Text 34
ā smābhipṛcche ’dya patiṁ prajānāṁ
tvayāvatīrṇarṇa utāpta-kāmaḥ
parivrajat-padavīm āsthito ’haṁ
cariṣye tvāṁ hṛdi yuñjan viśokaḥ
ā sma abhipṛcche — I am inquiring; adya — now; patim — the Lord; prajānām — of all created beings; tvayā — by You; avatīrṇa-ṛṇaḥ — free from debts; uta — and; āpta — fulfilled; kāmaḥ — desires; parivrajat — of an itinerant mendicant; padavīm — the path; āsthitaḥ — accepting; aham — I; cariṣye — I shall wander; tvām — You; hṛdi — in my heart; yuñjan — keeping; viśokaḥ — free from lamentation.
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.
Actually, sannyāsa, or renunciation of material household life, necessitates complete absorption in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and immersion in the self. One does not take sannyāsa, freedom from family responsibility in the renounced order of life, to make another family or to create an embarrassing transcendental fraud in the name of sannyāsa. The sannyāsī’s business is not to become proprietor of so many things and amass money from the innocent public. A sannyāsī is proud that he is always thinking of Kṛṣṇa within himself. Of course, there are two kinds of devotees of the Lord. One is called goṣṭhyānandī, 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 therefore remain 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.” 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.