Thread by @hormndoc

In the evening Sri Chandrasekara Bharati would go to the kAlabhairava temple. There vidyArthis would participate in an andhAdi Sloka recital (an antAkSari with Slokas). One evening during his turn to start with la said the following:
लोको नापुत्रस्यातीति शृत्या त्वभाषि लोका।

मुक्ति संसरणं वा तद्नय लोकोऽथवा नाद्य॥
from the prabodha sudhakara. He then quoted the next couple of verses and asked for their meaning.
What is the meaning of the Sruti vAkya when it says nA putrasya lokosti? Will a person who does not have a son not achieve any world? What

world does world imply? If it is mukti is the world spoken of - will those who have children all attain mukti? Will this not be against the concept of samsAra? In the maitreya brAhmaNa there is testimony that mukti referred to as a amrutatvam and states that आत्मावा वा अरे

द्रष्टव्य - that Atma jnAna is indeed the tool to mokSa. It also adds sravaNa manana and nidhyAsana are the sAdhanAs that take you close to it. Having provided these paths and not mentioning "having a child" as a path - mokSa does not apply. A child is not the means to

happiness in this world nor the others. This is because for happiness in this world dana and dAnya and for happiness in the other worlds yAgas are ordained - ज्योतिष्टोमेन स्वर्ग कामो यजेत। Therefore नापुत्रस्य लोकोऽस्ति can be considered as arthavAda and not as vidhi.

Sankara's view is that because people do not do anything without looking for benefit - the Sruti provides an impetus for doing the kAmya karma which is putrakAmeSti. When Sri Vaidhyanatha Sastri provided this explanation SCB said
लोके व्यवायामिषमद्य सेवा नित्यास्तु जन्तोर्नहि

तत्र चोदना। व्यवस्थितिस्तत्र विवाहयज्ञसुराग्रहैरासु निवृत्तिरिष्टा ॥ from srimad bhagavatam. To be attracted to women meat etc in the world is natural. Instigation from the Sastra for these is not required. The Sastra makes a determination stating that outside of marriage yajna

etc - these should not be done. If one wants to experience samsAra he must marry - but otherwise there is no compulsion. If one is desirous of viSaya suKa he must marry but there is no compulsion. If one is desirous of various karmas (oupasanam etc) he should marry. A person who

has none of these desires and has virakta is not compelled by the sruti to marry. In the presence of desire the Sruti gives you a path to achieve it without much harm. It dose not tell you to follow desire or increase it. Will a mother allow a child to fall into a ditch?

Similarly vedamAta when men are filled with desire and choose many paths to fulfil them provides a way and guides them to find a good path (or less harmful path) to fulfil those desires. When a person who is instigated by lust tries to use many paths to fulfil it the Sruti guides

him to marriage as an institution to fulfil his desires without straying from a good path. Sruti does not ordain that man must marry. Its object is to remove all the vAsanAs accumulated over many births and raise him. When kAma flows like a torrent placing a barrier against is

it is futile. Therefore you must divert it into a stream so that it can run parallel without disrupting the flow of life to its higher objective. The institution of marriage has been established to divert the flow of desire into a Sastriya path. Let him use that path to do kAma

nivrutti is what the Sruti intends. In the yoga vaSiSTa शुभाशुभायामं मार्गभ्यां वहन्ति वासना सरित्। पौरुषेन प्रयत्नेन योजनीया शुभे पथि॥ The river of janmAntara vAsana runs both in good and bad paths. Man must through effort prevent it from going in the bad path and let it flow in

the good path. Thus it is impossible to dam the flow of these vAsanAs. To divert them through a good path is cleverness.
To continue..
From Gurukrupa vilasam volume 1