“Incarnations arrive to give grihasthas [householders] self-confidence, prestige,
and strength,” the swami says. “Even the incarnations are born in grihastha
families. The entire world, the entire society, depends upon the grihastha.”2
Quoting from the Manu Smriti, he adds, “The grihastha ashrama is the greatest
among the ashramas, because it is only the grihastha who provides food and
education to the people of the other three ashramas.”

| Swami Ranganathananda  of the Puri Order