Devanagari
मौनानीहानिलायामा दण्डा वाग्देहचेतसाम् ।
न ह्येते यस्य सन्त्यङ्ग वेणुभिर्न भवेद् यति: ॥ १७ ॥
Verse text
maunānīhānilāyāmā
daṇḍā vāg-deha-cetasām
na hy ete yasya santy aṅga
veṇubhir na bhaved yatiḥ
Synonyms
mauna
—
avoiding useless speech
;
anīha
—
giving up fruitive activities
;
anila
—
āyāmāḥ — controlling the breathing process
;
daṇḍāḥ
—
strict disciplines
;
vāk
—
of the voice
;
deha
—
of the body
;
cetasām
—
of the mind
;
na
—
not
;
hi
—
indeed
;
ete
—
these disciplines
;
yasya
—
of whom
;
santi
—
exist
;
aṅga
—
My dear Uddhava
;
veṇubhiḥ
—
by bamboo rods
;
na
—
never
;
bhavet
—
is
;
yatiḥ
—
a real sannyāsī. .
Translation
One who has not accepted the three internal disciplines of avoiding useless speech, avoiding useless activities and controlling the life air can never be considered a sannyāsī merely because of his carrying bamboo rods.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
He who has not accepted the three internal daṇdas of avoiding useless speech, avoiding useless activities and controlling the life air can never be considered a sannyāsī merely because of his carrying an external daṇda.
Silence is control of words. Giving up action is control of the body. Controlling breath is control of the mind. He who does not have these three controls or internal daṇḍas is not a sannyāsī, O Uddhava.
Purport
The word
daṇḍa
indicates the staff carried by those in the renounced order of life, and
daṇḍa
also indicates severe discipline. The Vaiṣṇava
sannyāsīs
accept a staff made of three bamboo rods, signifying dedication of the body, mind and words to the service of the Supreme Lord. Here Lord Kṛṣṇa says that one must first accept these three
daṇḍas,
or disciplines (namely control of the voice, body and mind), within oneself. The practice of
anilāyāma
(or
prāṇāyāma,
regulating the life air) is meant to control the mind, and one who always thinks of service to Lord Kṛṣṇa has certainly achieved the perfection of
prāṇāyāma.
Merely carrying the three external
daṇḍas
without assimilating the internal
daṇḍas
of bodily, mental and vocal discipline can never make one an actual Vaiṣṇava
sannyāsī,
as explained here by Lord Kṛṣṇa.
In the
Haṁsa-gītā
section of
Mahābhārata
and in Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī’s
Upadeśāmṛta,
there are instructions regarding the
sannyāsa
order of life. A conditioned soul who adopts only the external ornaments of
tridaṇḍi-sannyāsa
will not actually be able to control the senses. One who takes
sannyāsa
for false prestige, making a show of saintliness without actual advancement in
kṛṣṇa-kīrtana,
will soon be vanquished by the external energy of the Lord.