[Advaita-l] Sanyasin and his duties toward his ancestors

[jaldhar at braincells.com]

On Tue, 11 Jul 2023, Srimugunthan Dhandapani via Advaita-l wrote:

> Hi all,
> I am trying to understand sanyasa dharma and a householder's dharma.
> For a householder , not doing pinda darpan alone results in pithru dosha.

Yes.  We are born with three debts, to the Devas which is paid by pujas 
etc.  To Pitrs which is paid by tarpana etc. as you say, and to the Rshis 
which is paid by study of shastras etc.

>
> On the other hand, If one takes up sanyasa, then he renounces his family
> relations and his relationship with his parents. So he cant
>
> 1. Take care of his parents when they are old.
> 2. Will not have a child . So he doesnt help in the Propagation of his
> family clan or growing the family lineage.
> 3. Will not offer pinda darpana or shradda ceremony to their ancestors
>

Yes.  Well, to clarify this is true of the paramahamsa.  There are other 
grades of sannyasis mentioned in dharmashastras that are involved in karma 
to some degree but as Advaita Vedanta only considers the paramahamsa to be 
capable of jivanmukti what you say is true.

> But sanyasa is hailed as supreme. In common perception, all of the
> above causes pain to his parents and indirectly to his ancestors too.
>

> Shouldn't there be a consequence of a renunciate not-doing of 
> pinda-darpana to his ancestors, not taking care of parents doing old 
> age, not having a offspring for the propagation of the clan?  Is it 
> considered during the sanyasa rituals ?


When you enter a debt by e.g. signing a loan with the bank, you put your 
signature and promise that "I will repay this amount in this amount of 
time" and so on.  So too with these divine debts there is the notion that 
"I" must repay them.  But for the vidvan paramahamsa there is no "I".  He 
is only Brahman.  And as these Pitrs, Devas etc. are also Brahman they are 
his own self.  So far from abandoning them, he has brought them the 
closest degree possible.

One has to above all be honest with oneself.  Am I able to renounce all 
ties with my loved ones?  Will anyone suffer as a result of my decision. 
If there is any obstacle one should wait to take sannyasa until those 
obstacles are cleared.  I have faced this issue myself.  People have said 
Jaldhar you tell other people about vairagya and so on but why haven't you 
taken sannyasa yourself?  I have a mother who is 82 years old.  I have a 
wife and two children who depend on me.  And I am attached to them. 
Intellectually I know these bonds are moha but there they are.  If I were 
to take sannyasa and abandon them I would indeed suffer evil karmic 
consequences.  So I try and be diligent in svadhyaya and my grhastha 
dharma until such time as the circumstances become more favorable to 
renunciation.

This is why though the Brahmasutras say one can take sannyasa from any 
ashrama (or none like e.g. Shukadevaji) the practical Smarta tradition is 
one should take it in the last stage of life after all the obligations are 
met.

-- 
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>