Madhudviṣa: Prabhupāda, I think this is . . . did Lord Caitanya take sannyāsa from a Māyāvādī sannyāsī?
Prabhupāda: Yes. That is a formality. That is not very important. Because Māyāvādī Sannyāsīs, they are also Vedic sannyāsī. They are not outsiders. But their interpretation of Veda is different. But they follow the Vedic rules. So this acceptance of sannyāsa is following a principle of the Vedic rules.
So the Māyāvādī sannyāsī may differ in his interpretation, but he's following the Vedic rules. So this acceptance of sannyāsa is following the Vedic rules. So you can accept sannyāsa even from Māyāvādī. It doesn't matter.
But you have to transcend the limits of Vedic rules. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That also Caitanya Mahāprabhu . . . although He took sannyāsa, He did not assume the sannyāsa title. His sannyāsa guru was Keśava Bhāratī. Naturally, He would have accepted the Bhāratī title, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Bhāratī, or something like that. But He remained Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya. Caitanya is the name of the brahmacārī under the Bhāratī sannyāsī.
One brahmacārī. The brahmacārīs are under . . . they are assistant or personal servitors of a sannyāsī. That is the system. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu was . . . in the beginning, He was accepted . . . that is the Māyāvādī system. One is accepted first of all as brahmacārī. So that, His name was Caitanya.
But even after His acceptance of sannyāsa, He did not assume the title Bhāratī. That means actually He did not take sannyāsa. That was simply formality. Because Māyāvādī sannyāsī thinks that he is God; so how He can assume that title? He was preaching, He was going to preach that we are servant of God; therefore He did not assume that title.
And besides that, when Caitanya Mahāprabhu was going to Lord . . . see Jagannātha Purī, His rod was taken away by Nityānanda and it was broken and thrown away. So He, apparently He became very angry that "You have broken My rod, sannyāsa rod. So I am not going with You." He separated. These statements are there in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta.
So in one sense, Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not require to accept any sannyāsa guru, but He accepted the formality that if one takes sannyāsa, one has to take sannyāsa from another sannyāsī. That is the system. Just like if you want to get yourself married, you have to call for a priest. That does not mean that you have to agree with the priest's personal opinion. Do you follow? Yes.
He may execute the rules and regulation of marriage ceremony, but that does not mean that one has to agree with the priest's opinion, personal opinion. This is the answer. But when you accept a spiritual master, that is not allowed. Unless you cent per cent agree with the spiritual master's opinion or philosophy, there is no need of accepting a spiritual master. There is no need.