There are at least three
stages of the development of Sannyasa. The first is prior to Buddha, and the
second is after Buddha. The Sannyasa up to the time of Buddha was purely
individualistic. There was no mutual social relationship of Sannyasins, no
brethren among Sannyasins. But after Buddha, brothers started; and the brethren
of the group formed monasteries.
Then a third stage came
into existence after Swami Vivekananda. He brought a new atmosphere into the
Sannyasa order by introducing a greater social sense. There was very little
social sense in the Shankaracharya order, though there was an order. The
Buddhist monks were an order; Sangha was an order. There were thousands of
Buddhist monks living in monasteries—in Nalanda, Taxila, and in so many places.
The Maths of Shankara in Sringeri, Joshimath, Puri and Dwaraka were very
important centres, but they were not social in the sense we understand society.
They were devoted to their own scriptural studies and service of the Guru, and meditation
according to the techniques of their order, with moksha or liberation as
their goal. So in spite of the fact that the monks joined together in monasteries
and there was organisation of Sannyasins after Buddha and Shankara, still the
Sannyasins kept aloof from human society. They would not mix with laymen; and
laymen were regarded as not spiritually mature enough to get deeply associated
with Sannyasins.
But Swami Vivekananda
brought a new turn. Monks who were originally spiritually oriented also became
socially oriented in response to a need of the times. We should say that all
these changes take place on account of the needs of the time. During the period
of the Vedas and the Upanishads, this kind of organisation was perhaps not
necessary on account of the lesser number of Sannyasins. When the number of
Sannyasins went on increasing, an organisation became necessary. Buddha called
it Sangha, and Shankaracharya called it Maths, and so on.
But now the world has
changed, and Sannyasins cannot be the same type that they were during the time
of the Upanishads, during the time of the Manu Smriti and the Mahabharata, and
even during the time of Acharya Shankara and Buddha. These days humanity has
come together into a closer relationship on account of modern scientific
inventions. There was also the impossibility of Sannyasins to live such a kind
of life because of a later development of human society, which was that no bhiksha
could be obtained. There was no question of bhiksha. A very difficult
affair it was. Either the Sannyasin should die without bhiksha, or he
must find another means of existing. Royal patronage also ceased. During the
time of Buddha, Shankara, etc., huge estates were leased out to monasteries by
the Rajas. Nalanda was such, and there were many other instances of this type.
There was royal protection for the monasteries, and afterwards that ceased.
Society still protected the monasteries, and so the tradition continued; but
society also became a little different later on. Social conditions necessitated
the formation of a new type of Sannyasa organisation, which we find today. This
started after Swami Vivekananda, Swami Rama Tirtha; afterwards, everybody had
to accept it, because it was the right step that they took.
Thus, social work and
spiritual activity came together; they were not bifurcated. Later on, it became
incumbent upon monks to recognise social activity as a kind of spiritual
activity itself, not outside Sannyasa.
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The Rise of Organisational Sannyasa by Swami Krishnananda
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