Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 11 Chapter 18 Verse 17

Canto 11: General History | Chapter 18: Description of Varṇāśrama-dharma

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 11.18.17

maunānīhānilāyāmā

daṇḍā vāg-deha-cetasām

na hy ete yasya santy ańga

veṇubhir na bhaved yatiḥ

SYNONYMS

mauna — avoiding useless speech; anīha — giving up fruitive activities; anila-āyāmāḥ — controlling the breathing process; daṇḍāḥ — strict disciplines; vāk — of the voice; deha — of the body; cetasām — of the mind; na — not; hi — indeed; ete — these disciplines; yasya — of whom; santi — exist; ańga — My dear Uddhava; veṇubhiḥ — by bamboo rods; na — never; bhavet — is; yatiḥ — a real sannyāsī.

TRANSLATION

One who has not accepted the three internal disciplines of avoiding useless speech, avoiding useless activities and controlling the life air can never be considered a sannyāsī merely because of his carrying bamboo rods.

PURPORT

The word daṇḍa indicates the staff carried by those in the renounced order of life, and daṇḍa also indicates severe discipline. The Vaiṣṇava sannyāsīs accept a staff made of three bamboo rods, signifying dedication of the body, mind and words to the service of the Supreme Lord. Here Lord Kṛṣṇa says that one must first accept these three daṇḍas, or disciplines (namely control of the voice, body and mind), within oneself. The practice of anilāyāma (or prāṇāyāma, regulating the life air) is meant to control the mind, and one who always thinks of service to Lord Kṛṣṇa has certainly achieved the perfection of prāṇāyāma. Merely carrying the three external daṇḍas without assimilating the internal daṇḍas of bodily, mental and vocal discipline can never make one an actual Vaiṣṇava sannyāsī, as explained here by Lord Kṛṣṇa.

In the Haḿsa-gītā section of Mahābhārata and in Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī's Upadeśāmṛta, there are instructions regarding the sannyāsa order of life. A conditioned soul who adopts only the external ornaments of tridaṇḍī-sannyāsa will not actually be able to control the senses. One who takes sannyāsa for false prestige, making a show of saintliness without actual advancement in kṛṣṇa-kīrtana, will soon be vanquished by the external energy of the Lord.

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