Orders of Life

In Sanskrit, the word asrama denotes a place of spiritual culture; typically, the residence or monastery where a guru instructs and enlightens his disciples. In a more general sense, however, asrama refers to the spiritual ‘orders of life.’ According to the Vedic model, the life cycle of every individual progresses through four asramas, or stages for spiritual development - student life (brahmacarya), married life (grhastha), retired life (vanaprastha), and renounced life (sannyasa). Each stage facilitates a unique aspect of internal development and prepares one for spiritual perfection at the final hour.

Learn (brahmacarya-asrama) – in student life, one observes a vow of celibacy and receives training in self-realisation from a spiritual master. His education centres around scriptural knowledge, character development and practical skills. Whether he goes on to marry and eventually retire from family life, or whether he goes directly to the renounced order of sannyasa, the practice of brahmacarya is the indispensable foundation of success.

Earn (grhasta-asrama) – in the second stage of life, typically from 25 years to 50 years, the individual will marry and raise a family. By engaging in suitable work, they earn their living in the world, and with those earnings support their family and the other three social orders. Though there is more freedom in this stage of life, the householder still lives by strict principles and honours boundaries of sexual restraint. Dutifulness and selflessness are essential qualities developed in the family context.

Turn (vanaprastha-asrama) – when householders reach the age of fifty, they should ideally detach themselves from the complex network of family setup and resume a life of spiritual austerity, handing over the worldly responsibilities to the grown-up children. In this retired stage of life, a man and his wife may travel to holy places of pilgrimage and turn the focus of their lives from material responsibilities to spiritual absorption.

Return (sannyasa-asrama) – in the final stage of life, the wife re-enters the family and matures to full spiritual perfection, while the husband embraces complete renunciation and dedicates himself to achieving perfect realisation and imparting spiritual understanding to the other three asramas. Thus, for the husband and wife, all other concerns are practically eliminated, and their entire attention is fully focused on returning back to the spiritual world.

Through this scientific setup, the Vedic culture ensures that every stage of life has meaning and value for the attainment of spiritual enlightenment. Early in his life, Kardama Muni performed many years of austerity in preparation for his forthcoming family life. Later he married Devahuti, and due to their spotless character and pure desire, the Supreme Lord agreed to become their son. Though he had God as his son, Kardama Muni still left his family life, strictly honouring the injunction that one must spend his final days away from home in the mood of renunciation. Kapiladeva encouraged His father not to deviate from the scriptures, and He assured him that as the Supreme Lord He would always be with his father, residing in his heart. Thus, Kardama Muni left his wife and son, and became a wandering sannyasi, totally dependent on Krishna for his basic necessities in life. Thus, in Kardama Muni we see an ideal example of how the Vedic life cycle leads to perfection.

In modern society one may not be able to follow this model exactly as prescribed. That said, the principles of each asrama should be embraced, and one should make an endeavour to invest time and energy in cultivating those qualities in an appropriate way. For example, one may not have the privilege of spending the first 25 years of their life as a brahmacari, but the key principle to embrace is learning and spiritual self-development. Thus, before one gets married, one should spend quality time educating themselves and becoming trained in spiritual culture. When and how to do this is a detail which needs to be worked out individually. Similarly, older couples may not be able to leave home completely and embrace the forest life of vanaprasthas, but the principle is to turn their emphasis towards spiritual cultivation and significantly reduce their material encumbrance. An appropriate and achievable way to do this can be arranged in the midst of the modern pressures surrounding us.