for Kailāsa.

The ending at Bādarikāśrama

The account closes in Chapter 30. There Nārāyaṇa Muni gives a great teaching on the glory of Kṛshṇa and on the philosophy of Prakṛti and Purusha. After it, he advises Nārada to obey Brahmā’s command and marry. This is the meeting at Bādarikāśrama, one of the places to which Nārada travels in the Brahma Khaṇḍa, together with Kailāsa.

Sources

  • Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Chapters 20, 22–25 and 30