Love, marriage, and happiness

The following is an excerpt from a samvaad (dialogue) session with Acharya Prashant.

Questioner (Q): Acharya Ji, I am a Hindu and I want to marry a Muslim girl. I love her, but my family is not supporting. Nobody agrees with me. What should I do?

Acharya Prashant (AP): I think even you don’t agree with marrying her.

Q: I do, Sir.

AP: You don’t. He is saying that ‘I am a Hindu’. You probably are a Hindu and you love a Muslim girl; you really love her; you want to marry her, but no one in either of the families is agreeing, right?

If you really love her, why do you want to marry her? The whole thing is about whether or not you want to marry her. If you really love her, why do you want to marry her? Is Love not sufficient?

He is your friend, right? (Pointing to the questioner’s friend who is sitting by his side) Will you take your friend to a temple and ask the pujari (priest), “We two love each other, so can you please give us a certificate?” Will you do that?

Love is sufficient — why do you need a certificate? Will you take your friend to a court and tell the judge, “We two love each other, so please give us a certificate of friendship?” How many of you have a certificate of friendship? From religion, from the court, from the society? Then, why do you want to marry her? First of all, Do you really love her? If yes, then don’t marry her.

Q: Then how to spend my life with her?

AP: Just spend your life with her — how does marriage come in between? You can spend your life with your friend without marrying him.

Q: It is not possible.

AP: It is not possible because you don’t love her.

Listener (L): Sir, He fears the society.

AP: He is afraid. And those who Love are not afraid. He is afraid, so it is proven that he does not love her.

If you really love her, why will you be so afraid?

If you really love her, forget about the families, you won’t even bother whether she loves you; because Love does not demand anything in return.

Forget about marriage or anything else.