All posts in this series
Today, it is not uncommon for people to have settled for an inter-caste* marriage. If they realise this mistake at some point, Pujyapad Shankaracharya of Puri shares a remedy for combating the ill effects of this action. He explains, as below.
The first thought has to be if the inter-caste marriage has been done after contemplation or has occurred as a result of cheating. These days in metro cities, it has become a common practice to hide ones varna (caste).
Owing to deliberate or unintentional inter-caste marriage, there is a loss of joint family system; family traditions, customs and thought and family daughter-in-laws, in the big cities. Inter-caste marriage destroys the family lineage. For example, if a braahmana is married to a lower caste, the child would not be considered a brahmana
The tradition of the varṇa system was protected since the time of Brahmaji, himself, and then, over the ages, through the Rishi’s from whom we inherited it. In the name of love marriage, etc, this tradition is being disrespected and destroyed. With the result, the family has been made vulnerable to varnasankarta or inter-mixing of castes. The family lineage is already ruined by this act.
Since the family life is already sacrificed and this cannot be undone, it is advised to protect ones journey after death (paraloka). The solution for this is to do japa of the name of Bhagavan Shiva a thousand times, daily.
*Note – The English word “caste” (derived from Portuguese word “casta”) has been used interchangeably to represent the term “varṇa/jāti” which belongs to traditional system of the Hindu society.