Attachment to mundane things or too much attachment to family is a major obstacle in the advancement of spiritual life. Srila Prabhupada says that having attachment for the family is natural. But when one is 50 years old, one has to accept the vanaprastha order of life. This means no more intimate connection with the wife. Instead the couple should set out on pilgrimage to the holy places so that they can get purification from their sins.



Pure devotees of the Lord offer prayers of surrender at His lotus feet. All they want is just pure devotional service unto Him so that they can remember Him all the time. Queen Kunti offers a wonderful prayer in this regard where she says, "O Lord of the universe, soul of the universe, O personality of the form of the universe, please, therefore, sever my tie of affection for my kinsmen, the Pandavas and the Vrisinis. O Lord of Madhu, as the Ganges forever flows to the sea without hindrance, let my attraction be constantly drawn unto You without being diverted to anyone else."

Being a pure devotee of Lord Krishna and to teach the world about the flickering nature of attachments, Queen Kunti shows us that to gain the eternal favor of the Lord even attachments to our own kinsmen must be given up. This includes our children and other dear ones.

We have seen how attachment can slowly lead one away from the path of liberation. The example is Jada Bharath. This story is found in the Srimad Bhagavatam. Jada Bharath was performing devotional service to the Supreme Lord in the forest. Somehow or other he became attached to a deer and he neglected his duties. As a consequence he fell down from his position due to over-attachment to that deer. Jada Bharath was on the level of ecstatic love. Therefore when he took birth again as a deer, due to the mercy of the Lord, he could remember his past life. After leaving the body of the deer he again got a human body and was able to perfect his life.

The Lord is known as "Achyuta". That is, He never fails in His affection for His devotees. Thus He did the favor to Jada Bharath by allowing him to remember his past life even while in the body of a deer.

To go back to Godhead we should sever all attachment to family and religion and just surrender like Queen Kunti did. Lord Krishna says, "Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear."