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Mendicant

Srimad-Bhagavatam

SB Canto 1

SB 1.6.13, Purport:

It is the duty of a mendicant (parivrājakācārya) to experience all varieties of God's creation by traveling alone through all forests, hills, towns, villages, etc., to gain faith in God and strength of mind as well as to enlighten the inhabitants with the message of God. A sannyāsī is duty-bound to take all these risks without fear, and the most typical sannyāsī of the present age is Lord Caitanya, who traveled in the same manner through the central Indian jungles, enlightening even the tigers, bears, snakes, deer, elephants and many other jungle animals. In this age of Kali, sannyāsa is forbidden for ordinary men. One who changes his dress to make propaganda is a different man from the original ideal sannyāsī.

SB 1.6.14, Purport:

A traveling mendicant can meet the needs of body, namely thirst and hunger, by the gifts of nature without being a beggar at the doors of the householders. The mendicant therefore does not go to the house of a householder to beg but to enlighten him spiritually.

SB 1.7.2, Purport:

An āśrama is a place where spiritual culture is always foremost. It does not matter whether the place belongs to a householder or a mendicant. The whole varṇāśrama system is so designed that each and every status of life is called an āśrama. This means that spiritual culture is the common factor for all. The brahmacārīs, the gṛhasthas, the vānaprasthas and the sannyāsīs all belong to the same mission of life, namely, realization of the Supreme. Therefore none of them are less important as far as spiritual culture is concerned. The difference is a matter of formality on the strength of renunciation.

SB 1.7.10, Purport:

The word munayaḥ refers to (1) those who are thoughtful, (2) those who are grave and silent, (3) ascetics, (4) the persistent, (5) mendicants, (6) sages and (7) saints.

SB 1.8.41, Purport:

A pure devotee cuts off the limited ties of affection for his family and widens his activities of devotional service for all forgotten souls. The typical example is the band of six Gosvāmīs, who followed the path of Lord Caitanya. All of them belonged to the most enlightened and cultured rich families of the higher castes, but for the benefit of the mass of population they left their comfortable homes and became mendicants. To cut off all family affection means to broaden the field of activities. Without doing this, no one can be qualified as a brāhmaṇa, a king, a public leader or a devotee of the Lord.

SB 1.9.5, Purport:

The ṛṣis are those who have attained perfection by spiritual achievements. Such spiritual achievements can be earned by all, whether one is a king or a mendicant. Bhīṣmadeva himself was also one of the brahmarṣis and the chief of the descendants of King Bharata. All ṛṣis are situated in the quality of goodness. All of them assembled there on hearing the news of the great warrior's impending death.

SB 1.11.38, Purport:

The great six Gosvāmīs of Vṛndāvana all came from greatly rich and aristocratic families, but when they adopted the life of mendicants at Vṛndāvana, superficially they appeared to be in wretched conditions of life, but factually they were the richest of all in spiritual values. Such mahā-bhāgavatas, or first-grade devotees, although moving amongst men, are not contaminated by honor or insult, hunger or satisfaction, sleep or wakefulness, which are all resultant actions of the three modes of material nature.

SB 1.18.18, Purport:

Sūta Gosvāmī did not take his birth in a brāhmaṇa family. He was born in a family of mixed caste, or an uncultured low family. But because of higher association, like Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī and the great ṛṣis of Naimiṣāraṇya, certainly the disqualification of inferior birth was washed off. Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu followed this principle in pursuance of the Vedic usages, and by His transcendental association He elevated many lowborn, or those disqualified by birth or action, to the status of devotional service and established them in the position of ācāryas, or authorities. He clearly stated that any man, whatever he may be, whether a brāhmaṇa or śūdra by birth, or a householder or mendicant in the order of society, if he is conversant with the science of Kṛṣṇa, he can be accepted as an ācārya or guru, a spiritual master.

SB 1.19.39, Purport:

A pound of milk fresh from the milk bag of a cow is sufficient to feed an adult with all vitamin values, and therefore saints and sages live only on milk. Even the poorest of the householders keep at least ten cows, each delivering twelve to twenty quarts of milk, and therefore no one hesitates to spare a few pounds of milk for the mendicants. It is the duty of householders to maintain the saints and sages, like the children.

SB Canto 2

SB 2.2.5, Purport:

In the sanātana-dharma institution, alms-giving to the mendicant is part of a householder's duty, and it is advised in the scriptures that the householders should treat the mendicants as their family children and should provide them with food, clothing, etc., without being asked. Pseudomendicants, therefore, should not take advantage of the charitable disposition of the faithful householders.

SB 2.2.5, Purport:

Similarly, all the ācāryas who voluntarily accepted the renounced order of life aimed at benefiting human society and not at living a comfortable or irresponsible life at the cost of others. However, those who cannot give any contribution should not go to the householders for food, for such mendicants asking bread from the householders are an insult to the highest order. Śukadeva Gosvāmī gave this warning especially for those mendicants who adopt this line of profession to solve their economic problems. Such mendicants are in abundance in the age of Kali.

SB 2.2.5, Purport:

When a man becomes a mendicant willfully or by circumstances, he must be of firm faith and conviction that the Supreme Lord is the maintainer of all living beings everywhere in the universe. Why, then, would He neglect the maintenance of a surrendered soul who is cent percent engaged in the service of the Lord? A common master looks to the necessities of his servant, so how much more would the all-powerful, all-opulent Supreme Lord look after the necessities of life for a fully surrendered soul.

SB 2.2.5, Purport:

The general rule is that a mendicant devotee will accept a simple small loincloth without asking anyone to give it in charity. He simply salvages it from the rejected torn cloth thrown in the street. When he is hungry he may go to a magnanimous tree which drops fruits, and when he is thirsty he may drink water from the flowing river. He does not require to live in a comfortable house, but should find a cave in the hills and not be afraid of jungle animals, keeping faith in God, who lives in everyone's heart. The Lord may dictate to tigers and other jungle animals not to disturb His devotee.

SB Canto 3

SB 3.1.19, Translation:

While so traversing the earth, he simply performed duties to please the Supreme Lord Hari. His occupation was pure and independent. He was constantly sanctified by taking his bath in holy places, although he was in the dress of a mendicant and had no hair dressing nor a bed on which to lie. Thus he was always unseen by his various relatives.

SB 3.15.31, Purport:

According to the Vedic system, a sannyāsī, a person in the renounced order of life, is dressed in saffron-colored garments. This saffron dress is practically a passport for the mendicant and sannyāsī to go anywhere. The sannyāsī's duty is to enlighten people in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Those in the renounced order of life have no other business but preaching the glories and supremacy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

SB 3.15.31, Purport:

These four mendicant brothers, the Kumāras, were considered liberated persons, but still they were angry because they were restricted in their service to the Lord. The difference between the anger of an ordinary person and that of a liberated person is that an ordinary person becomes angry because his sense desires are not being fulfilled, whereas a liberated person like the Kumāras becomes angry when restricted in the discharge of duties for serving the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

SB 3.24.34, Translation:

Today I have something to ask from You, who are the Lord of all living entities. Since I have now been liberated by You from my debts to my father, and since all my desires are fulfilled, I wish to accept the order of an itinerant mendicant. Renouncing this family life, I wish to wander about, free from lamentation, thinking always of You in my heart.

SB 3.24.34, Purport:

One is called goṣṭhy-ānandī, which means those who are preachers and have many followers for preaching the glories of the Lord and who live among those many, many followers just to organize missionary activities. Other devotees are ātmānandī, or self-satisfied, and do not take the risk of preaching work. They remain, therefore, alone with God. In this classification was Kardama Muni. He wanted to be free from all anxieties and remain alone within his heart with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Parivrāja means "an itinerant mendicant."

SB 3.24.34, Purport:

A mendicant sannyāsī should not live anywhere for more than three days. He must be always moving because his duty is to move from door to door and enlighten people about Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

SB 3.24.35, Purport:

Kardama Muni's example is very instructive, for in spite of having the Supreme Personality of Godhead as his son, he left home just to obey the authority of the Vedic injunction. Kardama Muni states here the main purpose of his leaving home: while traveling all over the world as a mendicant, he would always remember the Supreme Personality of Godhead within his heart and thereby be freed from all the anxieties of material existence.

SB 3.32.1, Purport:

A gṛhastha is a person who lives with family, wife, children and relatives but has no attachment for them. He prefers to live in family life rather than as a mendicant or sannyāsī, but his chief aim is to achieve self-realization, or to come to the standard of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

SB Canto 4

SB 4.19.23, Translation:

Whatever different forms Indra assumed as a mendicant because of his desire to seize the horse were symbols of atheistic philosophy.

SB 4.19.23, Purport:

According to Vedic civilization, sannyāsa is one of the essential items in the program of the varṇa-āśrama institution. One should accept sannyāsa according to the paramparā system of the ācāryas. At the present moment, however, many so-called sannyāsīs or mendicants have no understanding of God consciousness.

SB 4.26.18, Translation:

The great sage Nārada continued: My dear King Prācīnabarhi, as soon as King Purañjana saw his Queen lying on the ground, appearing like a mendicant, he immediately became bewildered.

SB 4.26.18, Purport:

In this verse the word avadhutām is especially significant, for it refers to a mendicant who does not take care of his body.

SB Canto 5

SB 5.1.26, Purport:

Because of their compassion for the poor fallen souls. the six Gosvāmīs gave up their exalted positions as ministers and took vows as mendicants. Thus minimizing their bodily wants as far as possible, they each accepted only a loincloth and a begging bowl. Thus they remained in Vṛndāvana to execute the orders of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu by compiling and publishing various Vaiṣṇava literatures.

SB 5.4 Summary:

Since the reign of Mahārāja Bharata, this planet has been called Bhārata-varṣa. Ṛṣabhadeva's other sons were headed by Kuśāvarta, Ilāvarta, Brahmāvarta, Malaya, Ketu, Bhadrasena, Indraspṛk, Vidarbha and Kīkaṭa. There were also other sons named Kavi, Havi, Antarikṣa, Prabuddha, Pippalāyana, Avirhotra, Drumila, Camasa and Karabhājana. Instead of ruling the kingdom, these nine became mendicant preachers of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, following the religious precepts of the Bhāgavatam.

SB Canto 6

SB 6.5 Summary:

Prajāpati Dakṣa, who was very sad at the loss of his sons, begot one thousand more sons in the womb of his wife, Pāñcajanī, and ordered them to increase progeny. These sons, who were named the Savalāśvas, also engaged in worshiping Lord Viṣṇu to beget children, but Nārada Muni convinced them to become mendicants and not beget children. Foiled twice in his attempts to increase population, Prajāpati Dakṣa became most angry at Nārada Muni and cursed him, saying that in the future he would not be able to stay anywhere. Since Nārada Muni, being fully qualified, was fixed in tolerance, he accepted Dakṣa's curse.

SB 6.5.36, Purport:

People addicted to householder life wonder how one can give up the enjoyment of gṛhastha life, which is a concession for sex enjoyment, simply to become a mendicant in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. They do not know that the householder's concession for sex life cannot be regulated unless one accepts the life of a mendicant. The Vedic civilization therefore enjoins that at the end of one's fiftieth year one must give up household life. This is compulsory.

SB 6.10.8, Purport:

These Gosvāmīs left their very comfortable lives as ministers. Zamindars and learned scholars and joined Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's movement, just to show mercy to the fallen souls of the world (dīna-gaṇeśakau karuṇayā). Accepting very humble lives as mendicants, wearing no more than loincloths and torn quilts (kaupīna-kantha). they lived in Vṛndāvana and followed Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's order to excavate Vṛndāvana's lost glories.

SB Canto 9

SB 9.19 Summary:

Without great endeavor, those with a poor fund of knowledge cannot give up sense enjoyment, especially in relation to sex, because a beautiful woman bewilders even the most learned man. King Yayāti, however, renounced worldly life and divided his property among his sons. He personally adopted the life of a mendicant, or sannyāsī, giving up all attraction to material enjoyment, and engaged himself fully in devotional service to the Lord. Thus he attained perfection. Later, when his beloved wife, Devayānī, was freed from her mistaken way of life, she also engaged herself in the devotional service of the Lord.

SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)

SB 11.8.12, Translation:

A saintly mendicant should not even collect foodstuffs to eat later in the same day or the next day. If he disregards this injunction and like the honeybee collects more and more delicious foodstuffs, that which he has collected will indeed ruin him.

SB 11.8.16, Translation:

Just as a hunter takes away the honey laboriously produced by the honeybees, similarly, saintly mendicants such as brahmacārīs and sannyāsīs are entitled to enjoy the property painstakingly accumulated by householders dedicated to family enjoyment.

SB 11.23.31, Translation:

Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa continued: His mind thus determined, that most excellent Avantī brāhmaṇa was able to untie the knots of desire within his heart. He then assumed the role of a peaceful and silent sannyāsī mendicant.

SB 12.3.38, Translation:

Uncultured men will accept charity on behalf of the Lord and will earn their livelihood by making a show of austerity and wearing a mendicant's dress. Those who know nothing about religion will mount a high seat and presume to speak on religious principles.

SB 12.8.7-11, Translation:

After being purified by his father's performance of the prescribed rituals leading to Mārkaṇḍeya's brahminical initiation, Mārkaṇḍeya studied the Vedic hymns and strictly observed the regulative principles. He became advanced in austerity and Vedic knowledge and remained a lifelong celibate. Appearing most peaceful with his matted hair and his clothing made of bark, he furthered his spiritual progress by carrying the mendicant's waterpot, staff, sacred thread, brahmacārī belt, black deerskin, lotus-seed prayer beads and bundles of kuśa grass. At the sacred junctures of the day he regularly worshiped the Supreme Personality of Godhead in five forms—the sacrificial fire, the sun, his spiritual master, the brāhmaṇas and the Supersoul within his heart. Morning and evening he would go out begging, and upon returning he would present all the food he had collected to his spiritual master. Only when his spiritual master invited him would he silently take his one meal of the day; otherwise he would fast. Thus devoted to austerity and Vedic study, Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi worshiped the supreme master of the senses, the Personality of Godhead, for countless millions of years, and in this way he conquered unconquerable death.

SB 12.8.33-34, Translation:

One of Them was of a whitish complexion, the other blackish, and They both had four arms. Their eyes resembled the petals of blooming lotuses, and They wore garments of black deerskin and bark, along with the three-stranded sacred thread. In Their hands, which were most purifying, They carried the mendicant's waterpot, straight bamboo staff and lotus-seed prayer beads, as well as the all-purifying Vedas in the symbolic form of bundles of darbha grass. Their bearing was tall and Their yellow effulgence the color of radiant lightning. Appearing as austerity personified, They were being worshiped by the foremost demigods.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 2.17, Purport:

In this verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.6.47), vāta-vāsanāḥ refers to mendicants who do not care about anything material, including clothing, but who depend wholly on nature. Such sages do not cover their bodies even in severe winter or scorching sunshine. They take great pains not to avoid any kind of bodily suffering, and they live by begging from door to door. They never discharge their semen, either knowingly or unknowingly. By such celibacy they are able to raise the semen to the brain. Thus they become most intelligent and develop very sharp memories. Their minds are never disturbed or diverted from contemplation on the Absolute Truth, nor are they ever contaminated by desire for material enjoyment. By practicing austerities under strict discipline, such mendicants attain a neutral state transcendental to the modes of nature and merge into the impersonal Brahman.

CC Adi 6.48, Translation:

Śrī Nityānanda, the wandering mendicant, is the foremost of all the associates of Lord Caitanya. He became mad in the ecstasy of service to Lord Caitanya.

CC Adi 10.84, Purport:

Somehow or other Sanātana Gosvāmī reached Vārāṇasī and met Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu at the house of Candraśekhara. By the order of the Lord, Sanātana Gosvāmī was cleanly shaved and his dress changed to that of a mendicant, or bābājī. He put on old garments of Tapana Miśra's and took prasādam at the house of a Maharashtrian brāhmaṇa. Then, in discourses with Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the Lord Himself explained everything about devotional service to Sanātana Gosvāmī. He advised Sanātana Gosvāmī to write books on devotional service, including a book of directions for Vaiṣṇava activities, and to excavate the lost places of pilgrimage in Vṛndāvana. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu gave him His blessings to do all this work and also explained to Sanātana Gosvāmī the import of the ātmārāma verse from sixty-one different angles of vision.

CC Adi 17.101, Translation:

On another day a mendicant came to beg alms from the Lord's house, but when he saw the Lord dancing, he also began to dance.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 1.172, Translation:

Keśava Chatrī informed the Muslim King that Caitanya Mahāprabhu was a mendicant touring different places of pilgrimage and that, as such, only a few people came to see Him.

CC Madhya 3.7, Translation:

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu approved the purport of this verse on account of the determination of the mendicant devotee to engage in the service of Lord Mukunda. He gave His approval of this verse, indicating that it was very good.

CC Madhya 3.81, Translation:

Advaita Ācārya replied, "Sir, You are a mendicant traveling on pilgrimage. Sometimes You eat fruits and roots, and sometimes You simply go on fasting."

CC Madhya 4.123, Purport:

In the paramahaṁsa stage one conquers the desire for sleep, food and sense gratification. One remains a humble, meek mendicant engaged in the service of the Lord day and night.

CC Madhya 6.15, Translation:

There the devotees heard the people talking about a mendicant who had come to Jagannātha Purī and seen the Deity of Jagannātha.

CC Madhya 8.39, Purport:

A sannyāsī does not abandon his superior position and become a beggar just for the sake of begging. Similarly, a person in householder life may be very important, but he may also voluntarily take to the mendicant way of life.

CC Madhya 8.39, Purport:

Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī were ministers, but they voluntarily accepted the mendicant's life in order to humbly preach Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's message. It is said about them: tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīṁ sadā tuccha-vat bhūtvā dīna-gaṇeśakau karuṇayā kaupīna-kanthāśritau.

CC Madhya 8.39, Purport:

Although the Gosvāmīs were very aristocratic, on the order of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu they became mendicants just to deliver the fallen souls. One should also consider that those who engage in the missionary activities of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement are under the guidance of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

CC Madhya 9.272, Translation:

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu continued speaking to the Tattvavādī ācārya: "Seeing that I am a mendicant in the renounced order of life, you have been playing with Me in a duplicitous way. You have not actually described the process and ultimate objective."

CC Madhya 12.10, Translation:

"If Gaurahari, Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, will not show mercy to me, I shall give up my kingdom, become a mendicant and beg from door to door."

CC Madhya 12.19, Translation:

"We want to submit before You something that may or may not be befitting. The matter is this: unless he sees You, the King of Orissa will become a mendicant."

CC Madhya 12.20, Translation:

Nityānanda Prabhu continued, "The King has decided to become a mendicant and accept the sign of a mendicant by wearing an ivory earring. He does not want to enjoy his kingdom without seeing the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu."

CC Madhya 12.20, Purport:

In India there is still a class of professional mendicants who are very much like the gypsies of Western countries. They know some magical art and mystical processes, and their business is to beg from door to door, sometimes pleading and sometimes threatening. Such mendicants are sometimes called yogīs and sometimes kāṇaphāṭā yogīs.

CC Madhya 12.20, Purport:

The word kāṇaphāṭā refers to one who has put a hole in his ear to wear an earring made of ivory. Mahārāja Pratāparudra was so depressed by not getting to see Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu that he decided to become such a yogī. Ordinary men think that a yogī must have an ivory earring in his ear, but this is not the sign of a real yogī. Mahārāja Pratāparudra also thought that to become a mendicant yogī, one must wear such an earring.

CC Madhya 12.34, Purport:

Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu was thus very tactfully suggesting that Caitanya Mahāprabhu give a piece of His old clothing to the King. Even though the King was not to meet the Lord, the King would then be pacified by receiving such a cloth. The King was very anxious to see the Lord, yet it was not possible for the Lord to see him. Just to resolve the situation, Nityānanda Prabhu suggested that the Lord send an old piece of clothing. Thus the King would understand that the Lord was showing mercy to him. The King would then not do anything drastic like giving up his life or becoming a mendicant.

CC Madhya 12.48, Translation:

"If a mendicant meets a king, this world and the next world are both destroyed for the mendicant. Indeed, what is there to say of the next world? In this world, people will joke if a sannyāsī meets a king."

CC Madhya 12.189, Translation:

First Advaita Ācārya said, "I am sitting in line with an unknown mendicant, and because I am eating with Him, I do not know what kind of destination is awaiting Me."

CC Madhya 16.162-163, Translation:

The Muslim spy saw the wonderful characteristics of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and when he returned to the Muslim governor, he told him, "A mendicant has come from Jagannātha Purī with many liberated persons."

CC Madhya 18.210, Translation:

After bestowing His mercy upon them in this way, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu left. All those Pāṭhāna Muslims then became mendicants.

CC Madhya 20.13, Translation:

"There is no reason for you to be afraid, for I shall not remain in this country. I shall become a mendicant and go to the holy city of Mecca."

CC Madhya 20.49, Translation:

Candraśekhara replied, "There is a Muslim mendicant." Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu immediately said, "Please bring him here." Candraśekhara then spoke to Sanātana Gosvāmī, who was still sitting beside the door.

CC Madhya 20.50, Translation:

"O Muslim mendicant, please come in. The Lord is calling you." Sanātana Gosvāmī was very pleased to hear this order, and he entered Candraśekhara's house.

CC Madhya 20.63, Purport:

Kṛṣṇa enlightened Sanātana Gosvāmī in such a way that he was able to give up his exalted post as minister. Thinking his material position insignificant, Sanātana was prepared to become a mendicant. Appreciating the activities of Sanātana Gosvāmī, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu praised his action and thanked Kṛṣṇa for His mercy upon him.

CC Madhya 20.81, Purport:

The word mādhukarī comes from the word madhukara, which refers to bees collecting honey from flower to flower. A mādhukarī is a saintly person or a mendicant who does not accept a full meal at one house but begs from door to door, taking a little food from each householder's place. In this way he does not overeat or give householders unnecessary trouble. A person in the renounced order may beg but not cook. His begging should not be a burden for the householders.

CC Madhya 20.84, Translation:

Thinking in this way, Sanātana went to the bank of the Ganges to bathe. While there, he saw that a mendicant from Bengal had washed his quilt and spread it out to dry.

CC Madhya 20.85, Translation:

Sanātana Gosvāmī then told the Bengali mendicant, "My dear brother, please do me a favor. Trade me your quilt for this woolen blanket."

CC Madhya 20.86, Translation:

The mendicant replied, "Sir, you are a respectable gentleman. Why are you joking with me? Why would you trade your valuable blanket for my torn quilt?"

CC Madhya 24.348, Translation:

"Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī, the elder brother of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, was a most important minister in the government of Hussain Shah, the ruler of Bengal, and he was considered a most brilliant gem in that assembly. He possessed all the opulences of a royal position, but he gave up everything just to accept the youthful goddess of renunciation. Although he externally appeared to be a mendicant who had renounced everything, he was filled with the pleasure of devotional service within his heart. Thus he can be compared to a deep lake covered with moss. He was the object of pleasure for all the devotees who knew the science of devotional service."

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 3.104, Purport:

This is typical of atheistic men, but even among so-called religionists, sādhus, mendicants, sannyāsīs and brahmacārīs, there are many enemies of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement who always try to find faults in it, not considering that the movement is spreading automatically by the grace of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who wanted it spread all over the world, in every town and village. We are trying to fulfill the Lord's desire, and our attempt has become fairly successful, but the enemies of this movement unnecessarily try to find faults in it, exactly like the old rascal Rāmacandra Khān, who opposed Haridāsa Ṭhākura.

CC Antya 3.105, Translation:

Rāmacandra Khān said to the prostitutes, "There is a mendicant named Haridāsa Ṭhākura. All of you devise a way to deviate him from his vows of austerity."

CC Antya 3.105, Purport:

Renunciation means renunciation of sensual pleasure, especially the pleasure of sex. Therefore a brahmacārī, sannyāsī or vānaprastha is strictly prohibited from having relationships with women. Haridāsa Ṭhākura was strictly renounced, and thus Rāmacandra Khān called for prostitutes because prostitutes know how to break a man's vow of celibacy by their feminine influence and thus pollute a mendicant or a person engaged in devotional life. It was impossible for Rāmacandra Khān to induce any other women to break Haridāsa Ṭhākura's vow, and therefore he called for prostitutes.

CC Antya 8.3, Translation:

All glories to Nityānanda Prabhu, the greatest of mendicants, who bound the entire world with a knot of ecstatic love for God!

CC Antya 9.64, Translation:

"As a beggar sannyāsī, a mendicant, I wish to live alone in a solitary place, but these people come to tell Me about their unhappiness and disturb Me."

CC Antya 12.73, Translation:

"I am a mendicant and have no money. How can I clear My debt for the favor you have shown Me?"

CC Antya 14.51, Purport:

In this verse, the outward activities of the kāpālika mendicants have been described, but not their actual life. The kāpālika mendicants are tantric materialists who carry skulls in their hands. They are not Vaiṣṇavas and have nothing to do with spiritual life; therefore they are untouchable. Only an outward comparison has been made between the mind and their activities, but their behavior should never be imitated.

CC Antya 19.107, Purport:

"Topics about Kṛṣṇa are so powerful that they destroy the four religious principles—religion, economic development, sense gratification and liberation. Anyone who drinks even a small drop of kṛṣṇa-kathā through aural reception is freed from all material attachment and envy. Like a bird with no means of subsistence, such a person becomes a mendicant and lives by begging. Ordinary household affairs become miserable for him, and without attachment he suddenly gives up everything. Although such renunciation is quite suitable, because I am a woman I am unable to adopt it."

Other Books by Srila Prabhupada

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 2:

Although Caitanya Mahāprabhu was inside the house, He could understand that Sanātana had arrived at the door, and He asked Candraśekhara to call the man who was sitting there. "He is a Vaiṣṇava, a great devotee of the Lord," Caitanya Mahāprabhu said. Candraśekhara came out to see the man, but he saw no Vaiṣṇava at the door. He saw only a man who appeared to be a mendicant. The Lord then asked to see the mendicant, and when Sanātana entered the courtyard, Lord Caitanya hurriedly came to see and embrace him.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 2:

Lord Caitanya was very much pleased by this behavior of Sanātana, but He noticed the valuable blanket that was given to him by his brother-in-law while en route to Benares. Although Lord Caitanya was overlooking the blanket, Sanātana understood that He did not approve of such a valuable garment on his body, and therefore Sanātana decided to get rid of it. He immediately went to the bank of the Ganges, and there he saw a mendicant washing an old quilt. When Sanātana asked him to trade the old quilt for the valuable blanket, the poor mendicant thought that Sanātana was joking with him. "How is this?" the mendicant upbraided him. "You appear to be a very nice gentleman, but you are mocking me in this unmannerly way.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 2:

"I am not joking with you," Sanātana informed him. "I am very serious. Will you kindly exchange that torn quilt for this blanket?" Finally the mendicant exchanged his torn quilt for the blanket, and Sanātana returned to the Lord.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 2:

"Where is your valuable blanket?" the Lord immediately inquired. Sanātana informed Him about the exchange, and the Lord loved him for this and thanked him. "You are intelligent enough, and you have now exhausted all your attraction for material wealth." In other words, the Lord accepts a person for devotional service only when he is completely free from all materialistic possessions. The Lord then told Sanātana: "It would not look good for you to be a mendicant and beg from door to door with such a valuable blanket on your body. It is contradictory and people would look on it with abhorrence."

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 16:

Sanātana Gosvāmī was a great devotee of the Lord, and he was directly instructed to spread the cult of bhakti by writing many books. There is a description of Sanātana in Caitanya-candrodaya, and it is mentioned there that Sanātana Gosvāmī was one of the most important personalities in the government of Nawab Hussain. His brother, Rūpa Gosvāmī, was also a minister in the government, but both of them gave up their lucrative government posts to become mendicants and serve the Supreme Lord. Externally the brothers became just like ordinary mendicants, but their hearts were filled with transcendental loving service and a great love for the cowherd boy of Vṛndāvana. Indeed, Sanātana Gosvāmī was dear to all pure devotees of his time.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 32:

Upon seeing this unique feature of Lord Caitanya, Rāmānanda Rāya fainted and fell on the floor. Lord Caitanya then touched him, and he came to his senses. Rāmānanda Rāya was then surprised to see Lord Caitanya again in His mendicant dress. Lord Caitanya embraced and pacified him and informed him that he was the only one to have seen this form. "Because you have understood the purpose of My incarnation, you are privileged to have seen this particular feature of My personality," the Lord said.

Nectar of Devotion

Nectar of Devotion 18:

When a devotee, in spite of possessing all the qualities of pure realization, is not proud of his position, he is called prideless. In the Padma Purāṇa it is stated that King Bhagīratha was the emperor above all other kings, yet he developed such ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa that he became a mendicant and went out begging even to the homes of his political enemies and untouchables. He was so humble that he respectfully bowed down before them.

Nectar of Devotion 45:

Expert learned scholars say that laughing is generally found among youngsters or in the combination of old persons and young children. This ecstatic loving laughing is sometimes also found in persons who are very grave by nature. Once an old mendicant approached the door of mother Yaśodā's house, and Kṛṣṇa told Yaśodā, "My dear mother, I don't wish to go near this skinny villain. If I go there, he might put Me within his begging bag and take Me away from you!" In this way, the wonderful child, Kṛṣṇa, began to look at His mother, while the mendicant, who was standing in the door, tried to hide his smiling face, although he could not do so. He immediately expressed his smiling. In this instance, Kṛṣṇa Himself is the object of laughing affairs.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 10:

Another advantage of poverty is that a saintly person can easily enter a poor man's house, and thus the poor man can take advantage of the saintly person's association. A very opulent man does not allow anyone to enter his house; therefore, the saintly person cannot enter. According to the Vedic system, a saintly person takes the position of a mendicant so that on the plea of begging something from the householder, he can enter any house. The householder, who has usually forgotten everything about spiritual advancement because he is busy maintaining family affairs, can be benefited by the association of a saintly person. There is a great chance for the poor man to become liberated through association with a saint. Of what use are persons who are puffed up with material opulence and prestige if they are bereft of the association of saintly persons and devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead?

Krsna Book 35:

It is stated in Śrīnivāsācārya's prayer to the six Gosvāmīs that they left the material opulences of government service and the princely status of life and went to Vṛndāvana, where they lived just like ordinary mendicants, begging from door to door. But they were so much enriched with the gopīs' feelings of separation that they enjoyed transcendental pleasure at every moment.

Krsna Book 47:

"In My opinion," Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī continued, "no one should hear about Kṛṣṇa, because as soon as a drop of the nectar of His transcendental activities is poured into the ear, one immediately rises above the duality of attraction and rejection. Being completely freed from the contamination of material attachment, one gives up attachment for this material world, including family, home, wife, children and everything else materially dear to every person. Being deprived of all material acquisitions, one makes his relatives and himself unhappy. Then he wanders in search of Kṛṣṇa, either as a human being or in other species of life, even as a bird, and voluntarily accepts the profession of a mendicant. It is very difficult to actually understand Kṛṣṇa—His name, His qualities, His form, His pastimes, His paraphernalia and His entourage."

Krsna Book 51:

"My dear Lord, You are so merciful that in spite of my being reluctant to associate with Your pure devotees, You have shown Your extreme mercy upon me as a result of my slight contact with such a pure devotee as Garga Muni. By Your causeless mercy only have I lost all my material opulences, my kingdom and my family. I do not think I could have gotten rid of all these entanglements without Your causeless mercy. Kings and emperors sometimes accept the life of an ascetic to forget their royal life, but by Your special causeless mercy I have already been bereft of royalty. I do not need to become a mendicant or practice renunciation."

Renunciation Through Wisdom

Renunciation Through Wisdom 1.2:

There have always existed two types of men, the devotee and the demon. Long ago there lived a big demon named Rāvaṇa, who disguised himself as a sannyāsī, a renounced mendicant, and tried to steal the wife of the Supreme Lord, Rāmacandra. She was the goddess of fortune, Sītā-devī. In this way the demon brought about his own destruction.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 4.1:

As the Supreme Lord is eternal, liberated, and pure, so are His devotees, whatever situation they may be in. This can easily be understood through a simple example: technological advancement has added things like cinemas to the material attractions nature already has to offer, and yet, strangely, these illusory enticements have failed to attract genuine saints and hermits even to this day. And although we do see that some so-called modern saints and mendicants are addicted to cannabis and tobacco, even they are repulsed by many other modern sensual distractions.

Light of the Bhagavata

Light of the Bhagavata 31, Purport:

The vānaprasthas, who voluntarily avoid cleaning themselves and who allow their beards and nails to grow, no longer feel the discomforts of these burdens when they engage in the service of the Lord. And above all, the mendicants who take a vow to refrain from sex life no longer feel sexual urges when fixed in the transcendental service of the Lord.

Light of the Bhagavata 32, Translation:

The beautiful white clouds, freed from all burdens of water distribution, float in midair, like mendicants freed from all family responsibilities.

Mukunda-mala-stotra (mantras 1 to 6 only)

Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 1, Purport:

Illusioned mundaners cannot understand the transcendental and reciprocal relationship between the Lord and His devotees, and therefore they want to lord it over material nature or cynically merge with the Absolute. Thus a living being forgets his constitutional position and wants to become either a lord or a mendicant, but such illusions are arrangements of Māyā, the Lord's illusory potency.

Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 1, Purport:

A false life either as a lord or a mendicant meets with frustration until the living being comes to his senses and surrenders to the Lord as His eternal servant. Then the Lord liberates him and saves him from repeated birth and death. Thus the Lord is also addressed here as Bhava-luṇṭhana-kovida, "He who is expert at plundering the status quo of repeated birth and death." A sensible man understands his position as the eternal servant of the Lord and molds his life accordingly.

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG 2.27-38 -- Los Angeles, December 11, 1968:

Devotee: I don't know how to exactly word this. It seems like... I didn't quite understand the explanation, but it seems that although the battlefield is arranged for this war, there was almost a test for his principles and for him to renounce his place in the kṣatriya class. This is where I get confused in the Gītā. It seems like this is a very noble thing for him to renounce his place in the caste. I'm not clear here.

Prabhupāda: Renounce what?

Devotee: To renounce his place as a warrior and to go off into the woods and be a mendicant or whatever he wanted to do.

Prabhupāda: Who said?

Devotee: Arjuna.

Prabhupāda: So that is his cowardice. That is being condemned by Kṛṣṇa, that "It is not your business to give up fighting and go away from the warfield and go to the forest for meditation. It is not your business."

Lecture on BG 3.13-16 -- New York, May 23, 1966:

Similarly, suppose you are engaged in some particular type of work before hearing this Bhagavad-gītā. And after hearing, understanding Bhagavad-gītā, you will have to remain in the same position, not that after hearing this Bhagavad-gītā, as you are kindly coming here, you will have to take a dress like me and give up your family connection and become a mendicant like me. No, no. It is not meant like that. You have to change your mentality. That's all.

Lecture on BG 3.17-20 -- New York, May 27, 1966:

There are many so-called mendicants in India. They, I mean to say, loiter in the street naked, and sometimes they are arrested by the police, like that. Imitation is not required. Imitation is not required. But there is a stage like that. Just like a madman. Sometimes a madman, he also, I mean to say, wanders the street naked. So he is also compact in some thought, but he is a madman. But similarly, a person who is completely compact in Kṛṣṇa thought, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he is also a madman according to the calculation of this world.

Lecture on BG 3.21-25 -- New York, May 30, 1966:

Aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ (Viṣṇu Purāṇa 6.5.47). There are six kinds of opulences—means wealth, strength, beauty, knowledge, and renunciation. Renunciation is also considered as opulence. Somebody has got immense money, immense wealth, but at once he renounces everything and becomes a mendicant, for some cause, of course. There are many instances in political field. Somebody, for political emancipation, he gives up everything, all homely comforts, and everything renounces and becomes a very famous man in the political field. Similarly, there are men in the spiritual field also. They renounces everything for achievement of spiritual perfection. So renunciation is also one of the opulences.

Lecture on BG 4.11 -- New York, July 27, 1966:

They were very rich men, but still, how they could live in such a way? That is described that tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīṁ sadā tuccha-vat: "They gave up all aristocratic association just like insignificant." And tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīṁ sadā tuccha-vat bhūtvā dīna-gaṇeśakau karuṇayā kaupīna-kanthāśritau: "And they adopted life of mendicant just to show mercy to the fallen souls." But how they lived? Gopī-bhāva-rasāmṛtābdhi-laharī-kallola-magnau muhur vande rūpa-sanātanau raghu-yugau śrī-jīva-gopālakau: "They were merged in the ocean of love of Kṛṣṇa, and they lived so happily." That is... There is a position like that, that you can forget all these material comforts. There is no comfort in the material life. It is so-called. It is simply a delusion.

Lecture on BG 4.14 -- Vrndavana, August 6, 1974:

The Six Gosvāmīs, they gave up their material opulence. Tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīṁ sadā tucchavat. They gave up their... They were ministers of the government, very exalted position. Their associates were most aristocratic persons. But he gave up everything. Tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīm. Maṇḍala-pati means leaders of the society, big, big men, zamindars or government officers. So he gave up, tucchavat, considering them most insignificant. Tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīṁ sadā tucchavat bhūtvā dīna-gaṇeśakau karuṇayā. They have, gave up their opulent family. He was also belonging to the aristocratic family. He gave up. And became a mendicant, beggar, madhukārī. They were asking one cāpāṭi from one gṛhastha. They would not accept three or four or..., cāpāṭis at a place. Only half, one, like that. All in this way.

Lecture on BG 5.3-7 -- New York, August 26, 1966:

In our line of disciplic succession, ācārya, there was one Rūpa Gosvāmī. Rūpa Gosvāmī, he was formerly the minister of a very big estate. Then he renounced his family life and joined Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and became a mendicant. Now, of course, nowadays people are not so much fond of mendicant. But formerly, any householder, they would go to some sage, some saintly person, and offer some service, "Sir, what can I serve for you." Oh, that was the system.

Lecture on BG 5.3-7 -- New York, August 26, 1966:

Now, what do you mean by renunciation? Suppose I am in the renounced order of life. What I have renounced? Oh, you are, you have got clothing. I have got also clothing. It may be less costly. Or you are living in some room. Oh, I am also living in some room. So what is the difference between you and me? Renunciation. Suppose a mendicant becomes..., he has renounced everything. In India you'll find, simply a loincloth he's wearing, even naked body. Sometimes, they are naked. So Rūpa Gosvāmī says that the monkey, monkey is completely naked, and he eats fruit. Markaṭa-vairāgya.

Lecture on BG 5.3-7 -- New York, August 26, 1966:

Sannyāsa, simply by renouncing this world, if you do not find out the Absolute Truth, then it is simply accepting tribulation voluntarily. Because suppose I have to give up my family life. Anyone is comfortable in family life, but suppose he leaves such family life and takes this life of mendicant. It is not very comfortable. But why shall I accept this position if I have no idea of the Absolute Truth? That is... So sannyāsas tu mahā-bāho duḥkham āptum. So if you don't find the Absolute Truth, then it is simply meant for accepting miseries.

Lecture on BG 5.3-7 -- New York, August 26, 1966:

It was particularly said to Arjuna that "You are thinking that you are, you'll not fight. Better, you are thinking, that you shall beg instead of killing your kinsmen. You do not want kingdom. But that is not a practical proposition. You, you, you just try to understand why you have to fight. What is the cause?" That means He was giving hint that "You'll have to fight for Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Then you'll get happiness. Simply by leaving, simply by becoming mendicant, it will not help you."

Lecture on BG 5.14-22 -- New York, August 28, 1966:

King is the lord of both the city and the forest. So he prayed that "Please send your son and help me." Now, at that time this king inquired from that sage, aihisthaṁ yat taṁ punar-janma-jayāya.(?) Now, just like in our worldly affairs we, for gentleman's etiquette we ask, "How are you? How things are going on?" now, here the king was asking the sage, aihisthaṁ yat taṁ punar-janma-jayāya: "You are... You have... You have become mendicant. You have become sage just to conquer over death, conquer over death." Aihisthaṁ yat taṁ punar-janma-jayāya.(?) So that is this highest knowledge. Highest knowledge is to conquer over the death.

Lecture on BG 6.30-34 -- Los Angeles, February 19, 1969:

Don't be lost to Kṛṣṇa. That is perfection of life. That is perfection of life. Simply don't be lost to Kṛṣṇa. You can forget all things, but don't forget Kṛṣṇa. Then you are richest. People may see you are very poor man, just like Gosvāmīs. They adopted very poor life, mendicant. They were ministers, very opulent. Very honorable gentlemen, Rūpa Gosvāmī, Sanātana Gosvāmī, learned scholars, rich men, ministers, in every respect their social position so high. But they accepted this mendicant: tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīm. That Gosvāmī prayer you'll find. Tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīṁ sadā tuccha-vat. Just like most insignificant, they gave up everything.

Lecture on BG 6.30-34 -- Los Angeles, February 19, 1969:

So Arjuna said, "This aṣṭāṅga-yoga system is very difficult." He says, that, "Impractical." Appears not impractical. For him. Just like, it is not impractical. If it is impractical then Kṛṣṇa would not have described and taken so much trouble. It is not impractical, but appears. What one thing may be impractical for me but practical for you, that is a different thing. But generally this system is impractical for ordinary common man. Arjuna is representing himself as a common man in the sense that he was not a mendicant or he has renounced his family life or he has no connection with his bread problem. Because he was on the warfield to fight for the kingdom. So he's supposed to be an ordinary man.

Lecture on BG 7.1 -- San Francisco, March 26, 1968:

Kṛṣṇa was not a Vedantist... Ah, Arjuna was not a Vedantist or a great philosopher or a brāhmaṇa or nothing. He was a kṣatriya. He was a fighter, and a householder, not even a sannyāsī. So these are not qualifications to understand Kṛṣṇa. Suppose... Just like I have become a sannyāsī, mendicant. This is not qualification that I can understand Kṛṣṇa. Even in your white dress, as gṛhastha, you can understand better than me. Then what is the qualification? This qualification: sevonmukhe hi jihvādau (Brs. 1.2.234). One who has developed the service spirit with love and devotion, he can understand Kṛṣṇa. Nobody else.

Lecture on BG 9.22-23 -- New York, December 8, 1966:

We don't say that you give up your engagement and become a mendicant or sannyāsī like me and give up your wife and children. No. Kṛṣṇa does not say that. You may ask then, "Why you have given up your wife and children?" I have given up my wife and children for this purpose. If I am engaged in family life, then I cannot do this missionary work. I have taken absolute shelter to this work without any disturbance. So for a preacher, for a missionary, that is a different thing. But for ordinary man, he does not require to give up his family, his home. He will remain. You remain in your occupation, you remain at home, but chant this Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare, Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare. Is there any difficulty?

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.2.7 -- Hyderabad, April 21, 1974:

We are seeking after aristocratic society's association, to become big man, but these Gosvāmīs, although they were ministers, they decided, tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati..., sadā tuccha-vat. Then what did they become? Bhūtvā dīna-gaṇeśakau karuṇayā kaupīna-kanthāśritau: "For the benefit of whole human society, they took the mendicant's dress." Just like in our political movement, Mahatma Gandhi also took the mendicant's dress, loincloth, these Gosvāmīs also... That is Indian culture.

Lecture on SB 1.2.7 -- Hyderabad, April 21, 1974:

This vairāgya, vairāgya. Political vairāgya is different. The political vairāgya is that "I don't want things, anything, anything for me, but for my son, for my grandson, for my countrymen, for my this, that." Not like that. This vairāgya means vāsudeve: "I don't want anything personally for me, but I want everything for Vāsudeva." This is the difference between political mendicant and the spiritual mendicant. So these Gosvāmīs were spiritual mendicants, vairāgya.

Lecture on SB 1.2.11 -- Tirupati, April 26, 1974:

About them it is said by one learned scholar, tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīṁ sadā tucchavat. Because they were ministers, their association was with aristocratic family, big, big men. But he decided, tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīm. Maṇḍala-pati means leaders, social leaders, political leaders. So they gave up the company of the so-called aristocratic circle—tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīṁ sadā tucchavat—as most insignificant. Bhūtvā dīna-gaṇeśakau karuṇayā kaupīna-kanthāśritau. Just to give real service to the mass of people, they became mendicants, kaupīna-kanthāśritau, or accepted the sannyāsa order. As Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted sannyāsa order, all the ācāryas, Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Viṣṇu Svāmī, they accepted for the greater benefit of the human society.

Lecture on SB 1.2.12 -- Delhi, November 18, 1973:

If we can mix with a very big rich man, we consider very fortunate. But these Gosvāmīs, they gave up, tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa, not only one, two. Because they were ministers, everyone is coming to flatter him, all big, big zamindars. But he gave up that association. Tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīṁ sadā tuccha-vat. Tuccha means very insignificant. Then what they became? Bhūtvā dīna-gaṇeśakau karuṇayā kaupīna-kanthāśritau. Dīna-gaṇeśakau, just to show favor to the poor souls, dīna-gaṇeśakau. Gaṇa. Gaṇa means people in general. So just to show them favor, accepted the life of a mendicant. Tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīṁ sadā tuccha-vat bhūtvā dīna-gaṇeśakau karuṇayā kaupīna-kanthāśritau. Kaupīna-kanthā. That is the last stage of sannyāsa, paramahaṁsa stage: a loin cloth and an underwear, kaupīna-kanthāśritau.

Lecture on SB 1.2.12 -- Delhi, November 18, 1973:

In Calcutta there was a big man. You have heard. Mr. C. R. Das, Gandhi's lieutenant, he gave up his practice. In those days he was..., fifty years ago he was earning fifty thousand rupees. So that is not joke. So he became mendicant. All Gandhi's followers, they became mendicant. Without becoming mendicant, you cannot do any welfare activities. That is the Vedic process, sannyāsa. So but he could not live. After giving up his job as a lawyer, he could not live for more than one year, because he was living very opulently and all of a sudden he became a mendicant. He could not tolerate. That we have seen.

Lecture on SB 1.5.23 -- Vrndavana, August 4, 1974:

So this Nārada Muni's history is very interesting, that he was not educated, a boy, and not coming from cultured family—maidservant's son. The only qualification was that nirūpito bālaka eva yoginām. He was engaged as a boy servant to the yogis. So how he got this opportunity? That is here: śuśrūṣaṇe. Śuśrūṣaṇe means in service; prāvṛṣi, during the rainy season. Because saintly persons, mendicants, sannyāsīs, their business is to travel. Travel. When, of course, something established, then a sannyāsī can rest, paramahaṁsa stage. When there are many disciples, workers, it is going on, then he can take rest. Otherwise it is the business of the sannyāsī to travel.

Lecture on SB 1.5.24 -- Vrndavana, August 5, 1975:

Too much talking unnecessarily is against spiritual advancement of life. Therefore, sometimes those who are very, very talkative, they are ordered by their spiritual master that "You keep silence." Maunī. Maunī-bābā. Somebody, they practice to become always silent. You'll find some of the sādhus, the mendicants, they also keep silence.

Lecture on SB 1.7.6 -- Vrndavana, September 5, 1976:

This śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ, just like you are so kind enough to come here to hear about Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, by this process. This has been recommended by Caitanya Mahāprabhu: sthāne sthitāḥ śruti-gatāṁ tanu-vāṅ-manobhiḥ. You remain in your place. You don't require to become a sannyāsī, mendicant, or brahmacārī, or change your place. No.

Lecture on SB 1.7.47-48 -- Vrndavana, October 6, 1976:

Tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīṁ sadā tuccha-vat bhūtvā dīna-gaṇeśakau karuṇayā kaupīna-kanthāśritau. For benefiting the mass of people who are suffering for want of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, to do them good, they became mendicant. Kaupīna-kanthāśritau. You have seen the picture of Rūpa Gosvāmī. A small loincloth, and nothing more. Then? He should have died. No. Gopī-bhāva-rasāmṛtābdhi-laharī-kallola-magnau muhuḥ. They were enjoying. Enjoying how the gopīs are engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. They were twenty-four hours thinking. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Lecture on SB 1.7.47-48 -- Vrndavana, October 6, 1976:

So either Rūpa Gosvāmī or Prahlāda Mahārāja or anyone, even up to date, they may face many difficulties, so-called difficulties. A Vaiṣṇava has no difficulty. But we see... Just like we see Prahlāda Mahārāja was in difficulty. Rūpa Gosvāmī was in difficulty. He was minister and he became a mendicant. Kaupīna-kanthāśritau. No, he was not difficulty.

Lecture on SB 1.15.33 -- Los Angeles, December 11, 1973:

Under the instruction of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, they understood that "So many mass of people are suffering without Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So we have to do something for them." Therefore they gave up. Not a fancy, "I become naked, that's all." What is the use of your becoming naked? You must do something. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Not that "I have become mendicant. I have given up all material things." You cannot give material things. Instead of coat, pant, you may have a shabby cloth. That's all. You cannot give up. That is not possible. You have to accept something. But they are thinking that "Because I have given up this coat, pant, and I am now a shabby dress, I have become advanced." Not that. You must some positive engagement.

Lecture on SB 2.2.5 -- Los Angeles, December 2, 1968:

There is no problem for your bodily demands. But one has to practice. Formerly the saints, mendicants, sages, they used to practice like that, that not dependent on any condition. And so far God, God is within you. So you haven't got to go anywhere to search out God. God is with you, and you can be independent in this way.

Lecture on SB 2.3.13-14 -- Los Angeles, May 30, 1972:

So this Rūpa Gosvāmī, Sanātana Gosvāmī, accepted this mendicant life although they were ministers, very rich men. Not only Rūpa Gosvāmī, all the Gosvāmīs. Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī was the only son of his father and uncle, and in those days the income was twelve lakhs, twelve hundred thousands of rupees. Almost king. So for being compassionate with these poor fellows, who have forgotten Kṛṣṇa and working simply unnecessarily so hard to get some bread... That's all. Mūḍha. So by becoming kind upon them, they took this mendicant order. Therefore kindness.

Lecture on SB 3.26.16 -- Bombay, December 25, 1974:

Therefore in Bhāratavarṣa, in India, you will see big, big kings, they give up their kingdom, their opulent life, wife, children, and become a mendicant, a beggar—not beggar, but renounced everything. This Bhāratavarṣa is under the name of Mahārāja Bhārata.

Lecture on SB 5.5.1-8 -- Stockholm, September 6, 1973:

So Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī was entrusted for training to Svarūpa Dāmodara. He asked Svarūpa Dāmodara, "We don't receive any invitation from Raghunātha nowadays, what is that?" "No, he has refused his father's money. He doesn't take. These men have gone back." Then Caitanya Mahāprabhu went, "Oh, that's very nice. He became a mendicant by taking help from home, it is not good. He has refused, that is very nice. But how he is eating nowadays?" "Now he is standing on the staircase at Jagannātha Temple. When the priests go home, they give him some contribution of the foodstuff. He is maintained."

Lecture on SB 5.5.2 -- Johannesburg, October 22, 1975:

There are four grades of life: brahmacārī, gṛhastha, vānaprastha, and sannyāsa. The description already given, it is meant for mendicant who have nothing to do with material affairs or household life, renounced order, sannyāsī. It, that is applicable to them.

Lecture on SB 5.6.1 -- Vrndavana, November 23, 1976:

Unless we become ātmārāma, there is no possibility of happiness. Just like these Gosvāmīs. They were very opulent ministers, but they were not happy. They resigned from the post. Tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīṁ sadā tuccha-vat. Because there was no happiness. And what they adopted? They adopted the life of a mendicant. Tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīṁ sadā tuccha-vat bhūtvā dīna-gaṇeśakau karuṇayā kaupīna-kanthāśritau. For doing good to the others they accepted kaupīna-kanthāśritau. So it is not a business of imitation, that "I am following the principles of Rūpa Gosvāmī." That is not so easy to become a Rūpa Gosvāmī, ātmārāma.

Lecture on SB 6.1.6 -- Honolulu, June 8, 1975:

Here is the Gosvāmīs' photo. You can see how they have become mendicant. A small loincloth, one waterpot only, that's all, finished, no possession. So why? Bhūtvā dīna-gaṇeśadau karuṇayā. They wanted to show their mercy to the suffering humanity. So in this way they adopted change of life. That is Vaiṣṇava.

Lecture on SB 6.1.46 -- Detroit, June 12, 1976:

To become Kṛṣṇa conscious means not to remain within this guṇa-vaicitrya, the varieties of material color, or material guṇas. Above that. Center Kṛṣṇa. Make center Kṛṣṇa. Then whatever you do, it will be perfect. Make Kṛṣṇa center. It doesn't matter whether I'm a businessman or professional man, or engineer, doctor—there are so many varieties—or a mendicant or brahmacārī, gṛhastha. Never mind. It is, make Kṛṣṇa center. Ataḥ pumbhir dvija-śreṣṭhā.

Lecture on SB 6.3.27-28 -- Gorakhpur, February 20, 1971:

The Gosvāmīs, ideal. They left their comfortable position as ministers, went to Vṛndāvana, and became a mendicant. Kaupīna-kanthāśritau. Tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīṁ sadā tucchavat. Because they were ministers, their associates, their friends, their companions were all rich men, aristocratic. Tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati. Maṇḍala-pati means "great leaders of aristocratic family." He gave up. Gosvāmīs, Rūpa Gosvāmī, Sanātana Gosvāmī, they gave up this association of big aristocratic families. Tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīṁ sadā tucchavat. Tucchavat means "There is no necessity. It is most insignificant. We don't want it."

Lecture on SB 7.6.9 -- Vrndavana, December 11, 1975:

Therefore the Vedic civilization is voluntarily accepting poverty. Voluntary. Big, big kings, they voluntarily accepted poverty. Rūpa Goswami Don't go to the past, big, big..., Bhārata Mahārāja and others. Even Lord Rāmacandra. Take recent history, within five hundred years. Rūpa Goswami, the chief minister of the government of Bengal, most opulent position: tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīm. They became mendicant, voluntarily accepting, tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-mandala-pati-śreṇīṁ sadā tucchavat. "What is this nonsense position, minister, opulent life? Kick it out." They are not fools. They are politicians. But why they "Kick it out." Then what they became? Bhūtvā dīna-gaṇeśakau karuṇayā kaupīna-kanthāśritau. They become mendicant.

Lecture on SB 7.7.29-31 -- San Francisco, March 15, 1967, (incomplete lecture):

So Arjuna, he was a fighter. In the beginning, he was a fighter. At the end he remained a fighter. He did not change his position. After hearing Bhagavad-gītā, he did not change his position—he was a fighter, and he become a mendicant, or he become a swami. No. He did not become a swami. He remained as fighter, but the account was changed. Rubber stamp was changed. That's all.

Lecture on SB 7.9.12-13 -- Montreal, August 20, 1968:

So as soon as you become servant of Kṛṣṇa you get full satisfaction. Sa-nātha-jīvitaḥ. Sa-nātha-jīvitaḥ means you will understand that "I have a master who is so full, who is so complete, who is so competent, who is so faithful, and who is so nice, there is no injustice." Therefore, those who are mendicants, they are so much confident that "Kṛṣṇa will provide for my subsistence. Kṛṣṇa will..." Abhayam. Therefore they are not fearful.

Lecture on SB 12.2.1 -- San Francisco, March 18, 1968:

Muni-śraddhe means the muni is performing the śraddhā ceremony after the death of his father. Muni means he lives in the forest. They are mendicants. And what is the expenditure? Some flowers and fruits, that's all.

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 17, 1972:

And they gave up everything. Tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīm. Maṇḍala-pati. Maṇḍala-pati means leaders. The leader of the group, maṇḍala-pati. Just like there is rastra-pati. Similarly they were rastra-patis, maṇḍala-pati, but tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati... Because they were minister, their friendly circles were big, big zamindars, administrators. But they gave up their company. Tyakvtā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇ... Not one, two, but many. Tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīṁ sadā tucchavat. Very insignificant. "Oh, what is this? Give up." Bhūtvā dīna-gaṇeśakau karuṇayā kaupīna-kanthāśritau. Became very poor mendicants, accepted torn cloth. Sanātana Gosvāmī, Rūpa Gosvāmī, here, in Vṛndāvana, they were living underneath one tree, one night. Such vairāgya, renunciation.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 17, 1972:

We have seen, practically. In Calcutta, Mr. C.R. Das. he was earning, say, about fifty years ago, fifty thousand, sixty thousand rupees per month. But on Congress resolution, he gave up his practice and practically he had no income. In one meeting, he was asked by somebody... Everyone thought that he's very big, rich man. Somebody asked him to give him, them some subscription. So C.R. Das admitted that "Now I have no income, by my party, Congress Party, they gave me five hundred rupees per month for my expenditures. So I give you everything." So... Because that was his habit. If anyone would approach him, ask him something, the day's income he'll give him, immediately. But he could not live more than one year. He could not tolerate so much renouncement. Because that was material. But these Gosvāmīs, they gave us their ministerial posts, opulent posts and became mendicants.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 18, 1972:

Unless one has followed strictly the path of the Ṣaḍ-Gosvāmīs, we cannot accept him as guru. Because Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says, ei chay gosāi yāra tāra mui dāsa. One who has followed strictly the principles of Rūpa Gosvāmī. Rūpa Gosvāmī, of course, he lived very simply, mendicant. A small loincloth and simple underneath a tree. But simply by imitating his loincloth one does not become Rūpa Gosvāmī. One has to follow the principles of Rūpa Gosvāmī. Then he's called rūpānuga. Unless you become rūpānuga, you cannot understand the Gauḍīya philosophy.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, October 20, 1972:

They gave up their ministerial posts. Tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīṁ sadā tucchavat. Most insignificant. They gave up their ministerial posts. And they became mendicants. Tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīṁ sadā tucchavat bhūtvā dīna-gaṇeśakau karuṇayā kaupīna-kantāśritau. Became very poor, voluntarily mendicant. It is very difficult.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 4, 1972:

In the śāstra it is said, "Generally, people in this material world, they are in..., in the rajo-guṇa." Therefore hard-working activities, they take it as pleasure. If some saintly persons do not work, he is engaged in devotional service or meditation or chanting. Sometimes devotional service or meditation or chanting, sometimes it is misunderstood that these people are escaping, because they take it very nice to work very hard. Unless you work very hard, they take it as a process of escaping: "They, they're escaping the social obligation and other obligations by taking to mendicant life and living at the cost of others." So many things. So they like it, to work very hard.

Sri Brahma-samhita Lectures

Lecture on Brahma-samhita, Verse 34 -- San Francisco, September 13, 1968 :

The story and the picture you will find in Back to Godhead recently published. And Nārada, because he is Vaiṣṇava, he is lover of Kṛṣṇa, when he was passing on the path in the forest, he saw that many half-dead animals are in torture, flapping. So, he was very kind. "Oh, who has done this mischief, these poor animals?" So he searched out the hunter, and he went there. The hunter asked me, "Oh, why you are disturbing my business?" So Nārada said, "My dear hunter, I have come to beg something from you." So hunter thought that "This mendicant is a beggar, so he might have come to me to beg some skins, or deer skin or tiger skin."

Festival Lectures

Sri Rama-Navami, Lord Ramacandra's Appearance Day, Cornerstone Laying -- Bombay, April 1, 1974:

Just like Rūpa Gosvāmī, our predecessor ācārya, he left his ministership, government post and became a mendicant. He was living underneath a tree every night. Not permanently underneath a tree: tonight one tree, next night another tree. But when he was approached by King Mānsiṅgh, the commander-in-chief of Emperor Akbar... In those days rich men, big men, they were God conscious, and they wanted to do something for God's service. So King Mānsiṅgh approached Rūpa Gosvāmī if he could do any service. So Rūpa Gosvāmī, he was living under the tree, so what service he expected from King Mānsiṅgh? He said that "If you want to do some service, do it for Kṛṣṇa." So he advised him to construct a temple at Vṛndāvana.

His Divine Grace Bhaktiprajnana Kesava Maharaja's Disappearance Day Lecture, (Srila Prabhupada's Sannyasa Guru) -- Seattle, October 21, 1968:

So I never thought that I shall accept this renounced order of life. In my family life, when I was in the midst of my wife and children, sometimes I was dreaming my spiritual master, that he's calling me, and I was following him. When my dream was over, I was thinking. I was little horrified. "Oh, Guru Mahārāja wants me to become sannyāsī. How can I accept sannyāsa?" At that time, I was feeling not very satisfaction that I have to give up my family and have to become a mendicant. At that time, it was a horrible feeling. Sometimes I was thinking, "No, I cannot take sannyāsa." But again I saw the same dream. So in this way I was fortunate.

Initiation Lectures

Initiation of Hrsikesa Dasa and Marriage of Satsvarupa and Jadurani -- New York, September 5, 1968:

Caitanya-bhāgavata there is a verse which says, gṛhe vā vanete thāke, hā gaurāṅga bole ḍāke. The purport is that either if you remain in household life or you remain as mendicant in the forest, in either case, you just become a devotee of Lord Caitanya.

Initiation Lecture -- London, August 22, 1971:

Many Indians, they have openly admitted, "Swamijī, you have made wonderful. These boys and girls are very nice." So that is my pride, that these boys and girls following my instruction, and... I am not giving you, them any money or any bribe. No. (laughter) They are simply sincerely following my instruction. I am a mendicant. I have no money, I'm a beggar. But Kṛṣṇa is helping them. So you follow these principles. Then surely, success will be there.

General Lectures

Lecture -- Bombay, March 19, 1972:

Our ācāryas, just like Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī, about him Śrinivāsācarya writes,

nana-śāstra-vicaraṇaika-nipunau sad-dharma-samsthapakau
lokanam hita-karinau tri-bhuvane manyau saranyakarau
radha-kṛṣṇa-padaravinda-bhajananandena-mattalikau
vande rupa-sanātana raghu-yugau śrī-jīva-gopālakau

They engaged themselves. They were ministers. Rūpa Goswāmī and Sanātana Goswāmī, they were two great ministers in the government of Pathan kingdom in Bengal. And they resigned the post just for the benefit of the mass of people. They became mendicants, tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīṁ. So this is the mission of all who is born in India.

Evening Lecture -- Bhuvanesvara, January 23, 1977:

Indian man (2): "Although the Gosvāmīs were very aristocratic, they became mendicant just to deliver the fallen souls according to the order of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu."

Prabhupāda: About Gosvāmīs, Śrīnivāsa Ācārya, he has written, tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīṁ sadā tuccha-vat bhūtvā dīna-gaṇeśakau karuṇayā kaupīna-kanthāśritau. (child talking) (aside:) Please take out. Tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīm. They were ministers. Naturally their associates were very, very big zamindars and rich men, aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīm. Maṇḍala-pati means leaders, social, political. So, gave up their company. Explain. Why? Tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīṁ sadā tuccha-vat bhūtvā dīna-gaṇeśakau karuṇayā kaupīna-kanthāśritau. Dīna-gaṇeśakau, the poor mass of people... We are thinking that we are advancing, but actually we are becoming poverty-stricken. So this very word is used, dīna-gaṇeśakau karuṇayā. So this time is always. Unless the social leaders, the leaders of the society, they take care of the mass of people to educate them, dīna-gaṇeśakau karuṇayā, if they do not become compassionate to the poor mass of people, who will deliver them?

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Soren Aabye Kierkegaard:

Prabhupāda: Because he knows that "I am part and parcel of God. So my duty is to serve God." So where is the suffering?

Śyāmasundara: Yes. Yeah.

Prabhupāda: That is pleasure, serving God. Just like Rūpa Gosvāmī, just see, in the cottage. They are minister. They are ministers. Tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīm. They are living most aristocratically, and now they are taking the place of mendicants living in the cottage, no bodily comfort, no servants, nothing of the sort. Does it mean they are suffering? There is one... That is stated in the, that vande rūpa-sanātana, that they, tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīṁ sadā tuccha-vat. They gave up as most insignificant this society, this aristocracy. Tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīṁ sadā tuccha-vat. It is... What is the value of this? Give up. And bhūtvā dīna-gaṇeśakau karuṇayā kaupīna-kanthāśritau. And in order to become merciful to the mass of people, they accept simply loincloth, any way covering, that's all. That is a suffering? No. They are not suffering.

Purports to Songs

Purport to Prayers by King Kulasekhara -- Los Angeles, December 25, 1968:

(This) verse was sung by King Kulaśekhara, a great king, and, at the same time, a great devotee of the Lord. His songs are recorded in the book known as Mukunda-mālā-stotra. That is very famous book. It is sung by many devotees. So it does not matter whether a man is king, or a poor mendicant. Everyone has the facility to become the greatest devotee of the Lord. So he's praying "My dear Kṛṣṇa, Your feet is lotus." Generally we say "Lotus feet". But where the lotus flower is there, the white swans, they come to the lotus flower and try to play with the stem. They sport, going down the water, and be entangled with the stem of that lotus flower. That is their sporting.

Conversations and Morning Walks

1968 Conversations and Morning Walks

Radio Interview -- March 12, 1968, San Francisco:

Interviewer: Now I just want to read one section here. I think you'll be able to... "The International Society for Krishna Consciousness began when Swami Bhaktivedanta arrived from India with $2 on his person, a metal suitcase full of ancient-looking books and a cotton cloth robe, colored yellow, as a sign of the renounced order of life. In India, men of his order are completely dedicated to propagating the spiritual life of a mendicant wanderer. He had wandered across the sea upon the order issued to him by his guru who told him he should prepare to go to America to teach the principles taught in the Bhagavad-gītā and to translate the sixty volumes of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam into English." Now, are you a guru?

Prabhupāda: Yes, I am the spiritual master of this institution, and all the members of the society, they're supposed to be my disciples. They follow the rules and regulations which I ask them to follow, and they are initiated by me spiritually. So therefore the spiritual master is called guru. That is Sanskrit language.

1969 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- May 10, 1969, Columbus, Ohio:

Prabhupāda: There is a good example in our country, one Mr. C.R. Das. He was a great leader, next to Gandhi, important political leader. So he was on the topmost of... He was lawyer, barrister. He was earning fifty thousand dollars monthly, very rich man. And he was making charity, and he was spending like thing (anything). He was drunkard number one, woman-hunter number one, and everything. Because he had money he could enjoy everything. But he was not happy. So one day he was sitting with his wife. Just like in the street, he was looking over. So his wife asked him—his name was Chittaranjan—"Chittaranjan, you are earning so much. You are spending. People are very much fond of you. You are a great leader. Why you always remain morose? What do you want to be? You have got now everything." So at that time one mendicant, a sannyāsī was passing. So Chittaranjan said, "I want to be like him. Then I will be happy. I don't want to enjoy. I want to beggar, to be beggar-like." You see?

1972 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation Vaisnava Calendar Description -- March 11, 1972, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī did not reply anything, he was very submissive. So in that connection He said that "Your father and uncle is a worms of the stool. They are very much fond of material enjoyment, and Kṛṣṇa has saved you from that hole of stool." So in this way he criticized his father and uncle. Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī did not reply. Then he entrusted him to His secretary, Svarūpa Dāmodara, for his teaching, and in this way Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī was known as Svarūpa's Raghunātha. So, his father became very sorry that the boy has left home, and he has gone to Caitanya, they are mendicants, very hard life, how this boy will live? So immediately he sent some servants and 400 rupees.

Room Conversation -- April 18, 1972, Hong Kong:

Prabhupāda: Perhaps you know C.R. Das, the name of C.R. Das in Calcutta. In those days, fifty years ago he was earning fifty thousand rupees per month, but he was not satisfied. And one day he and his wife were sitting together and the wife questioned, "Why do you look so morose? You have got everything at your command. Everyone respects you. You have got money. Everything you have got, education, popularity. Still, why you are unhappy?" So he simply, by chance he saw one mendicant was passing on the street, a sādhu beggar. So he said, "I want to become like him." He said, "I want to be a mendicant like him." So there are many instances in our history.

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation with Malcolm -- July 18, 1973, London:

Prabhupāda: So how such big men, minister, could accept such position of a mendicant and live...? Now, gopī-bhāva-rasāmṛtābdhi-laharī-kallola-magnau... So they got a better thing. They dipped into the ocean of the gopīs' ecstasy. They were always thinking of the gopīs' activities with Kṛṣṇa. Gopī-bhāva-rasāmṛtābdhi-laharī-kallola-magnau muhur, vande rūpa-sanātanau raghu-yugau śrī-jīva-gopālakau. So unless one gets a better thing, he cannot give up the less important thing. So when, unless one gets that better thing—better humor, better mellow—they cannot give up these material engagements.

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- April 12, 1974, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Because he was minister. So he gave up all this association. Tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala. Not one, two, but many, he gave up. "What is the value of this association? What is the value? They are not Kṛṣṇa conscious." So gave up. Tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīṁ sadā tuccha-vat. "What is the value of these things?" Tuccha-vat. Bhūtvā dīna-gaṇeśakau karuṇayā kaupīna-kanthāśritau. Just to show favor to the mass of people he became a mendicant. Dīna-gaṇeśakau karuṇayā. Just like Gandhi also did that. Although he was the greatest leader, he was living like a mendicant, one loincloth. That's all.

Morning Walk -- April 12, 1974, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: Yes. And he was earning fifty-thousand rupees at that time, fifty years ago. What is the value, just see. He was earning and spending like anything, lavishly, and he was so bad associated that wine and woman was his paraphernalia. That's all. As soon as there will be case engaged the first order is that "You have to supply so many cases of wine and so many batches of prostitute." That was C.R. Dasa's condition, first condition. In the Mopaceel(?) court when he would be invited to plead, the first condition is this. Then his fees. So in this way he was living. But he gave up. On Congress Movement he gave up everything practiced, but he died within one year. Because he was living so luxuriously, all of a sudden he became a renouncer, he could not tolerate that. He died. Within one year he died. So therefore these ministers, they gave up all this luxurious life, became a mendicant. The question is how they lived? Tyaktvā tūrṇam aśeṣa-maṇḍala-pati-śreṇīṁ sadā tuccha-vat bhūtvā dīna-gaṇeśakau karuṇayā kaupīna kan... Then gopī-bhāva-rasāmṛtādhi-laharī-kallola-magnau sadā: They were fully absorbed in the thought of how Kṛṣṇa, and His pastimes with His gopīs.

Morning Walk -- April 14, 1974, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: They are trained like that, very good. (break) It is compulsory that every man should become a mendicant for some time.

Morning Walk at Villa Borghese -- May 26, 1974, Rome:

Prabhupāda: To practice that "I have no more interest in anything material." (break) ...introduction of my Guru Mahārāja that sannyāsīs and preachers may use big, big buildings, motorcars and..., just to give the information to the western world. Because they, if you ask them, that "You become a mendicant, possessionless," still, they are not very much interested. Because they see our dress, our living condition is not very equal to their standard, they do not like. Is it not? Yes. So just to give these Westerners facilities at least to understand this philosophy, this method was accepted by Guru Mahārāja, to live in nice building, to have cars, to use everything for Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Otherwise, nobody would take.

Morning Walk -- June 12, 1974, Paris:

Paramahaṁsa: Some people glorify suffering in the material world because they say this increases their sense of appreciating the momentary happiness they have.

Prabhupāda: Yes. That is good. (laughter) That is good, yes. "Blessings of adversity." That is blessing.

Yogeśvara: Blessings of...?

Prabhupāda: Adversity. Yes. Therefore, according to Vedic system, big, big king, they give up their kingdom and becomes a sannyāsī, mendicant, voluntary acceptance of adversity. This is good. To live very comfortably and forget God is not good business.

Morning Walk -- June 21, 1974, Germany:

Prabhupāda: Our predecessor gurus, Gosvāmīs, they were taking rest not more than two hours or 2-1/2 hours. So we should come to that standard, yes. Nidrāhāra-vihārakādi-vijitau **. About them this description is: they reduced their sleeping, nidra. Nidra means sleeping. And āhāra. Āhāra means eating and collection. Collection is also āhāra. Yes. So they were mendicant. They had no collection. And they had no preaching mission. They were simply writing books.

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk -- June 30, 1975, Denver:

Prabhupāda: Nārada Muni was cursed, accepted one curse. And Dakṣa-rāja said that "I curse you that you will stay anywhere." So he said, "Yes, that is very good for me." (laughs) He could curse, counter, but he accepted, "Yes, it is a very good curse. I shall not stay anywhere." "You have spoiled my children to become mendicant, go back to home, back to Godhead. They did not enjoy this material world. You are so heinous," like that. Our students' parents, they are also thinking, "What is this nonsense, no meat-eating, no illicit sex? The enjoyment of life, everything is spoiled. They are becoming sannyāsī." So they are cursing me.

Morning Walk -- July 1, 1975, Denver:

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: When we distribute these books, Śrīla Prabhupāda, we think that it is you who are distributing them, that they are your books, and we are simply assisting to offer them to people. It is actually you who are doing all the preaching.

Prabhupāda: It is Kṛṣṇa's book, we are all servants, engaged. (break) (laughing) Here your parents accusing me, and in India the caste brāhmaṇas accusing me. My standing... I do not know what is my standing. Your parents are accusing me, "This rascal, converting our sons to become mendicant without any material enjoyment." And there, "This rascal is giving sacred thread to the mlecchas and yavanas." (Still laughing)

Morning Walk -- July 1, 1975, Denver:

Prabhupāda: So the indebtedness to the sages is performed by becoming brahmacārī, and to the demigods by offering sacrifices, and to the father by begetting children, to continue the progeny. So Nārada Muni was accused that "You keep them indebted to these principles, so how they can be liberated? Simply by dressing like you, (laughs) a mendicant?" Accusing. But perhaps he did not know.

Room Conversations -- July 26, 1975, Laguna Beach:

Prabhupāda: I shall quote one statement of a very big man, politician, Mr. C.R. Das. So he died in 1925. He was about our father's age. So he was earning in those days fifty thousand rupees per month. Fifty thousand... our rupee or dollar is the same. Although exchange value is different, but the... Locally, the purchasing capacity is the same. So he and his wife were sitting on the corridor, and the wife was talking that "Why you are so morose always? You are earning like anything. You have got respect as political leader. Everyone likes you. You have no want. Why you are sorry? How you can become happy? What is your program?" So on the street one mendicant was going on. He said, "I want to become like that mendicant; then I will be happy." And at last, he became like that. So sometimes one who is possessing more than required, he wants to become a beggar again.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- January 8, 1977, Bombay:

Prabhupāda: The body is dedicated to Kṛṣṇa.

Guest (1): Yes. And through you we get inspirations. If we go to wrong path we remember you.

Prabhupāda: The similar question was Sanātana Gosvāmī. Sanātana Gosvāmī, after leaving his..., resigning his post, he was living as a mendicant, and there was no bodily comfort. Naturally there was eczema, and it is wet eczema. Caitanya Mahāprabhu, as soon as will meet him, immediately embrace him. So he would say, "Don't touch me! This is not for Your..., touch me. This is the disease..." So Caitanya Mahāprabhu... "I'm touching just to purify Myself." Then he consulted some friends, that "Caitanya Mahāprabhu will not hear me and He'll touch forcibly. Better I give up this body." He desired to commit suicide. Caitanya Mahāprabhu said that "Do you think it is your body? You already dedicated to Me for My service. How you are thinking in that way? It is not your body." Then his body became release from all this eczema. He was thinking like that, that "Caitanya Mahāprabhu forcibly embraces me and my body is so unclean. Better I shall give up." So He said, "It is no longer your body. You have dedicated the body to Me. You have no right to think like that."

Correspondence

1968 Correspondence

Letter to Brahmananda -- Los Angeles 15 February, 1968:

Regarding apartments: we are Indians, especially mendicant, we can adjust things in any kind of place. But I shall stay in any place hell or heaven, if it is approved by you. Of course, on behalf of Krishna I am accepting your sincere service, but on the whole, I am servant of the servant of Krishna (CC Madhya 13.80). Therefore I may be in designation your Spiritual Master, but actually I am servant of the servant of Krishna, and because you are all sincere servants of Krishna, I am your servant. I shall be glad to stay wherever yourself, Rayarama, and others like me to stay.

Letter to Andrea Temple -- Los Angeles 26 February, 1968:

I am mendicant, and Sannyasi, and the guest of my students here in the Western world. If you wish for me to fly to Bahamas, then you please send me airplane ticket and I shall come at your bidding. Also, two tickets will be required for my attendants, but I think they may go on the youth fare, which is less expensive. I have been told the weather is very warm there, and the sunshine may be very beneficial to my health. Simply I require some quiet place so to continue my translating work on Srimad-Bhagavatam, and that's all. We are mendicant, and missionary, and can make our dwelling place anywhere.

1969 Correspondence

Letter to Gopala Krsna -- New Vrindaban 26 May, 1969:

I do not know why you had wanted permission from your father. In the material world everyone is interested in pound-shilling-pence. Your parents must be thinking that upon your being initiated you shall become a mendicant and the pound-shilling-pence you are sending will be stopped, and they will suffer materially. But you can assure them they will be better off materially after you are initiated. Anyway, now I do not know what to do with you. Shall I wait till you get sanction from your parents, or shall I initiate immediately? In my opinion, because you wanted permission of your parents, you should wait at least for such time when your parents will permit you. But if you are strongly desirous, then you can disregard your father's desire and make advancement in Krishna Consciousness.

Letter to James Doody -- Los Angeles 10 July, 1969:

So far as human frailties are concerned, they can all be adjusted by dovetailing everything in Krishna Consciousness. Our Krishna is a great family Personality. Krishna is never a mendicant, and our ambition is to enter into Krishna's family and to associate with Him personally. In spiritual life also there are men and women. They are very beautiful and attractive, but they are all so much absorbed in thought of Krishna that in the spiritual world there is no sex life. That means that Krishna Consciousness is so sublime and happy that it surpasses the pleasure of sex life.

1970 Correspondence

Letter to Bertl -- Los Angeles 18 April, 1970:

You have got a strong tendency to accept the Buddha philosophy, but you should know it also that if you want to accept Buddha philosophy you should act practically for this purpose. Lord Buddha was the embodiment of renunciation. He was in the princely order, grown up very luxuriantly, and he accepted the order of a mendicant, devoting his whole time to meditation. I meet many people who talk of Buddha philosophy, but their practical life is different.

1974 Correspondence

Letter to ISKCON Artists -- Bombay 2 May, 1974:

13. Pracetas should be not clean shaven, but with beards as mendicants. Siva is different colors. Not always yellow. There are eleven kinds of Rudras.

Letter to Sri Srinivasan -- Bombay 23 December, 1974:

Now that your household duties are more or less finished I think this is your best alternative. All great previous personalities such as Arjuna and the Pandava brothers, Maharaja Rsabhadeva, King Bharata, so many great kings and great saintly persons all finished the last part of their lives living as mendicants, sannyasis. Therefore following in the footsteps of the authorities we should understand the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna. If there are any difficulties concerning my request to you to leave your home then if you like you can write me for further advise and it will be my duty to serve you in this way.

Page Title:Mendicant
Compiler:Alakananda
Created:20 of Oct, 2010
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=37, CC=40, OB=18, Lec=53, Con=16, Let=7
No. of Quotes:171