I would suggest that you now retire from family life and accept at least vanaprastha order of life

Expressions researched:
"I would suggest humbly that since you are already retired from service and your sons are well situated, that you may retire from your family life and live in Vrindaban in the vanaprastha order" |"I would suggest that you now retire from family life" |"why not join this movement and retire from family life"

1975 Correspondence

I think you are a devotee of Lord Ramacandra, and because you are my very old and dear friend, I will suggest now in your old age (when your sons are grown-up and well-situated), why not join this movement and retire from family life? According to our vedic principle, a person, especially a Brahmana, should leave home after the 50th year and accept the order of Vanaprastha.

Letter to Dinanatha -- Honolulu 14 June, 1975:

I am glad that you are now writing books about Lord Ramacandra. It is a very good idea. I think you are a devotee of Lord Ramacandra, and because you are my very old and dear friend, I will suggest now in your old age (when your sons are grown-up and well-situated), why not join this movement and retire from family life? According to our vedic principle, a person, especially a Brahmana, should leave home after the 50th year and accept the order of Vanaprastha. Then after a few years of Vanaprastha, one should accept the Sannyasa order for the rest of his life and devote himself fully in the service of the Lord.

There is a great need of the Krishna Consciousness movement all over the world. If educated persons like you take active interest in this movement, and preach the cult for the benefit of the mass of people, that is the success of life.

I would suggest that you now retire from family life and accept at least vanaprastha order of life keeping your wife with you as assistant and fully engaged in translating the Vedic literature as far as possible.

Letter to Dinanatha N. Mishra -- Laguna Beach 26 July, 1975:

I have a great desire to translate the Valmiki Ramayana because that is authorized. Tulsi das' Charit manas is already translated into English by some clergyman, but I do not exactly know his name. Therefore I wish to translate Valmiki Ramayana exactly in the way I have done Srimad-Bhagavatam. I am sending herewith a copy of our monthly paper "Back to Godhead" in which you will find the mode of translating of Srimad-Bhagavatam. It begins after page 14. It will give you an idea in which way we want to translate. Or you are welcome to come to our temple along with your son at 3, Albert Road, Calcutta. There you can see in my books the mode of translation by giving the purport of the verse in English.

I therefore suggested in my last letter that now you are in ripe old age, so you can accept vanaprastha life which is your duty as you are born in a brahmana family. According to our Vedic principle a brahmana is supposed to accept the four asramas, namely brahmacari, grhastha, vanaprastha, and sannyasa. Others are not do not accept sannyasa, but a person who is a brahmana must accept sannyasa at the end of his life.

So I would suggest that you now retire from family life and accept at least vanaprastha order of life keeping your wife with you as assistant and fully engaged in translating the Vedic literature as far as possible.

It appears that in the Western countries there is a great demand for real knowledge of Vedic literature. So you are a learned scholar both in English and Hindi, and you can do this completely devoted to the service of Lord Ramacandra.

I would suggest humbly that since you are already retired from service and your sons are well situated, that you may retire from your family life and live in Vrindaban in the vanaprastha order.

Letter to Dr. Y. G. Naik -- Toronto 7 August, 1975:

I am addressing this letter to your Indian address because I could not properly reply your letter earlier because your letter has been redirected to me from the many places I have been on tour. I am also sending a copy of this letter to your address in USA in care of your son. I am very anxious to meet you again. I am returning to India by October, and I am inviting you to come to our Vrindaban temple and live there for some time. I have got a very nice Guest House there, and I would suggest humbly that since you are already retired from service and your sons are well situated, that you may retire from your family life and live in Vrindaban in the vanaprastha order. Our Vrindaban temple is appreciated as the best in this quarter. The Governor of Uttar Pradesh stayed with me for two days recently, so at least for a few days you may come there and live with me.

Learned scholars like you are now needed to represent the cause of Krishna consciousness because without this consciousness the human society is doomed. So I require the help of respectable, learned scholars like you for spreading this movement more and more. According to the Vedic system this body is perishable and the ultimate form of this body is to become ash, stool, or earth. Therefore it is advised by the great pandita Canakya that the body should be sacrificed for a better cause. That is the idea inherent everywhere, especially in India. Everyone is advised to achieve the result of pious activities by engaging this body for such purposes. That is the greatest gain. According to the Vedic varna asrama it is compulsory that one retire from his family life and engage this body for Krishna's service at the end of his life. As it is stated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam:

tat sadhu manye 'suravarya dehinam

sada samudvigna dhiyam asad grahat

hitvartma patam grham andha-kupam

vannad gato yad harim asrayet

(SB 7.5.5)

I hope you will try to understand my point of view and join this movement to make it more appreciable by the people in general all over the world.