Renunciation of Gaudiya sampradaya is founded on the principles established by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the vairagya-shiromani, the Supreme Enjoyer having taken the position of renouncing all kinds of enjoyment. That was the opulence of renunciation shown by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
Mahaprabhu rejected all kinds of false renunciation. He would called false renunciation as “markata vairagya”, or the renunciation of a monkey. A monkey, apparently is seen to wander naked, without any home for himself, but he has affairs with dozens of she-monkeys.
Markata Vairagya as in Giving up Asrama or SEVA
The first time Mahaprabhu chastised anyone for exhibiting false renunciation was his dear servant Srila Raghunath Dasa Goswami. Dasa Goswami wanted to desperately leave the shackles of family life and join Mahaprabhu’s mission. He met Mahaprabhu in Santipur after taking permission of his parents. He had tried many times to leave his home, but he was unsuccessful in his attempts. Mahaprabhu didn’t approve of his premature leaving, and suggested him to be internally renounced.
”sthira hañā ghare yāo, nā hao vātula
krame krame pāya loka bhava-sindhu-kūla
Be patient and return home. Don’t be a crazy fellow. By and by you will be able to cross the ocean of material existence.
markaṭa-vairāgya nā kara loka dekhāñā
yathā-yogya viṣaya bhuñja’ anāsakta hañā
You should not make yourself a showbottle devotee and become a false renunciant. For the time being, enjoy the material world in a befitting way and do not become attached to it.
antare niṣṭhā kara, bāhye loka-vyavahāra
acirāt kṛṣṇa tomāya karibe uddhāra
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu continued, ”Within your heart you should keep yourself very faithful, but externally you may behave like an ordinary man. Thus Kṛṣṇa will soon be very pleased and deliver you from the clutches of māyā. CC Madhya 16.237 -239
Any person living in the grhastha ashrama cannot, and must not prematurely leave that asrama because of the obstacles being faced in family life. One must learn the art of keeping Krishna within, while simultaneously being engaged in his or her occupational work.
Trying to give up one’s service because of lack of enthusiasm, or lack of results is also markata vairagya. We need to be renounced from our egoistic conceptions of what we desire from our service. As Maharapbhu says, it pleases Krishna, and one will very soon be delivered.
Markata Vairagya as in Exhibition of FALSE Renunciation
Another example wherein Mahaprabhu didn’t approve of a person’s renunciation was Chota Haridasa. Chota Haridasa was a sannyasi, and once he engaged in conversation with Madhavi Devi in order to beg rice from her. Mahaprabhu could understand the fault of Chota Haridasa, and he told Govinda not to allow Chota Haridasa to see Him.
prabhu kahe,—”vairāgī kare prakṛti sambhāṣaṇa
dekhite nā pāroṅ āmi tāhāra vadana
The Lord replied, ”I cannot tolerate seeing the face of a person who has accepted the renounced order of life but who still talks intimately with a woman. Antya 2.117
kṣudra-jīva saba markaṭa-vairāgya kariyā
indriya carāñā bule ’prakṛti’ sambhāṣiyā”
There are many persons with little in their possession who accept the renounced order of life like monkeys. They go here and there engaging in sense gratification and speaking intimately with women. Antya 2.120
When devotees again requested Mahaprabhu to forgive Chota Haridasa, Mahaprabhu said,
prabhu kahe,—”mora vaśa nahe mora mana
prakṛti-sambhāṣī vairāgī nā kare darśana
My mind is not under My control. It does not like to see anyone in the renounced order who talks intimately with women.
Mahaprabhu never met Chota Haridasa in his life. After one year, seeing Mahaprabhu’s resolution to not meet him, Chota Haridasa drowned himself in the Triveni at Prayaga.
Bhaktivinode Thakura writes, “It can be concluded that if a renunciate watches a woman in a theatre and observes her gestures, he undoubtedly behaves like a markaṭa-vairāgī. Any renunciate who indulges in listening to dramas or goes to the theatre is at fault. He is an insignificant jīva, i.e. one who has weakness of heart (hṛdaya-daurbalyā) yet he carries the marks of a renunciate. In other words, by conversing with women he is allowing his senses to wander. The markaṭa-vairāgīs who visit women in the name of begging or mādhukarī, all the renunciates who talk with women under the pretext of collecting alms can never remain or take a position in the sampradāya of Mahāprabhu.”
Those who are in householder life must not show false signs of renunciation, and those in the renounced order must maintain the principles given by Mahaprabhu for renunciates. Bhaktivinode Thakura mentions markata-vairagya as a weakness of heart.
We see very few people being rejected by Mahaprabhu in his entire manifest lila. Mahaprabhu declined to give mercy to Saci Mata because of her OFFENSE to Advaita, Mahaprabhu declined to give mercy to Chota Haridasa because as a renunciate, he engaged in intimate talks with women.
If Mahaprabhu’s grace is lost in our life, then what is the hope for us? Therefore, those in the renounced order need to keep guard against pretense, and carefully observe their dealings with the opposite sex. Mahaprabhu can accept any kind of fallen person, but Mahaprabhu refuses to accept in his sampradaya any person who shows any kind of hypocrisy.
PS: The destination of Chota Haridasa:
By Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura:
“For one who prematurely takes to renunciation, the enjoying tendency has not left him. The influence of temporary renunciation will subside. The instinct to converse and associate with women gradually becomes stronger and great depravity ensues. No matter how much bhakti is there, there will be a delay in the removal of that desire.
Choṭa Haridāsa left his body and attained Gandharvaloka. That is the nature of bhakti. In whichever heart she arises, she destroys any anartha at the root which is residing there. After experiencing all the pleasures of puṇya, renunciation eventually manifests. In that position, devotees who maintain some material desires experience the pleasures of that world. All pāpa within their hearts is eventually burned. In this way, Choṭa Haridāsa who had a desire to associate with women, attained a planet where he could fulfill his desire and Bhakti Devī would gradually award him with renunciation.”
