Brahmacaris can preach but grhasthas are tied up

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A prominent disciple at the time was Paramananda Vidyaratna Prabhu, who was

brought by his father to the Math in Puri as a pilgrim, while still a child

of around twelve. Unfortunately, his father died at Saksi-Gopal (a village

just outside Puri, where the famous Saksi-Gopal temple is) and no one knew

of the young boy's family or of anyone else to care for him, so Sarasvati

Thakura had him brought up in the Math and gave special attention to him. He

became very dear to Sarasvati Thakura, but after many years in the Math,

aged just over thirty, he wanted to marry. This came as a surprise to

Sarasvati Thakura who said, "I have brought you up just as a hen brings up

its chicken. So many years you have been with us and now you want to marry.

This is very bad. I brought you up to become a preacher, but now you are

spoiling your life by getting married." He was very distressed by all this

and wrote him a letter saying, "I had hoped you were going to be a good man

but now you're getting married. I brought you up for preaching."

 

Sarasvati Thakura liked brahmacaris and said preaching was essential.

"Brahmacaris can preach but grhasthas are tied up," he would say.

 

>From Bhakti Vikasa Swami's notes on SBSST