Text 30
yaś citta-vijaye yattaḥ
syān niḥsaṅgo ’parigrahaḥ
eko vivikta-śaraṇo
bhikṣur bhaikṣya-mitāśanaḥ
yaḥ — one who; citta-vijaye — conquering the mind; yattaḥ — is engaged; syāt — must be; niḥsaṅgaḥ — without contaminated association; aparigrahaḥ — without being dependent (on the family); ekaḥ — alone; vivikta-śaraṇaḥ — taking shelter of a solitary place; bhikṣuḥ — a renounced person; bhaikṣya — by begging alms just to maintain the body; mita-aśanaḥ — frugal in eating.
One who desires to conquer the mind must leave the company of his family and live in a solitary place, free from contaminated association. To maintain the body and soul together, he should beg as much as he needs for the bare necessities of life.
This is the process for conquering the agitation of the mind. One is recommended to take leave of his family and live alone, maintaining body and soul together by begging alms and eating only as much as needed to keep himself alive. Without such a process, one cannot conquer lusty desires. Sannyāsa means accepting a life of begging, which makes one automatically very humble and meek and free from lusty desires. In this regard, the following verse appears in the Smṛti literature:
dvandvāhatasya gārhasthyaṁ
dhyāna-bhaṅgādi-kāraṇam
lakṣayitvā gṛhī spaṣṭaṁ
sannyased avicārayan
In this world of duality, family life is the cause that spoils one’s spiritual life or meditation. Specifically understanding this fact, one should accept the order of sannyāsa without hesitation.