Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmrita Ādi 7.34

cabbiśa vatsara chilā grihastha-āśrame

pañca-vimśati varshe kaila yati-dharme

SYNONYMS

cabbiśa — twenty-four; vatsara — years; chilā — He remained; grihastha — householder life; āśrame — the order of; pañca — five; vimśati — twenty; varshe — in the year; kaila — did; yati-dharme — accepted the sannyāsa order.

TRANSLATION

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu remained in householder life for twenty-four years, and on the verge of His twenty-fifth year He accepted the sannyāsa order.

PURPORT

There are four orders of spiritual life, namely, brahmacarya, grihastha, vānaprastha and sannyāsa, and in each of these āśramas there are four divisions. The divisions of the brahmacarya-āśrama are sāvitrya, prājāpatya, brāhma and brihat, and the divisions of the grihasthāśrama are vārtā (professionals), sañcaya (accumulators), śālīna (those who do not ask anything from anyone) and śiloñchana (those who collect grains from the paddy fields). Similarly, the divisions of the vānaprastha-āśrama are vaikhānasa, vālakhilya, audumbara and phenapa, and the divisions of sannyāsa are kutīcaka, bahūdaka, hamsa and nishkriya. There are two kinds of sannyāsīs, who are called dhīras and narottamas, as stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.13.26-27). At the end of the month of January in the year 1432 śakābda (A.D. 1510), Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted the sannyāsa order from Keśava Bhāratī, who belonged to the Śańkara-sampradāya.

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