[I am Shankara Sastry. My son Nageswar wants to take ‘Sanyasa’. Can you give some advice to stop it? The Veda says that the parents are the direct God. Is he not having the responsibility to serve the direct God?]
Your name indicates that you are a follower of ‘Adi Shankara’ (Smartha tradition). Shankara also left His mother, the direct God for the sake of propagation of knowledge of the God. Why have you not criticized Shankara? In the same aspect you are criticizing your son. Therefore, you are unaware of the truth. Father and mother are the direct God as far as this world is concerned. But once the God competes with the parents, they are to be left for the sake of God. The Veda says ‘Matru Devah Pitru Devah’ which mean that parents are the God as far as the world is concerned and God is the parent when God enters one’s life. Thus the word in the Veda has two meanings accepted by grammar. If your son is leaving you in the love of his wife or his children or some other human being in the world, he should be criticized. In such case the responsibility is broken and he will be punished. But if one leaves his parents in the love of God, it is not a sin and there is no failure of the responsibility. Therefore ‘Adi Shankara’ left his mother for the sake of God. By this His mother got eternal salvation. Had Shankara stayed in that hut, He might have served His mother for this petty lifetime and that is a temporary benefit compared to the eternal salvation. If other worldly things spoil your son, I can advise him to marry and settle to serve his parents. But when he is starting the journey towards God, if anyone pulls him back, that person becomes the greatest sinner. The God will be angry with him because he is not even coming towards God but he is also dragging back somebody who turned towards God. If one is drawn towards the bad attractions of the world and is doing wrong things, you can divert him towards justice. But if one is towards the spiritual path, he should not be diverted to the worldly justice. God is greater than the justice because God protects the justice. If one is falling down you can bring him up. But if one is going towards the sky you should not pull him down to the earth. If one is spending time in spiritual discussions and is not feeling hungry, you should not force him for meals. If he feels hungry, you can advise him to take meals and again participate in the divine discussion. In the one-hour discussion even if half an hour goes for meals, the rest half an hour becomes fruitful in the discussion. The worst is to sit in the discussion with hunger and not applying the mind towards the discussion. In such case he wasted the entire hour. Thus hypocrisy should be avoided. Similarly instead of continuing in Sanyasa with internal worldly desires, it is better to lead a married life and participate in the service of the Lord sincerely atleast for sometime. Thus you can advise your son that he should not take Sanyasa if even a trace of his mind is on the worldly pleasures. Even after taking Sanyasa if his mind is attracted towards the worldly pleasures, he should come back to the household life instead of continuing in Sanyasa with hypocrisy. Thus Sanyasa without any hypocrisy is the best. The next best is the household life. The worst is the Sanyasa with hypocrisy. This is the real essence of all the Vedas. People should not misinterpret the Vedas and state that parents are the God and there is no other God. If that is so ‘Prahlada’ should not have left his father. Shankara should not have left His mother. Infact cutting all these worldly bonds with parents, wife, children and money is the real salvation. The existence of the only bond with the Lord is called ‘Kaivalyam’ or ‘Sayujyam’.
Your name indicates that you are a follower of ‘Adi Shankara’ (Smartha tradition). Shankara also left His mother, the direct God for the sake of propagation of knowledge of the God. Why have you not criticized Shankara? In the same aspect you are criticizing your son. Therefore, you are unaware of the truth. Father and mother are the direct God as far as this world is concerned. But once the God competes with the parents, they are to be left for the sake of God. The Veda says ‘Matru Devah Pitru Devah’ which mean that parents are the God as far as the world is concerned and God is the parent when God enters one’s life. Thus the word in the Veda has two meanings accepted by grammar. If your son is leaving you in the love of his wife or his children or some other human being in the world, he should be criticized. In such case the responsibility is broken and he will be punished. But if one leaves his parents in the love of God, it is not a sin and there is no failure of the responsibility. Therefore ‘Adi Shankara’ left his mother for the sake of God. By this His mother got eternal salvation. Had Shankara stayed in that hut, He might have served His mother for this petty lifetime and that is a temporary benefit compared to the eternal salvation. If other worldly things spoil your son, I can advise him to marry and settle to serve his parents. But when he is starting the journey towards God, if anyone pulls him back, that person becomes the greatest sinner. The God will be angry with him because he is not even coming towards God but he is also dragging back somebody who turned towards God. If one is drawn towards the bad attractions of the world and is doing wrong things, you can divert him towards justice. But if one is towards the spiritual path, he should not be diverted to the worldly justice. God is greater than the justice because God protects the justice. If one is falling down you can bring him up. But if one is going towards the sky you should not pull him down to the earth. If one is spending time in spiritual discussions and is not feeling hungry, you should not force him for meals. If he feels hungry, you can advise him to take meals and again participate in the divine discussion. In the one-hour discussion even if half an hour goes for meals, the rest half an hour becomes fruitful in the discussion. The worst is to sit in the discussion with hunger and not applying the mind towards the discussion. In such case he wasted the entire hour. Thus hypocrisy should be avoided. Similarly instead of continuing in Sanyasa with internal worldly desires, it is better to lead a married life and participate in the service of the Lord sincerely atleast for sometime. Thus you can advise your son that he should not take Sanyasa if even a trace of his mind is on the worldly pleasures. Even after taking Sanyasa if his mind is attracted towards the worldly pleasures, he should come back to the household life instead of continuing in Sanyasa with hypocrisy. Thus Sanyasa without any hypocrisy is the best. The next best is the household life. The worst is the Sanyasa with hypocrisy. This is the real essence of all the Vedas. People should not misinterpret the Vedas and state that parents are the God and there is no other God. If that is so ‘Prahlada’ should not have left his father. Shankara should not have left His mother. Infact cutting all these worldly bonds with parents, wife, children and money is the real salvation. The existence of the only bond with the Lord is called ‘Kaivalyam’ or ‘Sayujyam’.
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