Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Srimad Bhagavatam 9.20.16

om ity ukte yatha-dharmam

upayeme sakuntalam

gandharva-vidhina raja

desa-kala-vidhanavit

SYNONYMS

om iti ukte -- by reciting the Vedic pranava, invoking the Supreme Personality of Godhead to witness the marriage; yatha-dharmam -- exactly according to the principles of religion (because Narayana becomes the witness in an ordinary religious marriage also); upayeme -- he married; sakuntalam -- the girl Sakuntala; gandharva-vidhina -- by the regulative principle of the Gandharvas, without deviation from religious principles; raja -- Maharaja Dushmanta; desa-kala-vidhana-vit -- completely aware of duties according to time, position and objective.

TRANSLATION

When Sakuntala responded to Maharaja Dushmanta's proposal with silence, the agreement was complete. Then the King, who knew the laws of marriage, immediately married her by chanting the Vedic pranava [omkara], in accordance with the marriage ceremony as performed among the Gandharvas.

PURPORT

The omkara, pranava, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead represented by letters. Bhagavad-gita says that the letters a-u-m, combined together as om, represent the Supreme Lord. Religious principles are meant to invoke the blessings and mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, who says in Bhagavad-gita that He is personally present in sexual desires that are not contrary to religious principles. The word vidhina means, "according to religious principles." The association of men and women according to religious principles is allowed in the Vedic culture. In our Krishna consciousness movement we allow marriage on the basis of religious principles, but the sexual combination of men and women as friends is irreligious and is not allowed.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness