Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 11.18.1
Manvantara· The Manus and right dutyGradually Prepare for Renunciation
“The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: One who desires to adopt the third order of life, vānaprastha, should enter the forest with a peaceful mind, leaving his wife with his mature sons, or else taking her along with him.”
What the purport teaches
- Vānaprastha is a gradual transition from materialistic family life to complete renunciation.
- One should enter this third order of life with a peaceful mind, leaving one’s wife with mature sons or taking her along.
- The suggested ages of fifty for vānaprastha and seventy-five for sannyāsa assume a hundred-year life. Since such longevity is unusual in Kali-yuga, the schedule should be adjusted.
Try this today
Identify one material attachment you could begin to reduce gradually.
Ask yourself
How could I begin reducing material attachments with a peaceful mind?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
From Canto 10, chapter 14 onward, the translation and purports were completed by Śrīla Prabhupāda's disciples after his departure, and published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.