definition

Imported quote 19564

So our Krsna consciousness movement is teaching this pravrtti-marga, nivrtti-marga, both. "You do not do this" and "You do this." "Do this" means rise early in the morning, mahgala-aratrika. Of course, we must sleep, but not sleep like cats and dogs or animals. Simply sleeping means waste of time. The more you reduce sleeping, then you become perfect. Nidrahara-viharakadi-vijitau. All the Gosvamis in Vrndavana, they conquered over these things. What is this? Nidra, sleeping; ahara, eating; and vihara, and sense pleasure. This is called sannyasa life, reducing sleeping, reducing eating. This is pravrtti-marga. We think, "If I can eat voraciously like an elephant, then my life is successful." No. That is not success life. If you can do without any food, that is success. That is success. This is called nivrtti-marga. But that is not practical; therefore if we promise that we shall not eat anything which is not offered to Krsna, that is tapasya. If you don't go to the restaurant and eat anything nonsense, that is pravrtti-marga. But if you want to stop that restaurant-going, then you take krsna-prasadam, krsna baro doyamoy, koribare jihwa jay, swa-prasad-anna dilo bhai. (More...)

Imported quote 19674

So this Krsna consciousness movement means to become trained up sufficiently how to enter Krsna's great family. In Krsna's family there is no sannyasi. Have you seen, anyone, a sannyasi in Vrndavana? At least in the books? Sannyasa means to make this material life sannyasa, finished, "No more this. Renounce." Just like Caitanya Mahaprabhu did. He renounced His material family life. He had very nice wife, young wife, and He was young man, twenty-four years old, and there was very affectionate mother. He had very good position in the society, Nimai Panḍita. Yesterday you showed one play called Chand Kazi. So He was so influential that simply by His calling, hundreds and thousands of men immediately joined to go to the Chand Kazi's house to perform kirtana. So just imagine what was His social position, so popular, leader. He had very good position. As a learned scholar, He was known as Nimai Panḍita. Beautiful, very beautiful body, Gaurasundara. Very beautiful wife. Very honored brahmana, Jagannatha Misra's son, grandson of Nilambara Cakravarti; very social, aristocratic position. But still, He gave up everything. (More...)

Real sannyāsa-yoga or bhakti means that one should know his constitutional position as the living entity, and act accordingly.

Real sannyasa-yoga or bhakti means that one should know his constitutional position as the living entity, and act accordingly. The living entity has no separate independant identity. He is the marginal energy of the Supreme. When he is entrapped by material energy, he is conditioned, and when he is Krsna conscious, or aware of the spiritual energy, then he is in his real and natural state of life. Therefore, when one is in complete knowledge, one ceases all material sense gratification, or renounces all kinds of sense gratificatory activities. This is practiced by the yogis who restrain the senses from material attachment. But a person in Krsna consciousness has no opportunity to engage his senses in anything which is not for the purpose of Krsna. Therefore, a Krsna conscious person is simultaneously a sannyasi and a yogi. The purpose of knowledge and of restraining the senses, as prescribed in the jnana and yoga processes, is automatically served in Krsna consciousness. If one is unable to give up the activities of his selfish nature, then jnana and yoga are of no avail. The real aim is for a living entity to give up all selfish satisfaction and to be prepared to satisfy the Supreme. A Krsna conscious person has no desire for any kind of self-enjoyment. He is always engaged for the enjoyment of the Supreme. One who has no information of the Supreme must therefore be engaged in self-satisfaction because no one can stand on the platform of inactivity. All these purposes are perfectly served by the practice of Krsna consciousness. (More...)

What is devotional service? In Chapter Five of Bhagavad-gita, verse 23, Lord Krsna says, "Before giving up this present body, if one is able to tolerate the urges of the material senses and check the force of desire and anger, he is a yogi and is happy in this world." Then in Chapter Six, verse 2, He says, "What is called renunciation is the same as yoga, or linking oneself with the Supreme, for no one can become a yogi unless he renounces the desire for sense gratification." Then in verses 10-12, the Lord says, "A transcendentalist should always try to concentrate his mind on the Supreme Self; he should live alone in a secluded place and should always carefully control his mind. He should be free from desires and possessiveness. To practice yoga, one should go to a secluded place and should lay kusa-grass on the ground and then cover it with a deerskin and a soft cloth. The seat should neither be too high nor too low and should be situated in a sacred place. The yogi should then sit on it very firmly and should practice yoga by controlling the mind and the senses, purifying the heart and fixing the mind on one point." (More...)

The living entity who acts for satisfaction of the supreme whole and not for personal satisfaction is the perfect sannyāsī, the perfect yogī.

In this chapter the Lord explains that the process of the eightfold yoga system is a means to control the mind and the senses. However, this is very difficult for people in general to perform, especially in the age of Kali. Although the eightfold yoga system is recommended in this chapter, the Lord emphasizes that the process of karma-yoga, or acting in Krsna consciousness, is better. Everyone acts in this world to maintain his family and their paraphernalia, but no one is working without some self-interest, some personal gratification, be it concentrated or extended. The criterion of perfection is to act in Krsna consciousness, and not with a view to enjoying the fruits of work. To act in Krsna consciousness is the duty of every living entity because all are constitutionally parts and parcels of the Supreme. The parts of the body work for the satisfaction of the whole body. The limbs of the body do not act for self-satisfaction but for the satisfaction of the complete whole. Similarly, the living entity who acts for satisfaction of the supreme whole and not for personal satisfaction is the perfect sannyasi, the perfect yogi. (More...)

The sannyasis sometimes artificially think that they have become liberated from all material duties, and therefore they cease to perform agnihotra yajnas (fire sacrifices), but actually they are self-interested because their goal is becoming one with the impersonal Brahman. Such a desire is greater than any material desire, but it is not without self-interest. Similarly, the mystic yogi who practices the yoga system with half-open eyes, ceasing all material activities, desires some satisfaction for his personal self. But a person acting in Krsna consciousness works for the satisfaction of the whole, without self-interest. A Krsna conscious person has no desire for self-satisfaction. His criterion of success is the satisfaction of Krsna, and thus he is the perfect sannyasi, or perfect yogi. Lord Caitanya, the highest perfectional symbol of renunciation, prays in this way: (More...)

Regarding your taking sannyasa, I think you are already a sannyasi although not in saffron colored cloth. In the Bhagavad-gita it is said,

anasritah karma-phalam
karyam karma karoti yah
sa sannyasi ca yogi ca
na niragnir na cakriyah
[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.''

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The special feature of the pure devotee is that his work is entirely selfless, because he works entirely for the pleasure of God. Everyone else acts in this world to maintain family or paraphernalia with some self-interest and personal gratification. The gratification may be concentrated, or it may be extended. One may be out to become famous himself or to become a great enjoyer, or he may wish to extend material benefits to his family or to humanity at large. But all these are still on the platform of selfish bodily interest. The criterion of perfection is to act in God consciousness and not with a view to enjoying the fruits of work, either locally, nationally or internationally. To act in God consciousness is the duty of every living entity, because we are all constitutionally parts and parcels of the Supreme. It is only the atheistic propaganda which has turned men to think that they are dead-end material entities unto themselves, and that there is no good except working futilely at objectives within this material life. The greatest disservice has been rendered by those who have turned men away from their natural connection with God, who is readily seen as the proprietor of everything in the universe. As the limbs of the body constitutionally work for the satisfaction of the whole body, so the living entity who acts for the satisfaction of the Supreme Whole is the perfect, selfless worker. Even among religionists, the yogis and impersonal philosophers, although acting on a level more elevated than the ordinary worker, are still not without self-interest. Either they desire to become liberated in the impersonal spiritual existence, or they desire to cease material activities in order to gain mystic perfections for the satisfaction of the personal self. But a pure devotee (the skeptic asks, "Where does such purity exist?"), acting in God consciousness, works for the satisfaction of the whole without self-interest. He has no desire for self-satisfaction. His criterion of success is the satisfaction of Krsna. Thus Lord Caitanya prays, "O almighty Lord, I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor to enjoy beautiful women, nor do I want any number of followers, but what I want only is the causeless mercy of Your devotional service in my life, birth after birth." [Cc Antya ] Working in this pure consciousness and with the potent possession of love of God, such a worker can actually deliver anyone to the highest happiness. It is therefore stated in the Vedic scriptures that even a moment's association with a pure devotee can grant one all success. An unfortunate person will doubt that such purity exists or whether a devotee has the ability to give God consciousness to the masses. But one who actually meets a pure devotee can be given these highest gifts from him and will realize it without a doubt. Although they are very rare, such great souls have walked the earth throughout history. To hear of their activities is very beneficial, but it must be done with true understanding and not in the mood of psychological analysis or faultfinding, which we may apply to an ordinary person. (More...)

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