IMPORTANT QUESTION

[Guest guest]

> > After years of battling struggling and denying my

> > own nature and predicament I have realized that I was stagnating

> > (internally) in the sannyasa ashram therefore I have to take the cure

> > for those who could not learn by hearing.

>

> I have one question for HH Bhakti Vikasa Swami:

>

> How do we take these actions as brahmacaries? Are these actions by a

> sannyasi to get married as per guru, sadhu & sastra? Aren't they

> demoralizing for other renunciants in the movement? What lessons do we

> learn for this?

> Don't these set a very dangerous trend for the sannyas ashram in our

> Society?

>

> Nityodita Prabhu has justified his change of asrama from sannyas to

> grhasta by quotes from Prabhupada in the sixth canto and in 1977. Are you

> satisfied with that?

>

> If this trend continues we will very shortly have a flourishing

> fifth-ashram in our society comprising of grhasta-turned sannyasis.

>

> This has made it so easy to become a grhasta from a sannyasi that it

> requires some justification thro. email and that's all.

>

> I personally would prefer suicide in the ganga at Mayapur than this fifth

> ashram business.

>

> Vaisnava dasabhas

> Nayana-ranjana das br.

 

I'm not Bhakti Vikas Swami... and honestly, I'm not a brahmachari... :-)

 

But... I'm a member of the conference... (in fact some of the temple

brahmacharies were reading the texts here)... and with the permission of the

members (taken for granted here... :-) ), I'd just like to comment that

Srila Prabhupada's purport, which Nityodita quoted in his "change" letter,

was very clear that indeed a sannyasi who could not resist the desire for

sense gratification should become a grihasta, but remain within the KC

movement. Those are indeed Srila Prabhupada's written words, not mine in SB

8.2.31...

 

In this regard maybe it would be enlightening to read one of the

conversations between Srila Prabhupada, Hari Sauri Prabhu and others back in

July '76 that I just read in one of Hari Sauri Prabhu's "Transcendental

Dairy" books (they are super-excellent records of Srila Prabhupada, IMMHO):

"this movement is meant for the 10th class men... not even the 3rd or the

4th class, but the 10th class." Then SP quoted "patita pavana hetu, tava

avatar" from the poem. And SP goes on to say how his program was kirtan &

prasad distribution, etc...

 

The point is that we mleccha & yavana westerners cannot always live up the

highest standards of vedic culture. Desite that (a sannyasi falling down),

SP encouraged "us" such fallen disciples to continue/remain within the KC

movement.

 

So... IMHO we should always keep our, the highest ideals, in mind... but at

the same time we should also be merciful to those who, being from the lowest

classes, are stuggling to remain devotees/remain in the association of

devotees, despite their weaknesses. In fact Nityodita's case was "out of

the ordinary", (this becomes clear by readin his letter carefully.) It was

by force that he took sannyas and he was not mentally prepared for it. Of

course he was a brahmachari for many years & at the time was NOT

contemplating grihasta life.

 

Still, the fact is that he had not prepared himself sufficiently for

lifelong continence. This is important for those who DO wish to remain

lifelong brahmacharis. And it is a lesson to be learned that for those who

are "dridha vrata" in the "brihad vrata", that they should be sufficiently

mentally prepared to withstand the constant onslaught of maya throughout

their lives, in order to successfully execute the vow of renunciation of

sense gratification.

 

All glories to those who can indeed remain faithful to those vows! In the

Mahabharata, the story of Bhishma Pitaamaha (Bhishmadev) climaxes in his

adopting this vow and the in the ensuing reaction from the deva was named

"Bhishma", because this vow is "terrible" in that it is indeed a very

difficult task to undertake!