As he thought of Subhadrā and her beauty, Arjuna became more and more captivated with the idea of marrying her, and with a plan in mind he dressed himself like a Vaiṣṇava sannyāsī, carrying a tridaṇḍa in his hand.
The Māyāvādī sannyāsīs take one daṇḍa, or one rod, whereas the Vaiṣṇava sannyāsīs take three daṇḍas, or three rods. The three rods, or tridaṇḍa, indicate that a Vaiṣṇava sannyāsī vows to render service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead with his body, mind and words. The system of tridaṇḍa-sannyāsa has been in existence for a long time, and the Vaiṣṇava sannyāsīs are called tridaṇḍīs, or sometimes tridaṇḍi-svāmīs or tridaṇḍi-gosvāmīs.