स स्वर्ग्यो भवति ब्रह्मचारी वेदमधीत्य वेदोक्ताचरितब्रह्मचर्यो दारानाहृत्य पुत्रानुत्पाद्य ताननुपादिभिर्वितत्येष्ट्वा च शक्तितो यज्ञैः । तस्य संन्यासो गुरुभिरनुज्ञातस्य बान्धवैश्च
sa svargyo bhavati brahmacārī vedamadhītya vedoktācaritabrahmacaryo dārānāhṛtya putrānutpādya tānanupādibhirvitatyeṣṭvā ca śaktito yajñaiḥ | tasya saṃnyāso gurubhiranujñātasya bāndhavaiśca
He becomes heavenly: as a student, having studied the Veda, having completed the studenthood prescribed by the Veda, having taken a wife, having begotten sons, having propagated them, and having honored the gods according to his means with sacrifices — his setting-aside comes with the permission of his teachers and kin.
ef48f80aa904 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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The order is named, and it is the very one disputed in these books: the four āśramas, the steps of life. First studenthood, then the household, then the forest, then setting-aside; and passage to the last is permitted not to everyone and not at any time. Two conditions stand here directly. First: first study the Veda, marry, beget sons, and offer sacrifices according to your means. Second, and more important: gurubhir anujñātasya bāndhavaiś ca, "with the permission of teachers and kin."
The second condition sounds unexpected today, and it is worth saying how reasonable it is. The one departing does not depart from a vacuum: behind him remain the old, children, debts; and the rule requires that those he leaves behind consent. Departure without their consent is not renunciation but flight, and the difference is visible not to the one departing, but to those left.
The Vaiṣṇava side holds this rule firmly and cites an example most fitting here. Before accepting sannyāsa, Caitanya asked his mother's permission and received it conditionally: she released him on condition that he live in Purī, where she could send people. To leave without asking would have been easier; he asked.
A separate word is worth saying about the word svargya, "heavenly, leading to heaven." What is promised is not liberation, but heaven; and in ancient books these are not the same. This distinction is honest: for a fulfilled order of life, what is promised is proportionate, not everything.