Five Cases Where It Is Easier For You To Say

“Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu further advised the brahmana Kurma, ‘If you follow this instruction, your materialistic life at home will not obstruct your spiritual advancement. Indeed, if you follow these regulative principles, we will again meet here, or, rather, you will never lose My company.’” (Chaitanya Charitamrita, Madhya 7.129)

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कभु ना बाधिबे तोमार विषय-तरङ्ग
पुनरपि एइ ठाञि पाबे मोर सङ्ग”

kabhu nā bādhibe tomāra viṣaya-taraṅga
punarapi ei ṭhāñi pābe mora saṅga”

The argument is that sannyasa should not be required. In terms of the institution that is at the fag end of the typical flow within ashramas described in varnashrama-dharma, it is no longer feasible. After all, shastra states that sannyasa is generally forbidden in this dark age of Kali. Therefore, why should people be urged to follow it?

Moreover, there is already so much cheating involved. Today, the sannyasis often live much more comfortably than the supposedly lowly householders, the grihasthas. The sannyasis are made leaders of the spiritual institution, and wherever they travel they enjoy the luxury accommodations of indoor plumbing, digitally controlled climate, and servants to do all of their cooking and cleaning. Where is the question of renunciation?

In addition, what exactly is the benefit to accepting the sannyasa order? What are these people trying to prove? How are they suddenly better than everyone else? Why should the visual matter when consciousness is everything? As Shri Krishna explains, it is the object of remembrance which determines the nature of living moving forward, as the individual travels, accompanied by their subtle body, to the next life, like the air carrying aromas.

यं यं वापि स्मरन् भावं
त्यजत्य् अन्ते कलेवरम्
तं तम् एवैति कौन्तेय
सदा तद्-भाव-भावितः

yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ
tyajaty ante kalevaram
taṁ tam evaiti kaunteya
sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ

“Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 8.6)

One justification for accepting the renounced order of life, in an official transfer of identification, is to mitigate the tendency towards envy. If we are in material life, there is always some sort of business taking place. That is simply the way of the world, since the beginning of time.

कर्मण्य् एवाधिकारस् ते
मा फलेषु कदाचन
मा कर्म-फल-हेतुर् भूर्
मा ते सङ्गो ऽस्त्व् अकर्मणि

karmaṇy evādhikāras te
mā phaleṣu kadācana
mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr
mā te saṅgo ‘stv akarmaṇi

“You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad­-gita, 2.47)

Business involves some sort of dishonesty; either subtle or egregious. This involvement in business then fosters envy. If the regular householder should give a vehement appeal for following the ways of sanatana-dharma, for living in a renounced way, for sacrificing the fruits of work for a higher cause, there are several retorts that the audience could easily resort to.

1. You already have a wife

“Ha, don’t make me laugh! You are trying to explain to me how attachment to the spouse is detrimental. You compare the experience to travelling through a thick forest, where you get bitten left and right. You say that focusing on the wellbeing of such a person will distract you from the ultimate goal of liberation from rebirth.

“Well, that is easy for you to say. You already have a wife. You already live at home. If you actually believed these principles, you would be avoiding the experience. Is that not so? Why should you get to enjoy at home while others do not?”

2. You already have children

“Please, don’t make me laugh! You say that children are part of this dense forest. They are always asking for this thing or that. You reference the story of the highway robber, who was stealing from people for the sole justification of supporting his family. He later asked that family if they would share in the sinful reactions to his work, and they refused. They turned out to be nothing but bloodsucking leeches.

“Okay, but don’t you have children? Is that not easy for you to tell others about the pitfalls of family life, while you are already enjoying it? Why should you get to have children while everyone else goes the way of the celibate monk?”

3. You already have a job

“You explain that working in the material world is full of faults. You describe such people as karmis. The eww-dirty karmis. I added that first part. Those karmis are so terrible, you see. They are only working to satisfy their senses. They are at the office for eight hours a day, and when they come home at night they want to drink or look at naked women.

“Okay, but you already have a job. How convenient for you to persuade others to avoid working. You already have everything going for you. How are you not a karmi, while everyone else is contaminated?”

4. You already have money saved up

“Do you not save for retirement? Just how much money is in your bank account? If money is not so important, why do you spend so much time earning it? How are we supposed to take your presentation seriously when you are implicated in this thing you deride as material living?”

5. You already eat nicely

“Bro, I have seen your refrigerator. Your pantry is fully stocked. If anything should happen to disrupt the supply chain, you will be good for years. Why should not others follow in your footsteps? Why should we be poor while you have everything? Why should we beg for a living while you have sufficient means to support yourself?”

…

From this review it is clear that in the case of an honest sannyasi, with someone who genuinely tries to follow the principles, there is a tremendous advantage in the potential for distributing the message. So many common points of contention, that create rivalries, are removed. The audience has a better chance of hearing the presentation clearly, without unnecessary biases.

At the same time, someone like Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is so kind that He empowers all kinds of people to take up the cause of devotion to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Shri Krishna. Lord Chaitanya once dissuaded a householder from following Him, in joining the sannyasa ashrama.

Mahaprabhu declared that by sharing Krishna-upadesha, a person would be acting as a guru. This would be under the order of Lord Chaitanya Himself. The same vulnerabilities remain. That is the way of the world, after all. Everyone is envious of everyone, including their own dependents, such as children and grandchildren.

But at least there is hope. Considering how the sannyasa ashrama itself has become so degraded, in many cases the honest householder carries more respect, gravitas, and weight in their presentation. This is when there is a strong connection to the devotional culture, as kindly displayed and taught by the golden avatara.

In Closing:

To that allegiance beholden,
Since saved by avatara golden.

For someone as degraded as me,
Success possible to see.

If worried about home to lose,
Not necessary to move.

As guru on His order declaring,
If upadesha of Krishna sharing.