vairÄgÄ« karibe sadÄ nÄma-saá¹…kÄ«rtana
mÄgiyÄ khÄÃ±Ä kare jÄ«vana raká¹£aṇa

 vairÄgÄ« - a person in the renounced order; karibe - will do; sadÄ - always; nÄma-saá¹…kÄ«rtana - chanting of the holy name of the Lord; mÄgiyÄ - by begging; khÄÃ±Ä - eating; kare jÄ«vana raká¹£aṇa - he sustains his life.


Text

“A person in the renounced order should always chant the holy name of the Lord. He should beg some alms to eat, and he should sustain his life in this way.

Purport

As stated in the Hari-bhakti-vilÄsa at the end of the twentieth vilÄsa (366, 379, 382):

ká¹›tyÄny etÄni tu prÄyo gá¹›hiṇÄá¹ dhaninÄá¹ satÄm
likhitÄni na tu tyakta- parigraha-mahÄtmanÄm
prabhÄte cÄrdha-rÄtre ca madhyÄhne divasa-ká¹£aye
kÄ«rtayanti hariá¹ ye vai te taranti bhavÄrṇavam
evam ekÄntinÄá¹ prÄyaḥ kÄ«rtanaá¹ smaraṇaá¹ prabhoḥ
kurvatÄá¹ parama-prÄ«tyÄ ká¹›tyam anyan na rocate

A well-to-do householder Vaiṣṇava cannot live like a person in the renounced order who completely takes shelter of the holy name. Such a householder should chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa in the morning, at midday and in the evening. Then he will be able to cross beyond nescience. Pure devotees in the renounced order, however, who fully surrender to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, should chant the holy name of the Lord with great love and faith, always thinking of Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet. They should have no occupation other than chanting the holy name of the Lord. In the Bhakti-sandarbha (283), ÅšrÄ«la JÄ«va GosvÄmÄ« says:

yady api Å›rÄ«-bhÄgavata-mate pañca-rÄtrÄdi-vad-arcana-mÄrgasyÄvaÅ›yakatvaá¹ nÄsti, tad vinÄpi Å›araṇÄpatty-ÄdÄ«nÄm ekatareṇÄpi puruá¹£Ärtha-siddher abhihitatvÄt.

“It is ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam’s opinion that the process of Deity worship is not actually necessary, just as the specific prescriptions of the PañcarÄtra and other scriptures do not have to be followed. The BhÄgavatam enjoins that even without practicing Deity worship one can achieve the complete success of human life by any of the other devotional processes, such as simply offering oneself at the Lord’s feet for His protection.â€