Importance of spouse

 Lord Narayana takes many avataras, and the purpose of every avatara is to save sadhus. Ramanujacharya, in his Gita Bhashya, defines the word sadhu. He says that only those who want to be always with the Lord can be referred to as sadhus. To these sadhus, Lord Narayana gives Himself. That is what is meant by protecting them and establishing dharma, said M.A. Venkatakrishnan in a discourse. Rama is the embodiment of dharma — RAmO vigrahavAn dharmah. So when He comes to the world for the sake of the sadhus, it is as if dharma itself is being established in the world. This is what is meant by dharma samsthapana, which is spoken of in the Bhagavad Gita. When the Lord took the Rama avatara, He married Sita, and there is a tattva behind this. Of the four ashramas, only in the Brahmacharya ashrama and the sanyasa ashrama a man is without a wife. When he leaves grihastha ashrama and retires for vanaprastha ashrama, he has to take his wife with him. He cannot proceed alone.

In temples, during the flag hoisting ceremony of utsavas, there is a rule about which priest can hoist the flag. An unmarried man, a widower or a man separated from his wife cannot perform the dwajarohana. Sastras forbid a man from performing certain rites without his wife. He cannot do agnihotra without his wife. We see the importance of a wife in the Ramayana. When Lord Rama wants to perform asvamedha yaga, the sages tell Him that since Sita is not with Him, He cannot perform the yaga. They suggest a way out. They tell Him that to make amends for Her absence, He should make a statue of Sita, which is as tall as Sita and has the same build as Sita. Lord Rama is to see the statue as Sita Herself. Rama makes such a statue, and only then He is allowed to perform the asvamedha yaga.