A mendicância é muito mal vista nos países ocidentais porque é feita unicamente com o objectivo de esmolar.No entanto,na cultura Védica era exatamente o contrário,as pessoas sabiam que estes mendicantes eram todos grandes personalidades que voluntariamente aceitavam a vida de mendicância, e portanto auxiliavam-nos e amparavam-nos com muito gosto.
Elas sabiam que seriam iluminadas por tais devotos santos.
Madhya 8.39
mahānta-svabhāva ei tārite pāmara
nija kārya nāhi tabu yāna tāra ghara
SYNONYMS
mahānta-svabhāva — the nature of saintly persons; ei — this; tārite — to deliver; pāmara — fallen souls; nija — own; kārya — business; nāhi — there is not; tabu — still; yāna — goes; tāra — his; ghara — house.
TRANSLATION
"It is the general practice of all saintly people to deliver the fallen. Therefore they go to people's houses, although they have no personal business there.
PURPORT
A sannyāsī is supposed to beg from door to door. He does not beg simply because he is hungry. His real purpose is to enlighten the occupant of every house by preaching Krsna consciousness. A sannyāsī does not abandon his superior position and become a beggar just for the sake of begging.
Similarly, a person in householder life may be very important, but he may also voluntarily take to the mendicant way of life. Rūpa Gosvāmī and Sanātana Gosvāmī were ministers, but they voluntarily accepted the mendicant's life in order to humbly preach Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's message.
It is said about them:tyaktva turnam asesa-mandala-pati-srenim sada tucchavat bhutva dina-ganesakau karunaya kaupina-kanthasritau
Although the Gosvāmīs were very aristocratic, on the order of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu they became mendicants just to deliver the fallen souls. One should also consider that those who engage in the missionary activities of the Krsna consciousness movement are under the guidance of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
They are not actually beggars; their real business is to deliver fallen souls. Therefore they may go from door to door just to introduce a book about Krsna consciousness so that people can become enlightened by reading. Formerly brahmacārīs and sannyāsīs used to beg from door to door. At the present moment, especially in the Western countries, a person may be handed over to the police if he begs from door to door.
In Western countries, begging is considered criminal. Members of the Krsna consciousness movement have no business begging. Instead, they work very hard to introduce some literatures about Krsna consciousness so that people can read them and be benefited. But if one gives some contribution to a Krsna
conscious man, he never refuses it. "
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Srila Prabhupada Ki Jaya!!!
