Reporter: I should just like to know how old you are.
Prabhupāda: I am? I am seventy-four years old. I was born in 1896.
Reporter: Whereabouts?
Prabhupāda: In India, Calcutta.
Reporter: Are you married, sir?
Prabhupāda: Yes. I have got my sons, grandsons, my wife, all living, but I have no connection with them. I am a sannyāsī, renounced order. I have got elderly sons.
Reporter: You say you have no connection with your family?
Prabhupāda: No.
Reporter: Why?
Prabhupāda: Because I have taken sannyāsa. I have dedicated my life for Kṛṣṇa. That is the Vedic system, that certain portion of your life should simply dedicate for God. That is called sannyāsa.
Reporter: To do this, did you have to divorce?
Prabhupāda: No. There is no question of. We do not know what is divorce. In our country there is no divorce, at least in Hindu law. Yes. Wife and husband, once combined, that is for life. There is no question of separation, in all circumstances. Either in distress or in happiness, there is no question of separation. Now our modern politicians, they have introduced this divorce law. Otherwise, according to Hindu, Manu-saṁhitā, there is no divorce law.
Reporter: When did you renounce your family?
Prabhupāda: In 1959.
Reporter: How are they managing without you?
Prabhupāda: They are managing. My sons are grown up; they are earning. My wife is also rich man's daughter. She has got some property. So they have no problem.
Reporter: Do you ever see them at all?
Prabhupāda: No. I cannot see. I cannot see at least my wife. But if my sons and daughters come to see me, they can see. But my wife cannot see me. That is stopped. That is the system of sannyāsa. A sannyāsī cannot meet his wife again. That is renouncement. Renouncement means renouncing connection with woman, or renouncing sex life. That is renouncement.
Reporter: Coming this way, sir?
Prabhupāda: Yes. (cameras clicking)
Reporters: Thank you very much.
Prabhupāda: Thank you.
Devotees: All glories to Śrī Śrī Guru and Gaurāṅga! Haribol!