[Advaita-l] Knowledge, renunciation and varNASrama rules - Is sanyasa ashrama sweekaram a must

[Praveen R. Bhat]

Hari OM, Varadaraja ji,

On Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 1:05 PM, Varadaraja Sharma <
rishyasrunga at rediffmail.com> wrote:

> My real concern is what is the expected code of conduct of brahmanas to
> sthri shudradi sanysins ( Not vidvat sanyasins)? Should the brahmana males
> pay their obeisance to these people with a sashtanga namaskara and offer
> anna bhiksha?
>
> In the sishtachara code as conveyed to me by my elders which I passed on to
> the next generation, we (brahmanas) are not supposed to pay obeisance to
> people of other varnas irrespective of their age with a sashtanga namaskara.

Does the fact of them embracing sanyasa requires modification in the code
> being followed?
>

I have no scriptural references to offer, but the following is my
understanding. A saMnyAsi has no varNa, so I see no reason to continue the
earlier code (whatever it was). Even among saMnyAsis, I recall from Kanchi
Paramacharya's Hindu Dharma, who should offer obeisances to whom is guided
by the elder being one with more number of Vyasa pujas, irrespective of age.
This is no direct answer to your Q, but hopefully some related data.

praNAm,
--Praveen R. Bhat
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