By His Divine Grace A.C.B. Swami Prabhupada
Excerpt of a lecture given by HH Bhakti Rasamrita Swami at the Sannyasa Candidate Training Seminar in Mayapura (February, 2012).
There is a verse in the Puranas that states that sannyasa is forbidden in Kali-yuga:
asvamedha gavalambha
sannyasam pala-paitakam
devarena sutotpattim
kalau parca vivarjayet
[Cc. Adi 17.164]
In this age of Kali, five things should be avoided: one is performing sacrifice by offering cows; performing sacrifice by offering horse; and oblation offering to the forefather
Today is Visvarupa-mahotsava, the date on which Lord Caitanya’s older brother, Visvarupa, tooksannyasa, the renounced order of life. And on the same date some four hundred and fifty years later, our own spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, also accepted sannyasa.
According to Vedic scripture, Lord Caitanya is Krsna Himself, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, come in the present age in the role of a devotee. In the previous age, Lord Krsna came in His original feature and spoke the Bhagavad-gita
