Why do my parents tell me that marrying and having children is the only purpose of life?

[An online spiritual discussion was conducted on February 14, 2021, in which several devotees participated. Some of the questions of devotees answered by Swāmi are given below.]

[Kum. Chandana asked: Padanamaskaram Swami, I have learnt from Your knowledge that spirituality is the most important part of life. But why do our parents say that marriage and children are the only purpose of life?]

Swāmi replied: The Veda says that after completing the stage of a bachelor student (brahmacarya āśrama) when one studies spiritual knowledge under a Sadguru, one should get married and produce children. Even for spiritual life, the support of materialistic life is necessary. If one’s materialistic life is comfortable due to the cooperation of one’s wife and children, the person’s spiritual life will also be smooth and free of problems. Sex is an inevitable biological need created by God in every human being. It ensures the continuation of the human race so that the Lord continues to get entertained by creation forever. One should treat marriage as a means to this long term goal of entertaining God and pleasing Him. One should not foolishly treat marriage to be merely the means of pacifying sex. The hormones that cause the feeling of sex were created by God for the extension of humanity, which ensures that God’s entertainment continues forever. He did not create those hormones just to pacify the animal nature of sex. The goal should be understood so that we can understand the holiness of the path. Sex is a holy sacrifice done by the couple to have children and providing divine entertainment to God. Hence, sex has been depicted on the walls of temples. By this, we can understand the sacred nature of sex and realize that it is part of the spiritual path.