Sannyasa (other books)

Expressions researched:
"sannyasa" |"sannyasas" |"sannyasi" |"sannyasi's" |"sannyasis"

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter Preface:

Before accepting sannyāsa (the renounced order), Lord Caitanya was known as Viśvambhara. The word viśvambhara refers to one who maintains the entire universe and who leads all living entities. This maintainer and leader appeared as Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya to give humanity these sublime teachings. Lord Caitanya is the ideal teacher of life's prime necessities. He is the most munificent bestower of love of Kṛṣṇa. He is the complete reservoir of all mercies and good fortune.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter Prologue:

Now, after the tenth year of his age, Caitanya became a passable scholar in grammar, rhetoric, the smṛti and the nyāya. It was after this that his elder brother Viśvarūpa left his house and accepted the āśrama (status) of a sannyāsī (ascetic). Caitanya, though a very young boy, consoled his parents, saying that he would serve them with a view to please God. Just after that, his father left this world. His mother was exceedingly sorry, and Mahāprabhu, with his usual contented appearance, consoled his widowed mother.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter Prologue:

It was at the age of 16 or 17 that he traveled to Gayā with a host of his students and there took his spiritual initiation from Īśvara Purī, a Vaiṣṇava sannyāsī and a disciple of the renowned Madhavendra Purī. Upon his return to Nadia, Nimāi Paṇḍita turned religious preacher, and his religious nature became so strongly represented that Advaita Prabhu, Śrīvāsa and others who had before the birth of Caitanya already accepted the Vaiṣṇava faith were astonished at the change of the young man.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter Prologue:

He then resolved to be a citizen of the world by cutting his connection with his particular family, caste and creed, and with this resolution he embraced the position of a sannyāsī at Katwa, under the guidance of Keśava Bhāratī of that town, on the 24th year of his age. His mother and wife wept bitterly for his separation, but our hero, though soft in heart, was a strong person in principle. He left his little world in his house for the unlimited spiritual world of Kṛṣṇa with man in general.

After his sannyāsa, he was induced to visit the house of Advaita Prabhu in Śāntipura. Advaita managed to invite all his friends and admirers from Nadia and brought Śacīdevī to see her son. Both pleasure and pain invaded her heart when she saw her son in the attire of a sannyāsī. As a sannyāsī, Kṛṣṇa Caitanya put on nothing but a kaupīna and a bahirvāsa (outer covering). His head was without hair, and his hands bore a daṇḍa (stick) and a kamaṇḍalu (hermit's water pot). The holy son fell at the feet of his beloved mother and said, "Mother! This body is yours, and I must obey your orders. Permit me to go to Vṛndāvana for my spiritual attainments." The mother, in consultation with Advaita and others, asked her son to reside in Purī (the town of Jagannātha) so that she might obtain his information now and then. Mahāprabhu agreed to that proposition and in a few days left Śāntipura for Orissa. His biographers have described the journey of Kṛṣṇa Caitanya (that was the name he got after his sannyāsa) from Śāntipura to Purī in great detail.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter Prologue:

He was born in Nadia (Vidyānagara) and taught innumerable pupils in the nyāya philosophy in his tola there. He had left for Purī some time before the birth of Nimāi Paṇḍita. His brother-in-law Gopīnātha Miśra introduced our new sannyāsī to Sārvabhauma, who was astonished at his personal beauty and feared that it would be difficult for the young man to maintain sannyāsa-dharma during the long run of his life. Gopīnātha, who had known Mahāprabhu from Nadia, had a great reverence for him and declared that the sannyāsī was not a common human being. On this point Gopīnātha and Sārvabhauma had a hot discussion. Sārvabhauma then requested Mahāprabhu to hear his recitation of the Vedānta-sūtras, and the latter tacitly submitted. Caitanya heard with silence what the great Sārvabhauma uttered with gravity for seven days, at the end of which the latter said, "Kṛṣṇa Caitanya! I think you do not understand the Vedānta, for you do not say anything after hearing my recitation and explanations." The reply of Caitanya was that he understood the sūtras very well, but he could not make out what Śaṅkarācārya meant by his commentaries.