न्यासे कुटीचकः पूर्वं बह्वोदो हंसनिष्क्रियौ ॥४३॥
vaikhÄnasÄ vÄlakhilyau-
dumbarÄḥ phenapÄ vane
nyÄse kuá¹Ä«cakaḥ pÅ«rvaá¹
bahvodo haá¹sa-niá¹£kriyau
vaikhÄnasÄḥ - the section of men who retire from active life and live on half-boiled meals; vÄlakhilya - one who quits his former stock of grains on receipt of more; audumbarÄḥ - one who lives on what he gets from the direction towards which he starts after rising from bed; phenapÄḥ - one who lives on the fruits which automatically fall from the tree; vane - in the forest; nyÄse - in the order of renunciation; kuá¹Ä«cakaḥ - life in the family without attachment; pÅ«rvam - in the beginning; bahvodaḥ - giving up all material activities and engaging fully in transcendental service; haá¹sa - fully engaged in transcendental knowledge; niá¹£kriyau - stopping all kinds of activities.
The four divisions of retired life are the vaikhÄnasas, vÄlakhilyas, audumbaras and phenapas. The four divisions of the renounced order of life are the kuá¹Ä«cakas, bahvodas, haá¹sas and niá¹£kriyas. All these were manifested from BrahmÄ.
The varṇÄÅ›rama-dharma, or the institution of the four divisions and orders of social and spiritual life, is not a new invention of the modern age, as proposed by the less intelligent. It is an institution established by BrahmÄ from the beginning of the creation. This is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (4.13): cÄtur-varṇyaá¹ mayÄ sṛṣá¹am.
