SB 7.15.39 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

गृहस्थस्य क्रियात्यागो व्रतत्यागो वटोरपि । तपस्विनो ग्रामसेवा भिक्षोरिन्द्रियलोलता ॥ ३८ ॥ आश्रमापसदा ह्येते खल्वाश्रमविडम्बना: । देवमायाविमूढांस्तानुपेक्षेतानुकम्पया ॥ ३९ ॥

Verse text

gṛhasthasya kriyā-tyāgo vrata-tyāgo vaṭor api tapasvino grāma-sevā bhikṣor indriya-lolatā āśramāpasadā hy ete khalv āśrama-viḍambanāḥ deva-māyā-vimūḍhāṁs tān upekṣetānukampayā

Synonyms

gṛhasthasya — for a person situated in householder life ; kriyā — tyāgaḥ — to give up the duty of a householder ; vrata — tyāgaḥ — to give up vows and austerity ; vaṭoḥ — for a brahmacārī ; api — also ; tapasvinaḥ — for a vānaprastha, one who has adopted a life of austerities ; grāma — sevā — to live in a village and serve the people therein ; bhikṣoḥ — for a sannyāsī who lived by begging alms ; indriya — lolatā — addicted to sense enjoyment ; āśrama — of the spiritual orders of life ; apasadāḥ — the most abominable ; hi — indeed ; ete — all these ; khalu — indeed ; āśrama — viḍambanāḥ — imitating and therefore cheating the different spiritual orders ; deva — māyā — vimūḍhān — who are bewildered by the external energy of the Supreme Lord ; tān — them ; upekṣeta — one should reject and not accept as genuine ; anukampayā — or by compassion (teach them real life) .

Translation

It is abominable for a person living in the gṛhastha-āśrama to give up the regulative principles, for a brahmacārī not to follow the brahmacārī vows while living under the care of the guru, for a vānaprastha to live in the village and engage in so-called social activities, or for a sannyāsī to be addicted to sense gratification. One who acts in this way is to be considered the lowest renegade. Such a pretender is bewildered by the external energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and one should either reject him from any position, or taking compassion upon him, teach him, if possible, to resume his original position.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

It is abominable for a householder to give up his prescribed duties, for a brahmacārī not to follow his vows, for a vānaprastha to engage in village activities, or for a sannyāsī to be addicted to sense gratification. They are outcastes of their āśramas, cheaters of the āśramas. One should neglect giving them mercy, since they are bewildered by the Lord’s māyā. Lolatā means greed. One should neglect them concerning compassion. This means that when they die, one does not give them teachings on the truth out of mercy, since such teachings will be useless to them.

Purport

We have repeatedly stressed that human culture does not begin unless one takes to the principles of varṇāśrama-dharma. Although gṛhastha life is a concession for the enjoyment of sex, one cannot enjoy sex without following the rules and regulations of householder life. Furthermore, as already instructed, a brahmacārī must live under the care of the guru: brahmacārī gurukule vasan dānto guror hitam. If a brahmacārī does not live under the care of the guru, if a vānaprastha engages in ordinary activities, or if a sannyāsī is greedy and eats meat, eggs and all kinds of nonsense for the satisfaction of his tongue, he is a cheater and should immediately be rejected as unimportant. Such persons should be shown compassion, and if one has sufficient strength one should teach them to stop them from following the wrong path in life. Otherwise one should reject them and pay them no attention.