bhala haila,—viśvarūpa sannyasa karila
pitṛ-kula, matṛ-kula,—dui uddharila
“My dear mother and father,” the Lord said, “it is very good that Viśvarūpa has accepted the sannyasa order, for thus He has delivered both His father’s family and His mother’s family.”
It is sometimes said that Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu disapproved of the acceptance of the sannyasa order in this Kali-yuga because in the śastra it is said:
aśvamedhaṁ gavalambhaṁ sannyasaṁ pala-paitṛkam
devareṇa sutotpattiṁ kalau paṣca vivarjayet
[Cc. Ādi 17.164]
“In this Age of Kali, five acts are forbidden: the offering of a horse in sacrifice, the offering of a cow in sacrifice, the acceptance of the order of sannyasa, the offering of oblations of flesh to the forefathers, and a man’s begetting children in his brother’s wife.” (Brahma-vaivarta Puraṇa, Kṛṣṇa-janma-khaṇḍa 185.180)
Nevertheless, we see that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu Himself accepted sannyasa and approved of the sannyasa of His elder brother, Viśvarūpa. It is clearly said here, bhala haila,—viśvarūpa sannyasa karila pitṛ-kula, matṛ-kula,—dui uddharila. Therefore, should it be thought that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu made statements that are contradictory? No, actually He did not.
It is recommended that one accept sannyasa to dedicate his life for the service of the Lord, and everyone must take that kind of sannyasa, for by accepting such sannyasa one renders the best service to both his paternal and maternal families. But one should not accept the sannyasa order of the Mayavada school, which has practically no meaning. We find many Mayavadi sannyasis simply loitering in the street thinking themselves Brahman or Narayaṇa and spending all day and night begging so they can fill their hungry bellies. Mayavadi sannyasis have become so degraded that there is a section of them who eat everything, just like hogs and dogs. It is such degraded sannyasa that is prohibited in this age. Actually, Srila Sankaracarya’s principles for the acceptance of sannyasa were very strict, but later the so-called Mayavadi sannyasis became degraded because of their false philosophy, which propounds that by accepting sannyasa one becomes Narayaṇa. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu rejected that kind of sannyasa. But the acceptance of sannyasa is one of the items of the varṇaśrama-dharma. How then can it be rejected?
— Sri Caitanya-caritamṛta » Ādi-lila » Chapter 15: The Lord’s Paugaṇḍa-lila » Verse : 14
http://sannyasacandidates.com/?page_id=170. This page link contains pdf-files with the data of the present sannyasa candidates. If you know any of these candidates and would like to express something positive or negative to the Sannyasa Committee pertaining to their candidacy please send an e-mail to His Holiness Prahladananda Swami (Prahladananda.Swami@pamho.net) or to secretary Brajsunder Das(sannyasasec@gmail.com).
Your servant,
Brajsunder Das
Secretary/Sannyasa Ministry.
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