It’s well known that the Vedas mention cases of polygamy. It’s mentioned that this practice was common in previous ages since many men would remain as lifelong celibates, as Brahmacaris and later Sannyasis, and thus not enter into family life, just like many others would die in wars. In this way, the female population in Vedic societies would be almost always greater than the male population available for marriage, and the problem would be solved by some men marrying more than one woman.

Another practice that is also described, although less common is polyandry, or one woman marrying more than one husband, like in the case of Draupadi marrying the five Pandavas, or Marisa, the daughter of Kandu and Pramloca, who married the 10 Pracetas.

According to Srila Prabhupada in his purport to ŚB 4.30.16, in previous ages sometimes a woman would marry a man together with his brothers, as in the case of both Draupadi and Marisa. This practice is still practiced in villages of Tibet, usually with the purpose of avoiding dividing the land possessed by the family.

Since polygamy and polyandry are mentioned in the Vedas, should we start also practicing it? Not so fast…

Actually, both polygamy and polyandry are largely practiced in modern societies, including inside our spiritual society, in the form of divorces and remarriages, which are nothing more than forms of serial polygamy and polyandry. A man has thus several wives, and a woman several husbands, although not at the same time. This is however not sanctioned in the scriptures.

Another point is that although practiced in previous ages, polyandry is forbidden in Kali-Yuga. The injunction from the scriptures is kalau pañca vivarjayet: In this age, a woman is forbidden to marry her husband’s brother. Even in previous ages, cases like Draupadi and Marisa were exceptions and not the rule. Such marriages would be allowed only in special circumstances, in the case of extraordinarily qualified ladies who would be able to treat all their husbands equally.

What about polygamy? Although allowed in the scriptures, polygamy is not considered the best standard. Vedic culture values spiritual progression and detachment, and polygamy is not an efficient way to achieve eighter. In order for a man to accept more than one wife he has to be able to acquire a lot of material facilities to provide separate houses, servants, and ornaments for each wife, as well as to provide for all of their children. Ksatriyas and successful Vaisyas could do that, but other men would be seriously pressed to fulfill all these obligations. In our day and age that’s especially ludicrous, since most men can’t even properly maintain even one wife.

We can also see that although allowed, polygamy was the source of many problems, even in previous ages. The whole pastime of Dhruva Maharaja started with a King who had two wives. One wife was envious of the other and wanted to make her son the next king, instead of the older son of the first wife. The king fell under the control of the second wife and thus neglected his older son. Another example is the story of Yayati, who ended up being cursed when Devayani became angry at him becoming more attracted to Sharmistha.

People in previous ages were much more qualified and self-controlled than now. We could just imagine what kind of problems we would have if these practices became widespread in our current society. Although Prabhupada mentions the practice of polygamy in his books, his final decision was that it should not be practiced in our spirtual society, since our purpose is to become detached from this world, and not to increase our attachment. Srila Prabhupada also acknowledged the potential problems associated with it.

We can see that although polygamy is mentioned in the sastras, the highest example is given by Lord Rama, who had only one wife. Polygamy was offered as a concession for men who were too lusty, as well as a way to solve the problem of lack of marriable men in previous ages. Nowadays men who can adequately take care of more than one wife are extraordinarily rare, practically inexistent, and in many societies the male population is actually larger (like in China and India), therefore polygamy is not necessary, and it is not even a good idea, especially inside spiritual societies. We can only imagine the problems we would have faced in Iskcon in the 1980s and 1990s for example, if on top of all scandals and problems we faced there would also be polygamy.

Another side however is that we should also avoid serial polygamy and polyandry. Nowadays divorces have become very common, but this doesn’t make them any less serious. Stable couples and children growing up under the care of both parents are essential for the health of any civilized society. Children need to grow up with both parents.