Sannyāsa Initiation of Viraha Prakāśa Swami

Anantarām Śāstrījī: [chants mantras for fire sacrifice; devotees loudly chanting japa] [break]

Prabhupāda: ...śrī-viṣṅu [devotees repeat], śrī-viṣṅu [devotees repeat]. Now go on. Sannyāsita.[?] You chant this mantra. Etām [devotees repeat]. Chant and repeat.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Etām [devotees repeat], sa āsthāya [devotees repeat]...

Prabhupāda: Not all. Only sannyāsīs.

Hrdayananda: Only sannyāsīs chant.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Etām [Prabhupāda and devotees repeat after each word], sa āsthāya parātma-niṣṭhām upāsitām pūrva tamaiḥ mahadbhiḥ aham tariṣyāmi duranta pāram tamo, mukundāṅghri niṣeyevayaiva [SB 11.23.57].

Prabhupāda: Translation and purport.

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Translation and purport.

Prabhupāda: You can come...

Tamāla Kṛṣṅa: Translation: "This was spoken by a brāhmaṅa from Avantī deśa. 'I shall cross over the insurmountable ocean of nescience by being firmly fixed in the service of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṅa. This was approved by the previous ācāryas, who are fixed in firm devotion to the Lord, Paramātmā, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.' " Purport. "In connection with this verse, which is a quotation from the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Eleventh Canto, Twenty-third Chapter, [sic] fifty-eighth verse, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura says that of the sixty-four items required for rendering devotional service, acceptance of the symbolic marks of sannyāsa is a regulative principle. If one accepts the sannyāsa order, his main business is to devote his life completely to the service of Mukunda, Kṛṣṅa. If one does not completely devote his mind and body to the service of the Lord, he does not actually become a sannyāsī. It is not simply a matter of changing dress. In Bhagavad-gītā, Sixth Chapter, first verse, it is also stated, anāśritaḥ karma-phalaṁ kāryaṁ karma karoti yaḥ, sa sannyāsī ca yogī ca: [Bg 6.1]

[The Blessed Lord said: One who is unattached to the fruits of his work and who works as he is obligated is in the renounced order of life, and he is the true mystic: not he who lights no fire and performs no work.]

'One who works devotedly for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṅa is a sannyāsī.' The dress is not sannyāsa, but the attitude of service to Kṛṣṅa is.

"The word paramātmā niṣṭhā means being a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṅa. Parātmā-vigraha. Parātmā, the Supreme Person, is Kṛṣṅa. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṅaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ [Bs 5.1].

[Kṛṣṅa who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.]

Those who are completely dedicated to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṅa in service are actually sannyāsīs. As a matter of formality, the devotee accepts the sannyāsa dress as previous ācāryas did. He also accepts the three daṅḍas. Later, Viṣṅu Svāmī considered that accepting the dress of a tridaṅḍa was parātma-niṣṭhā. Therefore sincere devotees add another daṅḍa, the jīva daṅḍa, to the three existing daṅḍas. The Vaiṣṅava sannyāsī is known as tridaṅḍī-sannyāsī. The Māyāvādī sannyāsī accepts only one daṅḍa, not understanding the purpose of tridaṅḍa. Later, many persons in the community of Śiva Svāmī gave up the ātma-niṣṭhā, devotional service of the Lord, and followed the paths of Śaṅkarācārya. Instead of accepting 108 names, those in the Śiva Svāmī sampradāya follow the path of Śaṅkarācārya and accept the ten names of sannyāsa. Although Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted the then existing order of sannyāsa, namely ekadaṅḍa, He still recited from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam about the tridaṅḍa-sannyāsa accepted by the brāhmaṅa of Avantīpura. Indirectly He declared that within the ekadaṅḍa [one daṅḍa], four daṅḍas existed as one. Accepting ekadaṅḍa sannyāsa without parātma-niṣṭhā, devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṅa, is not acceptable to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. In addition, according to the exact regulative principles, one should add the jīva-daṅḍa to the tridaṅḍa. These four daṅḍas bound together as one are symbolic of unalloyed devotional service to the Lord. Because the ekadaṅḍī-sannyāsīs of the Māyāvāda school are not devoted to the service of Kṛṣṅa, they try to merge into the Brahman effulgence, which is a marginal position between material and spiritual existence. They accept this impersonal position as liberation. Māyāvādī sannyāsīs, not knowing that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was a tridaṅḍī, think of Caitanya Mahāprabhu as an ekadaṅḍī sannyāsī. This is due to their vivarta, bewilderment. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam there is no such thing as ekadaṅḍī sannyāsī. Indeed, the tridaṅḍī-sannyāsī is accepted as the symbolic representation of the sannyāsa order. By citing this verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted the sannyāsa order recommended in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The Māyāvādī sannyāsīs, who are enamored of the external energy of the Lord, cannot understand the mind of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

"To date, all the devotees of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, following in His footsteps, accept the sannyāsa order and keep the sacred thread and tuft of unshaved hair. The ekadaṅḍī-sannyāsīs of the Māyāvādī school give up the sacred thread and do not keep any tuft of hair. Therefore they are unable to understand the purport of tridaṅḍa-sannyāsa, and as such, they are not inclined to dedicate their lives to the service of Mukunda. They simply think of merging into the existence of Brahman because of their disgust with material existence. The ācāryas who advocate the daiva-varṅāśrama, the social order of cātur-varṅyam mentioned in Bhagavad-gītā, do not accept the proposition of asura-varṅāśrama, which maintains the social code of varṅa is indicated by birth.

"The most intimate devotee of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, namely Gadādhara Paṅḍita, accepted tridaṅḍa-sannyāsa and also accepted Mādhava Upadhyaya as his tridaṅḍī-sannyāsī disciple. It is said that from this Madhvācārya, the sampradāya known in Western India as Vallabhācārya sampradāya has begun. Śrīla Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Vasu, who is known as smṛti-ācārya in the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṅava sampradāya, later accepted the tridaṅḍa-sannyāsa from Tridaṅḍipāda Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī. Although acceptance of tridaṅḍa-sannyāsa is not distinctly mentioned in the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṅava literature, the first verse of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī's Upadeśāmṛta advocates that one should accept the tridaṅḍa-sannyāsa order by controlling the six forces:

vāco vegaṁ manasaḥ krodha-vegaṁ jihvā-vegam udaropastha-vegam etān vegān yo viṣaheta dhīraḥ sarvām apīmāṁ pṛthivīṁ sa śiṣyāt [Upadeśāmṛta 1]

" 'One who can control the forces of speech, mind, anger, belly, tongue and genitals is known as a gosvāmī and is competent to accept disciples all over the world.' The followers of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu never accepted the Māyāvāda order of sannyāsa, and for this, they cannot be blamed. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted Śrīdhara Swami, who was a tridaṅḍī sannyāsī, but the Māyāvāda sannyāsīs, not understanding Śrīdhara Swami, sometimes think that Śrīdhara Swami belonged to the Māyāvāda ekadaṅḍa sannyāsa community. Actually this was not the case."

Prabhupāda: So you should understand the purpose of taking sannyāsa by the example given by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Himself. It is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,

tyaktvā su-dustyaja-surepsita-rājya-lakṣmīṁ dharmiṣṭha ārya-vacasā yad agād araṅyam māyā-mṛgaṁ dayitayepsitam anvadhāvad vande mahā-puruṣa te caraṅāravindam [SB 11.5.34]

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was resident of this place where you are taking sannyāsa. So what was the purpose of His taking sannyāsa? He was very respectable brāhmaṅa, Nimāi Paṅḍita. This tract of land, Navadvīpa, is the place of highly educated brāhmaṅas from time immemorial. So Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu belonged to a very respectable brāhmaṅa family, the son of Jagannātha Miśra; His grandfather, Nīlāmbara Cakravartī. Very respectful, respectable persons. He took birth in that family. Personally He was very beautiful; therefore His another name is Gaurasundara. And He was very learned scholar also; therefore His another name is Nimāi Paṅḍita. So, and in His family life He had very nice, beautiful young wife, Viṣṅupriyā, and very affectionate mother, and He was very influential. You know that. In one day He collected about one hundred thousand followers to protest against the Kazi's order. So in this way His social position was very favorable. Personal position was very favorable. Still, He took sannyāsa, left home. Why? Dayitaye: in order to favor, in order to show mercy to the fallen souls of the world.

So He left a legacy that anyone who has taken birth in India,

bhārata-bhūmite manuṣya-janma haila yāra janma sārthaka kari' kara para-upakāra [Cc Ādi 9.41]

[One who has taken his birth as a human being in the land of India [Bhārata-varṣa] should make his life successful and work for the benefit of all other people.]

So He exhibited personally how to do para-upakāra, welfare to others, fallen souls. So this sannyāsa means following the order of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu that,

āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tara' ei deśa yāre dekha tāre kaha 'kṛṣṅa'-upadeśa [Cc Madhya 7.128]

[Instruct everyone to follow the orders of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṅa as they are given in the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In this way become a spiritual master and try to liberate everyone in this land.]

So not only... We are trying to create a position that not only the Indians have got this responsibility, but according to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, anyone—pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma [CB Antya-khaṅḍa 4.126]

[In every town and village of the world, the chanting of My name will be heard.]

—they should take up this missionary work. And I am so much obliged to you, you American boys and girls also, that you have taken this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement very seriously. And by the grace of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu you are taking sannyāsa, some of you. Keep it very perfectly and go from town to town, city to city, village to village, all over the world and spread this Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement so that everyone will be happy. People are very much suffering. They, because they are mūḍhas, rascals, they do not know how to adjust living condition in human form. This is the bhāgavata-dharma everywhere. So the human form is not to become a dog, hog, pig. You should become a perfect human being. Śuddhyet sattva. Purify your existence. Why you are subjected to birth, death, old age and disease? Because we are impure. Now, if we purify our existence, then there will be no such thing as birth, death, old age and disease. That is the version of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Kṛṣṅa Himself. Simply by understanding Kṛṣṅa, you become purified and you escape the contamination of birth, death, old age and disease.

So try to convince the people in general, the philosophers, the religionists. We have no such thing, sectarian view. Anyone can join this movement and become purified himself. Janma sārthaka kari' kara para-upakāra [Cc Ādi 9.41].

[One who has taken his birth as a human being in the land of India [Bhārata-varṣa] should make his life successful and work for the benefit of all other people.]

So I am very much pleased. You have given already service to the society. Now you take up sannyāsa and preach all over the world so that people may be benefited.

Thank you very much.

Devotees: Jaya Śrīla Prabhupāda!

Prabhupāda: The daṅḍa. Take this and offer obeisances. So add to your name "Swami," that's all. What is his name?

Devotee: Viraha.

Prabhupāda: Viraha. Viraha Prakāśa Swami. Bow down. Viraha Prakāśa. Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the symbolic of viraha prakāśa. Govinda-viraheṅa me. He says, śūnyāyitaṁ jagat sarvaṁ govinda-viraheṅa me [Śikṣāṣṭaka]. That is viraha-prakāśa, that "Everything is vacant for me without Govinda." That is called viraha. So we should be mad after Govinda. That is govinda-viraheṅa me. Śūnyāyitaṁ jagat sarvaṁ govinda-viraheṅa me. Thank you very much. Hare Kṛṣṅa.

Devotees: Jaya Śrīla Prabhupāda.

Prabhupāda: So I can go you can proceed.

Devotee: [annouces] The forgoing was a sanyass initiation ceremony held on 5th of February 1976 in Māyāpur. [end]