Last Updated on August 12, 2024 by Tejaswini
Sanyas ashram is a stage of the life of a Hindu/ follower of Sanatan Dharma. If you are a Hindu you will take Sanyas at some point of time in your life. It is compulsory. Bhagwa is the color of Sanyas and emphasises spirituality and the path to enlightenment.
Sanyas is taken up at the following ages
- Age 18yrs – if after completing the education /Balyashram and before getting married, if someone is very clear that he or she wants to focus only on Moksh Purushartha then he or she can take formal Sanyas. Go to an ashram and study under a competent Guru.
- From Marriage to the age of retirement – A person can take up formal Sanyas only if the spouse agrees and gives formal permission. After this the he/ she has to go to an Ashram and study under a competent Guru.
- Age of retirement which is currently 60yrs – After completing the duties of married life, after living as a householder, having children, raising them etc, if someone wants to focus on Moksh then he or she can take Sanyas now. He or she can either live in an Ashram or at least be associated with an Ashram and study under a competent Guru.
- Post retirement – I consider people beyond 65yrs to be in this category. Ideally at this age, the mind should have become completely disinterested in the matters of material life. As the body starts failing and the loved ones start moving away, a sense of detachment should encourage the person to at least now take up Sanyasashram. Thus ideally after the age of 65yrs everyone must accept that now it is now or never and focus on the Self and take up Sanyas. It might not be possible to live in an Ashram at this age but at least being associated with a competent Guru, or even reading his books etc is very much advisable.
Sanyasis wear saffron clothes – Bhagwa.
Bhagwa is the most auspicious color of Sanatan Dharma. Every Sanyasi is respected and considered to be the embodiment of the Eternal only because he or she wears the Bhagwa. This ‘Bhagwa’ inspires us to follow Dharma till our last breath.
We understand Bhagwa to be the ‘color of renunciation’. But it is much more than that.
Some of us know that it is the color of the rising Sun. The logic being that the rising Sun dispels the darkness of the night so does the Bhagwa herald the dawning of Atmajnyan. Bhagwa is the answer to the question, ‘Who Am I?’. The one who is in the quest of this answer adorns the body with the Bhagwa, to reaffirm his intention, to be alert all the time.
A few of us know that Bhagwa to be the color of the dying embers of a raging fire. As the ferocious fire of desire is quenched with understanding and knowledge of the Self, it leaves behind the Bhagwa, the embers. As we live our lives, in our hunger for desire after desire, the flames of desire setting out minds into continual motion. First one then another experience, always wanting to consume more and more. This unending fire of desire is the single most powerful impediment to the realisation of the Self. The one who understands this and wants to quench this raging fire, takes Sanyas and proclaims his intention. He adorns his body with the Bhagwa as a constant reminder to himself.
If someone wears the Bhagwa he or she is also proclaiming his desireless state to everyone or at least his intention to attain the desireless state. It should not matter to him or her if there is insult or invitation, love or hate, respect or disrespect, he/she striving to go beyond all this. This is the final objective and this is the real nature of the Bhagwa. When you realise the Self, claim the Eternal to be your own nature, desires are not possible. When you yourself are the whole, infinite, limitless, everything what else is there to be desired? This is the Atmajnyani. And the intention to realise this Atmajnyan is the Bhagwa.
Bhagwa is this understanding that spirituality is the concept of oneness, of non difference and non duality.
A person in Sanyas ashram has accepted that the body is going to be destroyed. With every moment passing by, the fire of time is eating away at the body, burning it slowly. The Sanyasi understands the power of the Kalaagni, the fire of time and accepts this fact with a calm mind. This mindset is what ‘taking the fire of the Anteyshti into the Self’ means. And the person who rises above this and utilises all his energy single-mindedly for realising Moksh wears the Bhagwa.
And for the householders in the society, the Sanyasi is respected and honoured precisely because he is indifferent to this honor. Generally if a regular person gets so much honor, it will go to his head and inflate his arrogance, self ego and ahamkaar. But the Sanyasi knows that this respect is given to the Bhagwa and not to the individual person thus remains indifferent.
A simple example from regular life. Suppose I am a high level police officer and for 38yrs I get respect, the juniors salute, etc. But the very next day after I retire, no one is going to salute me anymore. So I should understand that the salutes, the deference was to the uniform and not to the person ‘Tejaswini’. All the respect that one gets is for the ‘uniform’. eg if someone tells you that you know a lot then remember that the ‘uniform’ is Devi Sarasvati’s. If some tells you that you have loads of wealth, then it is Devi Laxmi’s ‘uniform’. If you have this conceptual clarity then you live life in your own ‘masti’/ happiness.
Back to the topic. The stuff above was my interpretation, understanding and experience of what our Dharma books say.
Now I will use technical language, the ‘scientific’ words of Sanatan Dharma in a step wise flow, try to follow and see where it takes you. I will not write in depth – a small hint is enough for the wise. I will apply Vyakran – cognitive linguistics by Rishi Panini, Nirukta – semantic etymology by Rishi Yaska and refer to both Ved and Tantra Granths of Sanatan Dharma, – Vishnu Puran (Puran) and also in Bhagwat Gita (Itihas and Vedant), both are by Maharishi Vedvyas and Kaamkalavilas by Swami Punyanand.
- Bhagwa is a word derived from the Sanskrit word Bhaga.
- Bhaga – reproductive organs, yoni, love, excellence, majesty, welfare, Moon, Sun, Nakshatra, gracious patron, opulent Lord, good fortune, etc.
- Bhaga is the shad aishwaryadi sampatti, ie the six most excellent wealths – Samagra Aishwarya, Yash, Keerti, Vairagya, Shree and Jnyan.
- Bhag is the six pointed star of Dharma, the Shatkon. I have written about the Shatkon in a previous post so not repeating it here.
- Bhagwan is the one who posses the Bhag भग.
(Sanyas is a very deep word. I might discuss it briefly in this technical style in some future post.)
This is the way Shaastra is understood and applied using the ‘science’ of Dharma to gain tangible understanding. It is the job of the genuine Guru to teach this ‘Bhagwa’ and the work of the student to learn, understand and claim the ‘Bhagwan’ for himself/ herself. This is the real Guru shishya parampara of Sanatan Dharma. A genuine Guru does not create shishyas, a genuine Guru always creates a genuine Guru.
There are several ‘science subjects’ in Sanatan Dharma, a few are, Darshan, Mimansa, Sambhandha, Jyotish, Ank, Rasayan, Shulbavijnyan, Ayurved, Nyaya, Visheshika, Sankhya, Niti, Sahitya, Nrutya, Shilpa, Vastu, Mantra etc. And each one of them if applied correctly under the guidance of a capable Guru, ie an Atmajnyani Guru can be used to recognise and claim the Self.
Just reading books and learning shlok by heart is just half of what is required. Reading books without understanding creates ahamkaar/ ego of Satvagun. Ahamkaar is a product of the three gun, Tamas, Rajas and Satva. Only when all the three are neutralised by understanding can the Self be claimed.
This is also why Vedant and Tantra go together, are the same and have to be understood together to be able to claim the Self. If you cannot understand in words then use the visual yantra and understand.
This is the Bhagwa, the Bhagwan and the Sanyasi. And is only the Bhagwa which leads to Neti Neti or the Paramshiva or the Anirvachaniya, ie the Self.
So if you are a follower of Sanatan Dharma, use your own intelligence, read the books – our granths, read their commentaries by genuine Atmajnyani Mahapurush. Learn something new everyday. And always think for yourself. We are Hindus, we value emotion but we value intelligence even more. Remember that the Vijnyanmaykosh is subtler than the Manomaykosh so try to develop critical thinking.
Whatever you do is your own choice, your action and your fruit alone. So choose your path wisely to attain your chosen goal.
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