1 karinthinaḥ 7
1 aparañca yuṣmābhi rmāṁ prati yat patramalekhi tasyottarametat, yoṣito'sparśanaṁ manujasya varaṁ;
With reference to the subjects about which you wrote to me: It is good for a man to remain single.
2 kintu vyabhicārabhayād ekaikasya puṁsaḥ svakīyabhāryyā bhavatu tadvad ekaikasyā yoṣito 'pi svakīyabharttā bhavatu|
But, owing to the prevalence of immorality, I advise every man to have his own wife, and every woman her husband.
3 bhāryyāyai bhartrā yadyad vitaraṇīyaṁ tad vitīryyatāṁ tadvad bhartre'pi bhāryyayā vitaraṇīyaṁ vitīryyatāṁ|
A husband should give his wife her due, and a wife her husband.
4 bhāryyāyāḥ svadehe svatvaṁ nāsti bharttureva, tadvad bhartturapi svadehe svatvaṁ nāsti bhāryyāyā eva|
It is not the wife, but the husband, who exercises power over her body; and so, too, it is not the husband, but the wife, who exercises power over his body.
5 upoṣaṇaprārthanayoḥ sevanārtham ekamantraṇānāṁ yuṣmākaṁ kiyatkālaṁ yāvad yā pṛthaksthiti rbhavati tadanyo vicchedo yuṣmanmadhye na bhavatu, tataḥ param indriyāṇām adhairyyāt śayatān yad yuṣmān parīkṣāṁ na nayet tadarthaṁ punarekatra milata|
Do not deprive each other of what is due – unless it is only for a time and by mutual consent, so that your minds may be free for prayer until you again live as man and wife – otherwise Satan might take advantage of your want of self-control and tempt you.
6 etad ādeśato nahi kintvanujñāta eva mayā kathyate,
I say this, however, as a concession, not as a command.
7 yato mamāvastheva sarvvamānavānāmavasthā bhavatviti mama vāñchā kintvīśvarād ekenaiko varo'nyena cānyo vara itthamekaikena svakīyavaro labdhaḥ|
I should wish everyone to be just what I am myself. But everyone has his own gift from God – one in one way, and one in another.
8 aparam akṛtavivāhān vidhavāśca prati mamaitannivedanaṁ mameva teṣāmavasthiti rbhadrā;
My advice, then, to those who are not married, and to widows, is this: It would be good for them to remain as I am myself.
9 kiñca yadi tairindriyāṇi niyantuṁ na śakyante tarhi vivāhaḥ kriyatāṁ yataḥ kāmadahanād vyūḍhatvaṁ bhadraṁ|
But, if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to be consumed with passion.
10 ye ca kṛtavivāhāste mayā nahi prabhunaivaitad ājñāpyante|
To those who are married my direction is – yet it is not mine, but the Master’s – that a woman is not to leave her husband
11 bhāryyā bharttṛtaḥ pṛthak na bhavatu| yadi vā pṛthagbhūtā syāt tarhi nirvivāhā tiṣṭhatu svīyapatinā vā sandadhātu bharttāpi bhāryyāṁ na tyajatu|
(If she has done so, she should remain as she is, or else be reconciled to her husband) and also that a man is not to divorce his wife.
12 itarān janān prati prabhu rna bravīti kintvahaṁ bravīmi; kasyacid bhrāturyoṣid aviśvāsinī satyapi yadi tena sahavāse tuṣyati tarhi sā tena na tyajyatāṁ|
To all others I say – I, not the Master – If a follower of the Lord is married to a woman, who is an unbeliever but willing to live with him, he should not divorce her;
13 tadvat kasyāścid yoṣitaḥ patiraviśvāsī sannapi yadi tayā sahavāse tuṣyati tarhi sa tayā na tyajyatāṁ|
and a woman who is married to a man, who is an unbeliever but willing to live with her, should not divorce her husband.
14 yato'viśvāsī bharttā bhāryyayā pavitrībhūtaḥ, tadvadaviśvāsinī bhāryyā bhartrā pavitrībhūtā; noced yuṣmākamapatyānyaśucīnyabhaviṣyan kintvadhunā tāni pavitrāṇi santi|
For, through his wife, the husband who is an unbeliever has become associated with Christ’s people; and the wife who is an unbeliever has become associated with Christ’s people through the Lord’s follower whom she has married. Otherwise your children would be “defiled,” but, as it is, they belong to Christ’s people.
15 aviśvāsī jano yadi vā pṛthag bhavati tarhi pṛthag bhavatu; etena bhrātā bhaginī vā na nibadhyate tathāpi vayamīśvareṇa śāntaye samāhūtāḥ|
However, if the unbeliever wishes to be separated, let them be so. Under such circumstances neither is bound; God has called you to live in peace.
16 he nāri tava bharttuḥ paritrāṇaṁ tvatto bhaviṣyati na veti tvayā kiṁ jñāyate? he nara tava jāyāyāḥ paritrāṇaṁ tvatte bhaviṣyati na veti tvayā kiṁ jñāyate?
How can you tell, wife, whether you may not save your husband? And how can you tell, husband, whether you may not save your wife?
17 ekaiko janaḥ parameśvarāllabdhaṁ yad bhajate yasyāñcāvasthāyām īśvareṇāhvāyi tadanusāreṇaivācaratu tadahaṁ sarvvasamājasthān ādiśāmi|
In any case, a person should continue to live in the condition which the Lord has allotted to them, and in which they were when God called them. This is the rule that I lay down in every church.
18 chinnatvag bhṛtvā ya āhūtaḥ sa prakṛṣṭatvak na bhavatu, tadvad achinnatvag bhūtvā ya āhūtaḥ sa chinnatvak na bhavatu|
Was a man already circumcised when he was called? Then he should not efface his circumcision. Has a man been called when uncircumcised? Then he should not be circumcised.
19 tvakchedaḥ sāro nahi tadvadatvakchedo'pi sāro nahi kintvīśvarasyājñānāṁ pālanameva|
Circumcision is nothing; the want of it is nothing; but to keep the commands of God is everything.
20 yo jano yasyāmavasthāyāmāhvāyi sa tasyāmevāvatiṣṭhatāṁ|
Let everyone remain in that condition of life in which they were when the call came to them.
21 dāsaḥ san tvaṁ kimāhūto'si? tanmā cintaya, tathāca yadi svatantro bhavituṁ śaknuyāstarhi tadeva vṛṇu|
Were you a slave when you were called? Do not let that trouble you. No, even if you are able to gain your freedom, still do your best.
22 yataḥ prabhunāhūto yo dāsaḥ sa prabho rmocitajanaḥ| tadvad tenāhūtaḥ svatantro jano'pi khrīṣṭasya dāsa eva|
For the person who was a slave when they were called to the master’s service is the Master’s freedman; so, too, the person who was free when called is Christ’s slave.
23 yūyaṁ mūlyena krītā ato heto rmānavānāṁ dāsā mā bhavata|
You were bought, and the price was paid. Do not let yourselves become slaves to people.
24 he bhrātaro yasyāmavasthāyāṁ yasyāhvānamabhavat tayā sa īśvarasya sākṣāt tiṣṭhatu|
Friends, let everyone remain in the condition in which they were when they were called, in close communion with God.
25 aparam akṛtavivāhān janān prati prabhoḥ ko'pyādeśo mayā na labdhaḥ kintu prabhoranukampayā viśvāsyo bhūto'haṁ yad bhadraṁ manye tad vadāmi|
With regard to unmarried women, I have no command from the Master to give you, but I tell you my opinion, and the Master in his mercy has made me worthy to be trusted.
26 varttamānāt kleśasamayāt manuṣyasyānūḍhatvaṁ bhadramiti mayā budhyate|
I think, then, that, in view of the time of suffering that has now come upon us, what I have already said is best – that a man should remain as he is.
27 tvaṁ kiṁ yoṣiti nibaddho'si tarhi mocanaṁ prāptuṁ mā yatasva| kiṁ vā yoṣito mukto'si? tarhi jāyāṁ mā gaveṣaya|
Are you married to a wife? Then do not seek to be separated. Are you separated from a wife? Then do not seek for a wife.
28 vivāhaṁ kurvvatā tvayā kimapi nāpārādhyate tadvad vyūhyamānayā yuvatyāpi kimapi nāparādhyate tathāca tādṛśau dvau janau śārīrikaṁ kleśaṁ lapsyete kintu yuṣmān prati mama karuṇā vidyate|
Still, if you should marry, that is not wrong; nor, if a young woman marries, is that wrong. But those who marry will have much trouble to bear, and my wish is to spare you.
29 he bhrātaro'hamidaṁ bravīmi, itaḥ paraṁ samayo'tīva saṁkṣiptaḥ,
What I mean, friends, is this – the time is short. Meanwhile, let those who have wives live as if they had none,
30 ataḥ kṛtadārairakṛtadārairiva rudadbhiścārudadbhiriva sānandaiśca nirānandairiva kretṛbhiścābhāgibhirivācaritavyaṁ
those who are weeping as if not weeping, those who are rejoicing as if not rejoicing, those who buy as if not possessing,
31 ye ca saṁsāre caranti tai rnāticaritavyaṁ yata ihalekasya kautuko vicalati|
and those who use the good things of the world as using them sparingly; for this world as we see it is passing away.
32 kintu yūyaṁ yanniścintā bhaveteti mama vāñchā| akṛtavivāho jano yathā prabhuṁ paritoṣayet tathā prabhuṁ cintayati,
I want you to be free from anxiety. The unmarried man is anxious about the Master’s cause, desiring to please him;
33 kintu kṛtavivāho jano yathā bhāryyāṁ paritoṣayet tathā saṁsāraṁ cintayati|
while the married man is anxious about worldly matters, desiring to please his wife;
34 tadvad ūḍhayoṣito 'nūḍhā viśiṣyate| yānūḍhā sā yathā kāyamanasoḥ pavitrā bhavet tathā prabhuṁ cintayati yā coḍhā sā yathā bharttāraṁ paritoṣayet tathā saṁsāraṁ cintayati|
and so his interests are divided. Again, the unmarried woman, whether she is old or young, is anxious about the Master’s cause, striving to be pure both in body and in spirit, while the married woman is anxious about worldly matters, desiring to please her husband.
35 ahaṁ yad yuṣmān mṛgabandhinyā parikṣipeyaṁ tadarthaṁ nahi kintu yūyaṁ yadaninditā bhūtvā prabhoḥ sevane'bādham āsaktā bhaveta tadarthametāni sarvvāṇi yuṣmākaṁ hitāya mayā kathyante|
I say this for your own benefit, not with any intention of putting a halter round your necks, but in order to secure for the Master seemly and constant devotion, free from all distraction.
36 kasyacit kanyāyāṁ yauvanaprāptāyāṁ yadi sa tasyā anūḍhatvaṁ nindanīyaṁ vivāhaśca sādhayitavya iti manyate tarhi yathābhilāṣaṁ karotu, etena kimapi nāparātsyati vivāhaḥ kriyatāṁ|
If, however, a father thinks that he is not acting fairly by his unmarried daughter, when she is past her youth, and if under these circumstances her marriage ought to take place, he should act as he thinks right. He is doing nothing wrong – let the marriage take place.
37 kintu duḥkhenākliṣṭaḥ kaścit pitā yadi sthiramanogataḥ svamano'bhilāṣasādhane samarthaśca syāt mama kanyā mayā rakṣitavyeti manasi niścinoti ca tarhi sa bhadraṁ karmma karoti|
On the other hand, a father, who has definitely made up his mind, and is under no compulsion, but is free to carry out his own wishes, and who has come to the decision, in his own mind, to keep his unmarried daughter at home will be doing right.
38 ato yo vivāhaṁ karoti sa bhadraṁ karmma karoti yaśca vivāhaṁ na karoti sa bhadrataraṁ karmma karoti|
In short, the one who consents to his daughter’s marriage is doing right, and yet the other will be doing better.
39 yāvatkālaṁ pati rjīvati tāvad bhāryyā vyavasthayā nibaddhā tiṣṭhati kintu patyau mahānidrāṁ gate sā muktībhūya yamabhilaṣati tena saha tasyā vivāho bhavituṁ śaknoti, kintvetat kevalaṁ prabhubhaktānāṁ madhye|
A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives; but, if the husband should pass to his rest, the widow is free to marry anyone she wishes, provided he is a believer.
40 tathāca sā yadi niṣpatikā tiṣṭhati tarhi tasyāḥ kṣemaṁ bhaviṣyatīti mama bhāvaḥ| aparam īśvarasyātmā mamāpyanta rvidyata iti mayā budhyate|
Yet she will be happier if she remains as she is – in my opinion, for I think that I also have the Spirit of God.
