THE GLORY OF SANNYASA

[Ms Tercy Lonan]

THE GLORY OF SANNYASA
We, as seekers of Truth, have first of all to bear in mind that there is a twofold aspect in
which Sannyasa pervades our life. In its purely spiritual aspect, Sannyasa embodies the highest
spirit of Nivritti, viz., the total negation of names and forms, and the masterful and purposeful
assertion of the One Reality, beyond all names and forms, that is Brahman or the Self. This is the
highest outcome of the highest Vedantic Sadhana. This is the innermost core of the culture of

Bharatavarsha, the highest and the only aim of human existence according to the Hindu genius. Not
only this physical universe, but the countless number of universes that exist as a drop in the infinite
ocean of Satchidananda are negated in order to ever remain immersed in the blissful consciousness
of the Atman.
To realise this great end and aim, our ancient sages and saints have interwoven and blended
into the fabric of our social life the four Asramas, viz., Brahmacharya, Grihastha, Vanaprastha and
Sannyasa, to effect a gradual unfoldment of this spirit stage by stage in the life of an individual. In
the Brahmacharya Asrama, or the student-life, one has to live with his Guru, give up all distracting
thoughts and give himself up completely to the study of scriptures, living a life of self-control,
purity, simplicity, austerity, attention to studies and obedience to and service of the preceptor. In the
next stage, he lives an ideal life of a householder with selflessness, self-sacrifice and
self-effacement as his mottoes. This is the preparation for the next stage, viz., Vanaprastha, where
he has to discipline himself to enter the life of Sannyasa.
In the Sannyasa life, meditation and collecting food for his livelihood were the Dharmas
enjoined upon the man who had done all his duties to society, to the nation, to his own family and to
his friends. He has now no more attachment and has but to fulfil the one great duty, i.e., of
meditation upon the Self, and realisation. Thus, in the last stage of the social order, viz., Sannyasa,
we have the highest spirit which embodies the soul’s upsurge from finitude to infinitude. This is the
natural and dynamic movement of every soul which strives to break all finite bonds and cast aside
all traces of attachment; and completely shattering the illusion of duality and phenomenal
existence, it strives to soar into the splendour of Atmic-Consciousness.
This innate urge of the individual is the spiritual aspect of Sannyasa for which no social
order exists. It depends upon the intensity of the soul’s urge, upon the thirst for Self-realisation
which seizes the Jiva that has been awakened to the transient nature of the phenomena and to the
ever-present Reality that is its very nature.
The real meaning and the true glory of Sannyasa can be best understood by devoutly
observing saints and men of God who are the living embodiments of the highest and the best in
Sannyasa. They personify Sannyasa in the truest sense of the term. Gurudev Sri Swami Sivanandaji
Maharaj is verily the greatest exemplar of the true Sannyasa-spirit. Every act of his is the
illuminating revealer of the secrets of real renunciation.
The spirit of Sannyasa has been misunderstood to be a sort of retreat to the quiescent and a
sort of escapism which arises out of inability to face life. That sort of Sannyasa stands
self-condemned. Sannyasa is infinite strength. By escaping from active struggle of earthly life, an
individual cannot escape his Prarabdha (destiny). This is an illusion which people who do not know
the law of Karma hold on to. He who understands would not dare to enter this fiery order of
Sannyasa in order to escape from the struggle of life. Fate will show that he is woefully mistaken.
Those very Karmas which he has sought to escape in secular life will stand before him, ruthless and
pitiless, and he will have to work them out with compound interest.
Sannyasa is based upon heroism. The real soldier in the Adhyatmic (spiritual) field is he
who has dared to see life as it is, who knows that everything in this world is a transitory dream; and

having the courage of this conviction that the world is unreal, he has risen above the strong bonds of
attachment to sensual objects and has come into the life where the greatest of all struggles has to be
worked out—a struggle against one’s own nature. There is no greater difficulty in the world than to
attempt to wipe out the feeling or consciousness of one’s individual existence—‘I am
good-looking, talented’ and all the hosts of associations and Adhyasas which cling to the normal
human consciousness—and to instil in its place the grand consciousness, ‘I am not this body,’ ‘I am
not this mind,’ ‘I am Satchidananda Atman,’ ‘I am all-pervading and infinite, beyond birth and
death, endowed with countless powers.’ This is real heroism. In trying to do this one has to give
battle to age-old instincts which one has acquired through crores of births through which the
Jiva-consciousness has passed. This is not the struggle of a day. It may well be the struggle of a
lifetime, and many a time one has to face defeat and downfall.
The heroism of a Sannyasin lies in the fact that he will not be a coward. He admits of no
failure, of no setback. For him all these elements in the struggle are steps which take him nearer and
nearer to the grand ideal, to the great goal having reached which he will be able to declare: Deho
naham, Jivo naham; Pratyagabhinna Atmaivaham—I am not this body, nor the Jiva; I am the
innermost indivisible Atman. Every effort put forth is in the nature of an achievement, never in the
nature of a loss.
A Sannyasin is one whose life is based upon supreme Tyaga, upon perfect desirelessness.
He has to give up all desire for this gross, physical, external world; even the desire for highest
enjoyment in heaven. From a blade of grass to highest Brahman, all is dust for a Sannyasin. He rises
above them and asserts his Atmic nature. His life is, therefore, based upon renunciation. He does
not bestow too much attention upon his physical body, whether it is praised or censured, respected
or ill-treated. He ever strives to dwell in the consciousness of the Atman. Reflect over the above and
judge what you are.
A Sannyasin’s life is composed of the three factors of total renunciation, of a blazing
aspiration for the Infinite, of spotless purity. A total renunciation is the negative aspect of his life,
the blazing aspiration is the positive aspect in between, and spotless purity is the fabric of which his
life is made up. Positive p is the one condition of the descent of Divine consciousness into his
receptacle. Keeping this as the model pattern of the Sannyasin’s life, may we all ever struggle to
come out of the intoxication of ego-consciousness, of this fever,
Kama-Krodha-Lobha-Madha-Matsarya disease, this Samsaric disease which can be cured only
through correct understanding of Sannyasa and Brahma-Chintana. If all pain and sorrow are to
cease for ever, we have to take to Sannyasa. If our life is to blaze forth as peace and blessedness,
Sannyasa, and Sannyasa alone, is the one way. For, it is selfishness that is at the root of all miseries
upon the earth, of all fights and quarrels, all problems, all wars and hostilities; every sorrow and
every misery that is now rampant in human society has at its root the Asuric trait of gross
selfishness, where man wants everything for himself and does not care what happens to others in the
process of fulfilling this craving for getting things for himself. Sannyasa cuts at the very root of this
Asuric trait, for Sannyasa is based upon unselfishness and renunciation of selfishness; and if
selfishness is renounced everything is renounced. Renunciation of selfishness means, if I may say
so, renunciation of all desires for it is selfishness that takes the form of desire for various things for
oneself. Therefore, the real spirit of Sannyasa may be stated in the simple term, complete

desirelessness. In the light of this consider and evaluate your life and ascertain where you stand.
Resolve freshly and strive boldly onward.
It is the duty of every aspiring seeker and earnest Sannyasin to try to take note without fail of
two significant factors, namely, theoretical conception of Sannyasa as laid down in the authoritative
scriptures and the practical living of Sannyasa in one’s life as immortalised by the vital tradition of
this great land. What does the true discerning Hindu take Sannyasa to be? We know that Sannyasa is
the fourth order or stage in life (Asrama). The individual entering this stage of life gets the Diksha
through the Guru and performs Viraja Homa (sacrifice). It is this Viraja Homa that gives you the
right clue and right answer to what Sannyasa implies. Viraja Homa throws a flood of light upon the
true meaning of Sannyasa. Sannyasa means annihilation of the old, deluded, egoistic
consciousness. It means the burning of all desires and attachments in the blazing fire of absolute
renunciation. It means reducing to ashes the last vestige of physical consciousness. It is the
emergence of a glorious, new consciousness. “I am neither body nor mind, immortal Self am I” is
the consciousness of a Sannyasin, whose body, mind, senses, Pranas and the ego all have been
offered up in the Viraja Homa flames. It is the supreme renunciation. Sannyasa therefore implies
Sarva-Tyaga. Hence his daily vow becomes: “I renounce the pleasures of this world. I renounce the
pleasure of the astral world. I renounce the pleasures of heaven.”
All desires are annihilated for anything here or in the hereafter. At this juncture we are given
a startling revelation. We find that at the top of this great renunciation comes another vow. For, the
monk declares: “I will not cause fear to any being.” The monk gives the promise of absolute
fearlessness to all creatures, whereby no living being need fear of any harm from him. By this he
pledges himself to Visva-Prema or universal love. For, fear can exist only where harm or pain is
forthcoming, and the latter are manifest only where hatred or animosity is present. But where love
becomes enshrined, only loving service and joy flow forth and all creatures may fearlessly partake
of it with perfect assurance and confidence. Such universal love and service are therefore the
spontaneous offshoots of Mahatyaga or supreme abandonment of selfishness. Therefore these two
great and sublime elements of Tyaga, i.e., abandonment of desires for name, fame and reward, and
Seva, i.e., service to the sick, poor and needy—constitute the sublime elements in the spirit of
Sannyasa. Tyaga is for Atmasakshatkara or Self-realisation. Therefore service and Self-realisation
form the lofty twin impulses that move in the life of a true Sannyasin taking him towards the
attainment of the highest consciousness of Truth Absolute.