Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.19.22

vīraś cāśvam upādāya

pitṛ-yajñam athāvrajat

tad avadyaḿ hare rūpaḿ

jagṛhur jñāna-durbalāḥ

SYNONYMS

vīraḥ — the son of King Pṛthu; ca — also; aśvam — the horse; upādāya — taking; pitṛ-yajñam — to the sacrificial arena of his father; atha — thereafter; avrajat — went; tat — that; avadyam — abominable; hareḥ — of Indra; rūpam — dress; jagṛhuḥ — adopted; jñāna-durbalāḥ — those with a poor fund of knowledge.

TRANSLATION

Then the great hero, Vijitāśva, the son of King Pṛthu, again took the horse and returned to his father's sacrificial arena. Since that time, certain men with a poor fund of knowledge have adopted the dress of a false sannyāsī. It was King Indra who introduced this.

PURPORT

Since time immemorial, the sannyāsa order has carried the tridaṇḍa. Later Śańkarācārya introduced the ekadaṇḍi-sannyāsa. A tridaṇḍi-sannyāsī is a Vaiṣṇava sannyāsī, and an ekadaṇḍi-sannyāsī is a Māyāvādī sannyāsī. There are many other types of sannyāsīs, who are not approved by Vedic rituals. A type of pseudo-sannyāsa was introduced by Indra when he tried to hide himself from the attack of Vijitāśva, the great son of King Pṛthu. Now there are many different types of sannyāsīs. Some of them go naked, and some of them carry a skull and trident, generally known as kāpālika. All of them were introduced under some meaningless circumstances, and those who have a poor fund of knowledge accept these false sannyāsīs and their pretenses, although they are not bona fide guides to spiritual advancement. At the present moment some missionary institutions, without referring to the Vedic rituals, have introduced some sannyāsīs who engage in sinful activities. The sinful activities forbidden by the śāstras are illicit sex, intoxication, meat-eating and gambling. These so-called sannyāsīs indulge in all these activities. They eat meat and flesh, fish, eggs and just about everything. They sometimes drink with the excuse that without alcohol, fish and meat, it is impossible to remain in the cold countries near the Arctic zone. These sannyāsīs introduce all these sinful activities in the name of serving the poor, and consequently poor animals are cut to pieces and go into the bellies of these sannyāsīs. As described in the following verses, such sannyāsīs are pākhaṇḍīs. Vedic literature states that a person who puts Lord Nārāyaṇa on the level with Lord Śiva or Lord Brahmā immediately becomes a pākhaṇḍī. As stated in the Purāṇas:

yas tu nārāyaṇaḿ devaḿ

brahma-rudrādi-daivataiḥ

samatvenaiva vīkṣeta

sa pāṣaṇḍī bhaved dhruvam

In Kali-yuga the pākhaṇḍīs are very prominent. However, Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has tried to kill all these pākhaṇḍīs by introducing His sańkīrtana movement. Those who take advantage of this sańkīrtana movement of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness will be able to save themselves from the influence of these pākhaṇḍīs.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness