Book Reviews by Scholars

The Four Goals of Family Life is essential reading for any devotee considering marriage and starting a family.  Many long married devotees will also benefit from this thoroughly researched, comprehensive, and thoughtfully organized compilation of the Vedic teachings on householder life.   Here we find the recipe for success in marriage and family life, one that balances both the material and spiritual.  Importantly, the grhastha-asrama gains legitimacy as a spiritual institution in light of Prabhupada’s scriptural commentaries and spoken words.   Without husbands, wives, and children there can be no basis for society.  Jagannathervari devi dasi dispels many myths by reclaiming the spiritual basis of marriage and family.  This is an impressive achievement that should be read by anyone pursuing spiritual life in the contemporary world.   
E. Burke Rochford, Jr.
Professor of Sociology and Religion
Middlebury College, USA
Author of Hare Krishna Transformed and Hare Krishna in America

I congratulate Jagannathesvari prabhu on her outstanding
achievement in presenting to the world a comprehensive
guide to family life, based on the inspired teachings of the
Vaishnava tradition. Importantly, she emphasizes the need
for mutual respect between husband and wife, consistent
with the example found in Vaishnava scriptures. As my
friend Burke Rochford mentions, good families are the
essential basis of a good society, and so this intelligent,
devoted guide to family life is an invaluable service in the
great attempt to save planet Earth. I wish her, and her book,
all success.
Howard J. Resnick PhD (Harvard) Sanskrit and Indian Studies.
Former Professor, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley,
and University of Florida.

Rich with authentic quotes from the scriptures and
thoroughly researched with commitment and passion, this
book is meant for the reader who is looking for the eternal
truths about marriage and family life. It is a must-read for
any serious couple who are looking for a spiritually-based
family life of togetherness. I highly recommend this book,
not just to couples, but to pastors, priests, teachers, family
therapists, marriage counselors and congregational leaders
of any denomination or religious belief, but especially to
those of us in ISKCON, as a guiding light for marriages in
this time of darkness. I thank Her Grace Jagannathesvari
devi dasi for doing the painstaking work of putting this book
together as a service to humanity. It will be a beacon of
hope to generations to come and will serve as a shining
instructive example of how to be blissful and happy in
marriage, keeping God-Krishna in the center.
Dr. Lakshmi Dajak, MD, PhD (Louisiana) Marriage and
Family Therapy.

Written largely for married devotees or for devotees requiring
guidance about the purposes, duties and responsibilities of
householders in the Krishna consciousness movement, The
Four Goals of Family Life will undoubtedly be received as a
welcome resource, one that presents detailed theological
instruction as well as helpful commentary on key Vaishnava
scriptures and texts pertaining to marriage and family life.
For students and scholars of this bhakti movement, as well
as for academics concerned with how writers within
ISKCON seek both to nurture and to minister to its
expanding householder community, the book will equally
be a major focus of interest.
Graham Dwyer, Honorary Research Fellow,
Theology and Religious Studies, University of Winchester, UK.
Co-editor of The Hare Krishna Movement: Forty Years of
Chant and Change.

Jagannathesvari Devi has dedicated several years to careful
investigation and exploration of the teachings of Swami
Prabhupada on marriage. Her new publication includes
sections on sacred marriage, dharma, the life of the
householder, the duties of married men and women,
economic development, sense gratification and liberation.
Jagannesthesvari Devi sets out to inspire readers with the
spiritual vision of Vedic marriage infused with a sense of
divine, sacramental purpose. It will therefore be of great
value to married couples seeking guidance and to devotees
seeking to nurture the next generation in the values of
Vedic culture. However, scholars and students of religions
will also be grateful to Jagannathesvari Devi for gathering
together dispersed material from Swami Prabhupada’s
various translations and purports. She gives valuable and
illuminating insights into Prabhupada’s understanding of
the ideals and role models that should regulate the grhastha
ashram, and correspondingly his often critical attitudes to
the changes in marriage that have taken place in the modern
world.
Dr Anna S King, University Reader,
Theology and Religious Studies, University of Winchester.
Convenor: Spalding Symposium on Indian Religions.
Editor: Religions of South Asia (ROSA).

Jagannathesvari Devi’s excellent book is based mainly upon
the teachings of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
(1896-1977) who was the Founding Acarya of the International
Society for Krishna Consciousness. Bhaktivedanta Swami had
a deep interest in social ethics and this book offers an
extensive collection of his quotes supporting the dharma
of marriage. However, this book aims to reach an audience
beyond practitioners of Hindu dharma and as such is non-
sectarian, as it aspires to further the practice and culture of
Hindu marriage in the contemporary world; as such, it may
be considered within the realm of ‘Humanistic Hinduism’.
In other words, it offers the Hindu tradition a vital and
broad interpretation as a contribution to contemporary
global values and culture.
Dr. Ithamar Theodor,
The Professorship in Indian Religions and Culture,
The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

The Four Goals of Family Life is a superb, useful application
of Vedic philosophy and Vaisnava culture to marriage and
family. With thorough research and practical organization,
guided by knowledge handed down by her spiritual teacher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Jagannathesvari
Dasi leads us through the challenges and intricacies of
grhastha-asrama. Her experience and insights help us reach
a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of Swami
Prabhupada’s teachings and how we may actually live them.
This is an invaluable book for readers interested in Vedic
knowledge and for anyone committed to imbuing family
life with spiritual value.
Carl Herzig PhD,
Professor of English,
St. Ambrose University, Iowa, USA.