25. कराब्जविलसद्दण्डः Karābja-vilasad-daṇḍaḥ

One in whose lotus hand shone a daṇḍa (sacred staff of a saṁnyasin)

About the procedure for saṁnyāsa, the scripture states, “Having renounced his sons, friends, wife, relations, etc., having done away with the śikhā (tuft), the holy thread, the study of the Vedas and all actions, and having given up this universe, he should accept the kaupīna (loincloth), the daṇḍa (staff) and clothes for the bare maintenance of his body and for the good of all.”⁶⁹ The procedure for the acceptance of the sacred daṇḍa by an ascetic is spoken of as follows: “Having first done ācamana (ceremonial sipping of water) he shall accept a single daṇḍa, a staff made of bamboo, whose height extends from his toe to the tip of his nose or the level of his eyebrows or head, is free from blemishes, has an even number of joints, is smooth, has no hole passing through it and is endowed with a symbol (consisting of the paraśu-mudrā that resembles a small flag tied in its upper part, below which is wound a thread with a special set of knots), saying, ‘You are my friend. Protect my strength. You, my friend, are Indra’s vajra (thunderbolt) that destroyed Vṛtra (the demon). May you bring me happiness. Prevent that which is sinful.’”⁷⁰

The sacred daṇḍa, also considered on par with the Śiva’s trident, was vilasat, an adornment, in His Holiness’s karābja, hand that was beautiful like a lotus.

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On the day of taking saṁnyāsa, after completing the Virajā-homa, Sri Srinivasa Sastry proceeded to Sandhya-mandapa situated at the riverside in Narasimhavana. There, He entered the river and stood in waist-deep water. He then performed sāvitrī-tyāga in the course of which He chanted the Gāyatrī-mantra once, for the final time, and discarded into the flowing water His yajñopavīta (sacred thread) and tuft. By this act, He renounced His entitlement to perform scriptural rites and to chant the Gāyatrī-mantra. He discarded His upper garment, lower garment and even His loincloth and stood stark naked.

He then did praiṣoccāraṇa (the declaration of renunciation) and abhaya-pradāna (the granting of freedom from fear), and with that He became a saṁnyāsin. He then moved towards the north in the river. The Jagadguru had been silently watching the scene. When His disciple had taken a few steps, He called out to Him and on His Holiness approaching Him, gave Him an ochre kaupīna (loincloth), kaṭisūtra (thread tied around the waist to hold up the loincloth), lower garment and upper garment. His Holiness donned the ochre clothing and applied vibhūti, sacred ash. The senior Jagadguru then gave His Holiness, who was clad in ochre, the daṇḍa and then a kamaṇḍalu (water-pot).

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