Krishna in Bhagavad Gita says a seeker, Yogi in search of God who succeeds practicing spirituality even while living in Grihastha ashram (married life) was a perfect Yogi par excellence.
Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita does not condemn married life. He simply says to pursue path of pure spirituality one needs cutting all bondages of earthly life. This includes parents, brothers and sisters, close relatives and friends and the immediate family consisting of wife and children.
As per Lord Krishna if a married person seriously interested in pursuing spirituality desires going to deep dense forests to contemplate (indulge in chintan) in isolation then one must seek permission of wife and children, also prepare for their material welfare in absence.
One was just not permitted to quit family life as did Siddhartha Gautama. Just by touching feet of wife and child one can never absolve self of karma. The ties of karma can never be cut that way. The roots of karma were very deep, continuing from many manifestations in the past.
Nothing on front of karma could be indulged unilaterally. One has to burn karma in entirety.
As Bhagavad Gita was all about pursuing path of spirituality, it is quite understood that sooner or later family ties will be cut permanently. This includes the immediate family those dependent on us… wife, children and parents. Seekers who are married have to arrange for welfare of entire family before leaving confines of home in search of cosmic truths of life.
If we do not do that, we would be one amongst millions of so-called seekers of truth that lined religious centres life Haridwar, Rishikesh Varanasi and Allahabad. All these people we find in religious pilgrimage centres abruptly left their homes without arranging for the immediate family. Can such human beings, seekers be expected to gain anything spiritual in life?
Spirituality is not a part-time job; it should never be indulged in part-time. We just could not ride two boats simultaneously, one of earthly life and the other pertaining to inner journey within.
If we have married, it becomes our responsibility to take care of wife and children, even elderly parents. Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita strictly prohibits abandoning them midway.
Despite warnings if a seeker still indulges in unethical practices, one would be directly punished by god. Such a seeker never gains anything in life either materially or spiritually. Indulging in religious practices, rituals never gained anything in life.
A true seeker must never run after such religious preachers who all the time preached half baked theories to gullible mankind.
Furthermore maintaining a delicate balance between married life and path of spirituality is difficult yet, not impossible. Example of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa proves it.
But other spiritual stalwarts Maharshi Ramana and Swami Vivekananda did not marry and practiced spirituality as a bachelor.
As marrying or not marrying was never totally in our hands, we must logically conclude all solutions, seeking help of serious travelers of spiritual path if available, even elderly in the family.
We must not only think twice but many times before quitting married life in search of god.
It is very rare that goal of life of both the husband and wife was same, reaching god in present life time. Either we take a decision before marriage for once marriage takes place, we become responsible for the entire family. Ladies rarely went in search of god.
In the entire history of Hinduism only two ladies till date succeeded in reaching god in their lifetime, the famous philosopher saint Gargi and Maitreyi, the second dutiful wife of Sage Yajnavalkya, composer and compiler of most voluminous Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.
Finally it is not Krishna who has to decide our journey of life. It is our goal, our life. We can take guidance from teachings of Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita or even life of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa but the final decision always rests on our shoulders.