When Krsna with His sixteen thousand wives went to Hastinapura, so
Draupadi… It is natural between woman and woman, they talk about their
husband. That is natural. So Draupadi was inquiring from each and every wife
of Krsna. Not all of them; it is not possible, sixteen thousand. At least
the principal queens, beginning from… What is the [indistinct] called?
Rukmini, yes. So every one of them were describing their marriage ceremony,
that “My…” Rukmini explained that “My father wanted to hand over me to
Krsna, but my elder brother, he did not agree. He wanted to get me married
with Sisupala. So I did not like this idea. I wrote Krsna a private letter,
that ‘I have dedicated my life to You, but this is the situation. Please
come and kidnap me.’ So in this way Krsna kidnapped me and made me His
maidservant.” The queen’s daughter, king’s daughter — every one of them
were king’s daughter; they were not ordinary person daughter — but they
wanted to become maidservant of Krsna. This is the idea, to become servant
and to become maidservant. This is ideal of human civilization. The every
woman should try to become maidservant of her husband, and every man should
try to become the hundred times servant of Krsna. This is Indian
civilization. Not that “Husband and wife, we are equal rights,” that, in
Europe, America, the movement is going on, “Equal rights.” That is not Vedic
civilization. Vedic civilization is the husband should be a sincere servant
of Krsna, and the wife should be a sincere maidservant of the husband.
From Srila Prabhupada’s lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.9.24 — Mayapur,
March 2, 1976