Text 60] Lord Caitanya’s Childhood Pastimes 163
ly the &setriyas—could marry more than one wife. In the Mahabharata, or the old
history of India, we see that ksatriya kings especially used to marry many wives.
According to Vedic civilization there was no restriction against this, and even a man
more than fifty years old could marry. But to be married to a man who had many
wives was not a very pleasing situation because the husband’s love would be divided
among his many wives. Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu apparently wanted to curse
the girfs unwilling to offer Him the naivedya to be married to men who had at least
four wives,

The social structure allowing a man to marry more than one wife can be supported
in this way. Generally in every society the female population is greater in number
than the male population. Therefore if it is a principle in the society that all girls
should be married, unless polygamy is allowed it will not be possible. If all the girls
are not married there is a good chance of adultery, and a society in which adultery
is allowed cannot be very peaceful or pure. In our Krsna consciousness society we
have restricted illicit sex life. The practical difficulty is to find a husband for each
and every girl. We are therefore in favor of polygamy, provided, of course, that the
husband is abe to maintain more than one wife.

TEXT 59
Gel fh’ Si-nata ATA ERM SF |
cata fag etc, fal crarfae em cd i
ih@ Suni’ ta-sabara mane ha-ifa bhaya
kona kichu jane, kibG devavista haya
SYNONYMS

ih@ Suni’—hearing this; ¢d-sabdra—of all the girls; mane—in the minds; ha-ifa—
became; bhaya—fear,; Rona kichu-—something uncommon; j/@ne—He knows; kibd—
what if; deva-avisfa—empowered by demigods; haya—He is.

TRANSLATION

Hearing this supposed curse by Lord Caitanya, the girls, considering that He
might know something uncommon or be empowered by demigods, were afraid that
His curse might be effective.

TEXT 60
Otfeel Cacaws Stal nae afar |
Ula Cacaas Gira SIae fey veo i
@niya naivedya taré sammukhe dharita
khdiya naivedya tare ista-vara difa
