The Sannyāsa Mantra (04/27/14)

The Sannyāsa Mantra (04/27/14)

Daṇḍavats Śrīpāda ______ Swami,

Thank you for your email. Although I certainly have my complaints and lack of appreciation for Iskcon leadership, it must also be said that there are many nice, sincere and non-offensive devotees in Iskcon.

Although I stand by everything I said in my previous email I also feel that a blanket policy on my part is not proper. It is only fair to consider an individual based on their merit and not simply based on the society they affiliate with. Although as Prabhupāda has said, “You can tell about a man from the company he keeps.”

There are numerous things concerning sannyāsa that Iskcon is either behind the curve on, or completely in the dark about. For example, when and how the sannyāsa-mantra is chanted in relation to the other gāyatrīs that we chant everyday. The internal status of a sannyāsī in relationship to rāgānuga-bhakti. The sannyāsa-mantra paramparā and how to award names for sannyāsīs according to the sannyāsa paramparā line from Sarasvatī Ṭhākura. How to make a daṇḍa and how many threads should be in the brāhmaṇa thread and why, etc.

Some of these are small and unimportant details, while other points mentioned are quintessential to success as a sannyāsī. Once, when speaking with Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja, he commented how sannyāsa-mantra was the quintessential mantra for rāga-mārga or rāgānuga-bhakti and that its meaning was all important.

Anyway, the sannyāsa-mantra translation and commentary is very short, so I will send that to you as soon as I locate it on my backup hard drive.

Hope this meets you well.

Swami Narasingha