46 Kṛṣṇa Consciousness: the Topmost Yoga System
boy and girl. They are already there, they are living like friends—what is the use of this marriage ceremony? It is Vedic: the  Vedas  account for living together, sex life, but under some special regulations so that you may be happy. The ultimate end is to become happy. If you follow the Vedic rules and restrictions, that will not mean that you will be kept from eating or not allowed to sleep, not allowed to defend or to have sex life. It is not like that. Your bodily necessities are the same as those of the animals; the animals also eat, they also sleep, they also mate and also defend. So we require these things also. But the  Vedas  prescribe some regulations: you act in this way, so that you will not be unhappy. If you follow the regulation, ultimately the result will be that you will be free from the material entanglement.
This material life is not meant for the spirit soul. It is simply a misunderstanding that you want to enjoy this material life. But Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord, gives us specific orders so that we can enjoy, in such a way that, at the end, we will understand that this is not our proper life—our proper life is spiritual. This human form of life is perfected as soon as we come to the understanding of spiritual existence—that I am  Brahman . Otherwise, if I do not take care of my spiritual life, then the result is that I must live as the cats and dogs do. There is every possibility that my next life will be an animal life. And if, by chance or by a freak of nature, I get into animal life, then millions and millions of years will be required before again coming to this human form of life. So the human form of life is meant for self-realization, and the  Vedas  are the direction.
Now in the  Bhagavad-gītā  you will find that Kṛṣṇa says that to study or to follow the rules and regulations of the  Vedas  actually means to come to the understanding of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is stated in the  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  also. So the  Vedas  give you the chance to gradually come to the point