The Stages Of Life

Although Maharaja Rsabhadeva had a hundred obedient sons and although he was the emperor and everything was at his command, he still chose to follow the Vedic system and retire. There are other instances of great kings' retiring. After Maharaja Pariksit retired, the Srimad-Bhagavatam was recited to him. Similarly his grandfather, Maharaja Yudhisthira, also voluntarily retired. The Vedic system is very specific in regards to the particular courses one should take at various stages of life. At an early age, for instance, whether one is the son of a king or the son or an ordinary man, one must go to the asrama of a spiritual master and live there as a servant. This is called brahmacari life. A brahmacari's life is dedicated to serving the spiritual master as a menial servant. Whatever the spiritual master asks, the brahmacari will do. This is such a strict system that whatever the brahmacari collects in alms, he gives to the spiritual master, for he considers everything to be the spiritual master's property, not his. And if the spiritual master forgets to call his disciple, "My dear son, come and take your prasadam," then the brahmacari will not eat a morsel. He will starve. Of course the spiritual master does not forget, but these are the injunctions of scriptures which one has to follow at the beginning of life whether one is the son of a king or even the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. Lord Sri Krsna Himself underwent this discipline when He was a brahmacari for some time. After brahmacari life, usually at the age of twenty-five, one marries and lives with his wife and children for twenty-five years at the most, and then one retires. After retirement, the husband and wife go on pilgrimages together, and when the husband is completely free from all family attachment, he takes sannyasa. This is the process-brahmacari, grhastha, vanaprastha and sannyasa.