Q: Place of marriage in the life of Vaishnava Acharyaas

[Guest guest]

Hari OM-

I've been keenly following the scholarly postings of Dr. Sadagopan, Mr.

Dileepan, Rengarajan, Mani and am thankful to them for stooping to my

level in the process. I thank them profusely and request them to keep

these coming.

 

My question is on the role of marriage in a monk's life. Monks like

Shankaracharya never married. From the various postings here, I gather

that most Vaishnava Acharyaas were married before they became monks. Does

this have any connection with the School they followed (Advaita, Dwaita

etc.). Can one reasonably draw a parallel with the different sects. in

Christianity (For ex: Catholic priests should never be married).

 

Om Namo Narayana.

 

-Srivilliputhur Gopalan Srinivasan

[Guest guest]

> My question is on the role of marriage in a monk's life. Monks like

> Shankaracharya never married. From the various postings here, I gather

> that most Vaishnava Acharyaas were married before they became monks. Does

> this have any connection with the School they followed (Advaita, Dwaita

> etc.). Can one reasonably draw a parallel with the different sects. in

> Christianity (For ex: Catholic priests should never be married).

 

There are no specific Sastraic commands one way or the other about whether

a sannyasi should have been married or not. For a long time in history, I

guess the orthodox preference was for going through all four Asramas i.e.

brahmacarya, grhastha, vanasprastha and then sannyasa. But there is also an

allowance for taking sannyasa from any one of the preceding Asramas, vide

the Jabala upanishad.

 

In general, mathadhipatis in the advaita tradition, especially in the south

have been sannyasis who were never married. But there are other sannyasis in

the advaita tradition who have been married earlier in their lives. Some of

these sannyasis have also become mathadhipatis at one of the numerous minor

mathams in the south. In the north, the situation is more fluid, and in the

line of the Puri Govardhan math, one of the four originally established by

Adi Sankara, there have been instances of mathadhipatis who were once upon

a time householders. Even in the south, it is more due to force of custom

that brahmacaris are ordained as sannyasis, especially when it comes to

mathadhipati-ship of one of the major mathams. Adi Sankara never married, but

his premier and most celebrated disciple, Sureswara was married before he

became a sannyasi. Both are known as paramahamsa sannyasis. In the dvaita

mathams also it has become tradition to have brahmacaris becoming sannyasis.

 

I think this can be partially attributed to historical factors and partially

to philosophical reasons. In advaita, sannyasa is given a lot of importance

and so also for sannyasis. For the other two vedanta schools, the difference in

the visishtadvaita and dvaita customs are probably due to historical reasons.

Madhva was already a sannyasi in the advaita tradition, before he openly

disagreed with its philosophy and wrote his own bhashyas. Madhva's guru in the

advaita tradition was also a sannyasi and head of a minor matham in Udipi.

On the other hand, there is no evidence to show that Yadava Prakasa, teacher

of Ramanuja was a sannyasi. Ramanuja took sannyasa after he was married.

These traditions seem to have continued by their respective followers.

 

There is a significant contrast between the Hindu tradition and the Catholic

tradition's attitudes about this. A Catholic priest should never have married.

In the Hindu case, whether a man was once married or not does not make a

difference really. Of course, it is more difficult for a married man to become

a monk, and therefore gurus don't grant sannyasa very easily to disciples,

unless they are convinced about it in all possible respects. Thus, for example,

a married man with children will find it very difficult to become a sannyasi

in the advaita tradition. On the other hand, a married man who is old and has

no further responsibilities to his children may find it easier to do so. But

there are no status differences among sannyasis based on whether they were

married or not. Sannyasa is seen to have cut away all previous ties, so

that the purva Asrama of the man does not matter.

 

S. Vidyasankar