VANAPRASTHA

After completing his period of study as a brahmacari, taking up household life, raising a family, and
performing all the obligatory sacrifices, when his hair turns grey and wrinkles appear on his face, a
man should separate himself from the family, and, with or without his wife, should practice
austerities in the forest to remove all attached to his previous family. Though there is a formal
ceremony with homa described in the scriptures by which the householder accepts the vanaprastha
asrama, this is not commonly practiced.

Conduct:

He should practice bathing, cleaning, studying, brahmacarya, performing austerity and fasting,
performign sacrifices, maitaining silence, straining the senses, giving in charity without receiving gifts
(niyama).

He should cultivate truth, mildness, sincerity, tolerance, forgiveness, self control, friendship,
benevolence, and nonviolence (niyama).

He should not beg if his wife is with him, but should collect his food from the forest.

He should avoid taking food from unclean places.

He should welcome and feed guests properly.

He should not store provisions.

He should eat only enough to support his life.

He should not eat at night.

He should increase his austerities.

He should sleep on leaves or grass strewn on the earth.

He should look upon his wife as his mother, and not approach her for sex. He should sleep separate
from her if she accompanies him to the forest, or he should give her in care of a grown son.

He should fix his mind on Visnu.

When fully detached he may enter the sannyasa asrama.

Ksetra Sannyasa:

When one takes ksetra sannyasa he leaves his household life and goes to a place of pilgrimage
devoted to Lord Visnu. ..the ksetra sannyasi lives in these places alone or with his family. Srila
Bhaktivinode Thakura considers this to be the preferable vanaprastha situation in this age of Kali.
CC Madhya v.6.p.221