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| − | {{ToBeEdited}}It is said that, when one becomes a Sannyasin, he renounces all possessions. He lives alone on alms and spends his time in meditation. When he attains the sublime state of deep meditation he rejoices in the Self. He is quite indifferent to sensual pleasures. He is free from likes and dislikes, desires, egoism, lust, anger, greed and pride. He has equal vision and balanced mind. He disseminates Brahma Jnana or Knowledge of the Self. And is the same in honour and dishonour, praise and censure, success and failure. At this stage he becomes Ativarnashrami, i.e., above Varna and Ashrama. He is quite a free man, not bound by any social customs and conventions. Such a Sannyasin is referred to as an ideal.<ref>Swami Sivananda (1999), [http://www.dlshq.org/download/hinduismbk.pdf All About Hinduism], Uttar Pradesh: The Divine Life Society.</ref>
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| | + | It is said that, when one becomes a Sannyasin, he renounces all possessions. He lives alone on alms and spends his time in meditation. When he attains the sublime state of deep meditation he rejoices in the Self. He is quite indifferent to sensual pleasures. He is free from likes and dislikes, desires, egoism, lust, anger, greed and pride. He has equal vision and balanced mind. He disseminates Brahma Jnana or Knowledge of the Self. And is the same in honour and dishonour, praise and censure, success and failure. At this stage he becomes Ativarnashrami, i.e., above Varna and Ashrama. He is quite a free man, not bound by any social customs and conventions. Such a Sannyasin is referred to as an ideal.<ref>Swami Sivananda (1999), [http://www.dlshq.org/download/hinduismbk.pdf All About Hinduism], Uttar Pradesh: The Divine Life Society.</ref> |
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| | The Bhagavata Purana describes the ideal nature of a Sannyasi as follows:<blockquote>सुशीलो मितभुग्दक्षः श्रद्दधानो जितेन्द्रियः । यावदर्थं व्यवहरेत्स्त्रीषु स्त्रीनिर्जितेषु च ॥ ६॥<ref name=":4">Bhagavata Purana, Skandha 7, [https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%B6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%80%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AD%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%97%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%AA%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A3%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%8D/%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A7%E0%A4%83_%E0%A5%AD/%E0%A4%85%E0%A4%A7%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%83_%E0%A5%A7%E0%A5%A8 Adhyaya 12].</ref> | | The Bhagavata Purana describes the ideal nature of a Sannyasi as follows:<blockquote>सुशीलो मितभुग्दक्षः श्रद्दधानो जितेन्द्रियः । यावदर्थं व्यवहरेत्स्त्रीषु स्त्रीनिर्जितेषु च ॥ ६॥<ref name=":4">Bhagavata Purana, Skandha 7, [https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%B6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%80%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AD%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%97%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%AA%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A3%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%8D/%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A7%E0%A4%83_%E0%A5%AD/%E0%A4%85%E0%A4%A7%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%83_%E0%A5%A7%E0%A5%A8 Adhyaya 12].</ref> |
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| | ''suśīlo mitabhugdakṣaḥ śraddadhāno jitendriyaḥ । yāvadarthaṁ vyavaharetstrīṣu strīnirjiteṣu ca ॥ 6॥''</blockquote>Meaning: He should be of a good character, moderate in eating, alert and prompt (in work), of reverential faith in shastras and self-controlled. It is only when absolutely necessary and to that much extent only that he should deal with women (eg. for getting alms) or with those who are influenced by women.<ref name=":3">Ganesh Vasudeo Tagare, The Bhagavata Purana (Part III), Ancient Indian Tradition & Mythology (Volume 9), Edited by J.L.Shastri, New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.150116/page/n99 P.no.968-969].</ref> | | ''suśīlo mitabhugdakṣaḥ śraddadhāno jitendriyaḥ । yāvadarthaṁ vyavaharetstrīṣu strīnirjiteṣu ca ॥ 6॥''</blockquote>Meaning: He should be of a good character, moderate in eating, alert and prompt (in work), of reverential faith in shastras and self-controlled. It is only when absolutely necessary and to that much extent only that he should deal with women (eg. for getting alms) or with those who are influenced by women.<ref name=":3">Ganesh Vasudeo Tagare, The Bhagavata Purana (Part III), Ancient Indian Tradition & Mythology (Volume 9), Edited by J.L.Shastri, New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.150116/page/n99 P.no.968-969].</ref> |
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| | + | == परिभाषा ॥ Meaning == |
| | + | Sannyasa in itself is many-a-times thought of as negative since it means a curtailment, if not a total abandonment, of social activities. But there are Upanishads that enjoin the continuance of these activities throughout life. For example, in its first verse, Isha Upanishad inculcates complete renunciation but qualifies it in the very next one by adding that incessant activity is also necessary.<ref name=":9">T.M.P.Mahadevan, [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.264370/mode/2up?view=theater The Upanishads], Madras: G.A.Natesan & Co.</ref><blockquote>ईशा वास्यमिदँ सर्वं यत्किञ्च जगत्यां जगत् । तेन त्यक्तेन भुञ्जीथा मा गृधः कस्यस्विद्धनम् ॥ १ ॥ |
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| | + | कुर्वन्नेवेह कर्माणि जिजीविषेच्छतँ समाः । एवं त्वयि नान्यथेतोऽस्ति न कर्म लिप्यते नरे ॥ २ ॥<ref>[https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%88%E0%A4%B6%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8D Isha Upanishad]</ref> |
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| | + | īśā vāsyamidam̐ sarvaṁ yatkiñca jagatyāṁ jagat । tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā mā gr̥dhaḥ kasyasviddhanam ॥ 1 ॥ |
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| | + | kurvanneveha karmāṇi jijīviṣecchatam̐ samāḥ । evaṁ tvayi nānyatheto'sti na karma lipyate nare ॥ 2 ॥</blockquote>The natural inference to be drawn from it is that one should live amidst others all his life, discharging one's duties towards them but should never think of reaping any personal benefit by doing so. Another important aspect of sannyasa is devotion to the service of others. |
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| | + | Thus, Sannyasa signifies self-renunciation and not world-renunciation. And it is this teaching of Nishkama karma that was emphasized in the Bhagavad Gita thereby shifting the emphasis from the form of sannyasa to its spirit.<ref name=":9" /> |
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| | == Sannyasin == | | == Sannyasin == |
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| | A wandering ascetic should wander forth according to the rule, abandoning his relative and free of possessions. Going into the wilderness, he has his head shaven except for the topknot, wears a loin cloth resides in one place during the rainy season and wears ochre clothes. He should go out to beg when the pestle has been set aside, the coals have gone cold, and the plates have been put away (He therefore does not become a burden to the householders and eats their leftovers) without hostility to any creature by violent words, thought or deed carrying a cloth to strain water for use in purification and using water that has been drawn out and properly strained for ablutions and claiming "Rejecting Vedic rites and cutting ourselves off from both sides, we embrace the middle course."<ref name=":62" /> | | A wandering ascetic should wander forth according to the rule, abandoning his relative and free of possessions. Going into the wilderness, he has his head shaven except for the topknot, wears a loin cloth resides in one place during the rainy season and wears ochre clothes. He should go out to beg when the pestle has been set aside, the coals have gone cold, and the plates have been put away (He therefore does not become a burden to the householders and eats their leftovers) without hostility to any creature by violent words, thought or deed carrying a cloth to strain water for use in purification and using water that has been drawn out and properly strained for ablutions and claiming "Rejecting Vedic rites and cutting ourselves off from both sides, we embrace the middle course."<ref name=":62" /> |
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| | + | '''Arthashastra''' |
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| | + | The duties of a Parivrajaka (a wandering ascetic) are: complete control over his senses (ie. renouncing the temptation of all sensual pleasures); refraining from all active life; renouncing all possessions; giving up all attachment to worldly ties; living on the charity of the many, never staying in one place for long; living in forests; maintaining inner and outward purity (1.3.12).<ref name=":62" /> |
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| | ==स्त्रीषु व्यवहारः ॥ Behaviour with women== | | ==स्त्रीषु व्यवहारः ॥ Behaviour with women== |