vanaprastha
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Imported quote 13839 Since there were so many discrepancies during the reign of King Vena, the Lord sent His most confidential devotee, Maharaja Prthu to settle things. Therefore, after executing the orders of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and settling the affairs of the world, Maharaja Prthu was ready to retire. He had been exemplary in his governmental administration, and now he was to become exemplary in his retirement. He divided all his property amongst his sons and appointed them to rule the world, and then he went to the forest with his wife. It is significant in this connection that it is said that Maharaja Prthu retired alone and at the same time took his wife with him. According to Vedic principles, when retiring from family life, one can take his wife with him, for the husband and wife are considered to be one unit. Thus they can both combinedly perform austerities for liberation. This is the path that Maharaja Prthu, who was an exemplary character, followed, and this is also the way of Vedic civilization. One should not simply remain at home until the time of death, but should separate from family life at a timely moment and prepare himself to go back to Godhead. As a saktyavesa incarnation of God who had actually come from Vaikuntha as a representative of Krsna, Maharaja Prthu was certain to go back to Godhead. Nonetheless in order to set the example in all ways, he also underwent severe austerities in the tapo-vana. It appears that in those days there were many tapo-vanas, or forests especially meant for retirement and the practice of austerities. Indeed, it was compulsory for everyone to go to the tapo-vana to fully accept the shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for it is very difficult to retire from family life and at the same time remain at home.
(More...) Imported quote 13841 As it is necessary for one to become very active in family life, similarly, after retirement from family life, it is necessary to control the mind and senses. This is possible when one engages himself fully in the devotional service of the Lord. Actually the whole purpose of the Vedic system, the Vedic social order, is to enable one to ultimately return home, back to Godhead. The grhastha-asrama is a sort of concession combining sense gratification with a regulative life. It is to enable one to easily retire in the middle of life and engage fully in austerities in order to transcend material sense gratification once and for all. Therefore in the vanaprastha stage of life, tapasya, or austerity, is strongly recommended. Maharaja Prthu followed exactly all the rules of vanaprastha life, which is technically known as vaikhanasa-asrama. The word vaikhanasa-susammate is significant because in vanaprastha life the regulative principles are also to be strictly followed. In other words, Maharaja Prthu was an ideal character in every sphere of life. Mahajano yena gataḥ sa panthaḥ: one should follow in the footsteps of great personalities. Thus by following the exemplary character of Maharaja Prthu, one can become perfect in all respects while living this life or while retiring from active life. Thus after giving up this body, one can become liberated and go back to Godhead.
(More...) Imported quote 14270 A materialistic person works throughout the whole week very, very hard. He is always asking, "Where is money? Where is money?" Then, at the end of the week, he wants to retire from these activities and go to some secluded place to rest. King Puranjana returned to his home because he was very much fatigued from hunting animals in the forest. In this way his conscience came to stop him from committing further sinful activities and make him return home. In Bhagavad-gita materialistic persons are described as duskrtinaḥ, which indicates those who are always engaged in sinful activities. When a person comes to his senses and understands how he is engaging in sinful activities, he returns to his conscience, which is herein figuratively described as the palace. Generally a materialistic person is infected by the material modes of passion and ignorance. The results of passion and ignorance are lust and greed. In the life of a materialist, activity means working in lust and greed. However, when he comes to his senses, he wants to retire. According to Vedic civilization, such retirement is positively recommended, and this portion of life is called vanaprastha. Retirement is absolutely necessary for a materialist who wants to become free from the activities of a sinful life.
(More...) Imported quote 14339 Even though we may produce many good children, our desire for sex that is beyond the prescribed method is to be considered sinful. Too much enjoyment of any of the senses (not only sex) results in sinful activities. Therefore one has to become a svami or a gosvami at the end of his life. One may beget children up to the age of fifty, but after fifty, one must stop begetting children and should accept the vanaprastha order. In this way he must leave home and then become a sannyasi. A sannyasi's title is svami or gosvami, which means that he completely refrains from sense enjoyment. One should not accept the sannyasa order whimsically; he must be fully confident that he can restrain his desires for sense gratification. King Puranjana's family life was, of course, very happy. As mentioned in these verses, he begot 1,100 sons and 110 daughters. Everyone desires to have more sons than daughters, and since the number of daughters was less than the number of sons, it appears that King Puranjana's family life was very comfortable and pleasing.
(More...) Imported quote 14477 In this verse the word cira-vasa refers to very old torn garments. The wife especially should remain austere, not desiring luxurious dresses and living standards. She should accept only the bare necessities of life and minimize her eating and sleeping. There should be no question of mating. Simply by engaging in the service of her exalted husband, who must be a pure devotee, the wife will never be agitated by sex impulses. The vanaprastha stage is exactly like this. Although the wife remains with the husband, she undergoes severe austerities and penances so that although both husband and wife live together, there is no question of sex. In this way both husband and wife can live together perpetually. Since the wife is weaker than the husband, this weakness is expressed in this verse with the words upa patim. Upa means "near to," or "almost equal to." Being a man, the husband is generally more advanced than his wife. Nonetheless, the wife is expected to give up all luxurious habits. She should not even dress nicely or comb her hair. Hair combing is one of the main businesses of women. In the vanaprastha stage the wife should not take care of her hair. Thus her hair will become tangled in knots. Consequently the wife herself will no longer be agitated by sex impulses. In this way both husband and wife can advance in spiritual consciousness. This advanced stage is called the paramahamsa stage, and once it is obtained, both husband and wife can be actually liberated from bodily consciousness. If the disciple remains steady in the service of the spiritual master, he need no longer fear falling down into the clutches of maya.
(More...) Imported quote 14760 Unless one practices penances and austerities in his student life, he cannot understand the existence of God. Without realizing Krsna, one cannot make his life perfect. The conclusion is that when the children are grown, the wife should be put in the children's charge. The husband may then leave home to develop Krsna consciousness. Everything depends on the development of mature knowledge. King Pracinabarhisat, the father of the Pracetas, left home before the arrival of his sons, who were engaged in austerity within the water. As soon as the time is ripe, or as soon as one has developed perfect Krsna consciousness, he should leave home, even though all his duties may not be fulfilled. Pracinabarhisat was waiting for the arrival of his sons, but, following the instructions of Narada, as soon as his intelligence was properly developed, he simply left instructions for his ministers to impart to his sons. Thus without waiting for their arrival, he left home.
(More...) Giving up a comfortable home life is absolutely necessary for human beings and is advised by Prahlada Maharaja. Hitvatma-patam grham andha-kūpam: To finish the materialistic way of life, one should leave his so-called comfortable home life, which is simply a means for killing the soul (atma-patam). The home is considered to be a dark well covered by grass, and if one falls within this well, he simply dies without anyone's caring. One should therefore not be too much attached to family life, for it will spoil one's development of Krsna consciousness.
(More...) Imported quote 16059 As mentioned in our introduction (First Volume page 3) "there is need of the science of Krishna in the human society for all suffering humanity of the world and we would simply request the leading personalities of all nations to take some information of the science of Krishna for their own good, for the good of the society and for the good of all people of the world"-so it is confirmed herein by the example of Maharaj Yudhisthir the personality of goodness. In India the people hanker after Ramrajya because the Personality of Godhead was the ideal King and all other Kings or Emperors in India who controlled over the destiny of world administration for the prosperity of every living being who took birth on the earth. Herein the word 'Prajah' is significant. The etymological import of the word is that which is born. On the earth there are many species of life from the aquatics up to the perfect human being and all of them are known as 'Prajas. Lord Brahma the creator of this particular universe is known as the Prajapati because He is the grand father of all who has taken birth. As such the Praja is used in a broader sense than it is now used. The king is meant for all living beings namely the aquatics, plants, trees, the reptiles, the birds, the animals and the man. Everyone of them is a part and parcel of the Supreme Lord (Bg. 14.4) and the king being representative of the Supreme Lord, he is duty-bound to give proper protection to everyone of them. It is not like the presidents and dictators of the demoralised system of administration where the lower animals are given no protection while the higher animals are given so called protection. But this is a great science which can be learnt only by one who has learnt the science of Krishna as already referred to above by us. By knowing the science of Krishna one can become the most perfect man of the world and without knowledge in this science one is spoiled of all his good qualifications and doctorate diplomas acquired by academic education. Maharaj Yudhisthir knew this science of Krishna very well as it is stated here that by continuous cultivation of the science or by the continuous devotional service of the Lord Krishna he acquired the qualification of administering the state just like the father of all living beings never mind what it is. The father is sometimes seemingly cruel to the son but that does not mean that the father has lost the qualification of becoming the father. A father is always a father because he has always the good of the sons at heart. The father wants that everyone of his sons may become a better man than himself. Therefore, a King like a Maharaj Yudhisthir who is personality of goodness wanted that everyone of the living being under his administration specially the human beings who have better and developed consciousness must become a devotee of Lord Krishna so that everyone of them may become free from the trifles of material existence. His motto of administration was all good for the citizens but as personified goodness, he knew perfectly well what is actually good for them. He conducted the administration on that principle and not on the Rakshasi or demoniac principle of sense gratification. As ideal King he had no personal ambition and there was no place for sense gratification because his every sense at all times was engaged in the loving service of the Supreme Lord which includes the partial service to the living beings who form the parts and parcels of the complete whole. Those who are busy to render service to the parts and parcels, leaving aside the whole, they can serve only by spoiling of time and energy as one does it in the matter of watering the leaves of the tree without any care for the root. If water is poured on the root the leaves are enlivened perfectly and automatically; but if water is poured on the leaves only the whole energy is spoiled. Maharaj Yudhisthir, therefore, was constantly engaged in the service of the Lord and thus the parts and parcels of the Lord the living beings under his careful administration, were perfectly ministered with all comforts of this life and all progress for the next. That is the way of perfect management of state administration.
(More...) Imported quote 16061 To prepare oneself for the better next life, one must get out of one's so-called home. The system of varnasrama-dharma or sanatana-dharma prescribes retirement from family encumbrances as early as possible after one has passed fifty years of age. Modern civilization is based on family comforts, the highest standard of amenities, and therefore, everyone expects to live a very comfortable life after retirement in a well furnished home decorated with fine ladies and children, without any desire to get out of such a comfortable home. High government officers and ministers stick to their prize posts until death, and they neither dream nor desire to get out of homely comforts. Bound by such hallucinations, materialistic men prepare various plans for a still more comfortable life, but suddenly cruel death comes without mercy and takes away the great planmaker against his desire, forcing him to give up the present body for another body. Such a planmaker is thus forced to accept another body in one of the 8,400,000 species of life according to the fruits of the work which he might have performed. In the next life, generally, persons who are too much attached to family comforts are awarded lower species of life on account of sinful acts performed during a long duration of sinful life, and thus all the energy of the human life is spoiled. In order to be saved from the danger of spoiling the human form of life and being attached to unreal things, one must take warning of death at the age of fifty, if not earlier. The principle is that one should take it for granted that the death warning is already there, even prior to the attainment of fifty years of age, and thus at any stage of life one should prepare himself for a better next life. The system of the sanatana-dharma institution is so made that the follower is trained for the better next life without any chance of the human life being spoiled. The holy places all over the world are meant for the residential purposes of retired persons getting ready for the better next life. Intelligent persons must go there at the end of life, and for that matter, after fifty years of age, to live a life of spiritual regeneration for the sake of being freed from family attachment, which is considered to be the shackle of material life. One is recommended to quit home just to get rid of material attachment, because one who sticks to family life until death cannot get rid of material attachment, and as long as one is materially attached, one cannot understand spiritual freedom. One should not, however, become self-complacent simply by leaving home or by creating another home at the holy place either lawfully or unlawfully. Many persons leave home and go to such holy places, but due to bad association, again become family men by illicit connection with the opposite sex. The illusory energy of matter is so strong that one is apt to be under such illusion at every stage of life, even after quitting one's happy home. Therefore, it is essential that one should practice self-control by celibacy without the least desire for sex indulgence. Sex indulgence, for a man desiring to improve the condition of his existence, is considered to be suicidal, or even worse. Therefore, to live apart from family life means to become self-controlled from all sense desires, especially sex desires. The method is that one should have a sitting place duly sanctified, made of straw, skin of the deer and carpet, and thus sitting on it one should chant the holy name of the Lord without offense, as prescribed above. The whole process is to drag the mind from material engagements and fix it on the lotus feet of the Lord. This simple process alone will help one advance to the highest stage of spiritual success.
(More...) One must leave his family life and enter the forest after the age of fifty. This is an authoritative statement of the Vedas. Kardama Muni was to leave his family life to completely engage in the service of the Lord. But since he knew that the Lord Himself, as Kapila, had taken birth in his home as his own son, why was he preparing to leave home to search out self-realization or God realization? God Himself was present in his home-why should he leave home? Such a question may certainly arise. But here it is said that whatever is spoken in the Vedas and whatever is practiced in accordance with the injunctions of the Vedas is to be accepted as authoritative in society. Vedic authority says that a householder must leave home after his fiftieth year. Pancasordhvam vanam vrajet: one must leave his family life and enter the forest after the age of fifty. This is an authoritative statement of the Vedas, based on the division of social life into four departments of activity-brahmacarya, grhastha, vanaprastha and sannyasa.
(More...) To prepare oneself for the better next life, one must get out of one\'s so-called home. The system of varṇāśrama-dharma, or sanātana-dharma, prescribes retirement from family encumbrances as early as possible after one has passed fift One should leave home and practice self-control. In a sacred place he should bathe regularly and sit down in a lonely place duly sanctified.
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