So the mantra means etām, "by accepting this daṇḍa or sannyāsa order"; sam-āsthāya, "taking shelter of it"; parātma-niṣṭhām . . . This accepting of this daṇḍa means full faith in the Supreme. There are four rods within this bundle. One rod is representing himself, and the other three rods means his body, mind and word. So the person who is accepting sannyāsa order, he is dedicating from this moment his personality, his body, his mind and his words. Why? Now, parātma-niṣṭhām, simply for service of the Supreme.
So, "Am I accepting something new?" No. Upāsitāṁ pūrvatamair mahadbhiḥ. All the great personalities in our guru-paramparā system, all the four ācārya system, they have done it. Rāmānujācārya, Viṣṇu Svāmī, Madhvācārya, Nimbārka—there are four Vaiṣṇava sampradāyas—so they were all sannyāsīs. Now, directly, our sampradāya is Madhva-Gauḍīya-sampradāya. Gauḍīya-sampradāya means the Vaiṣṇavas of the Bengal. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu is accepted as the supreme guru of this sampradāya . So His guru was Īśvara Purī, and his guru was Mādhavendra Purī. And this Mādhavendra Purī belonged to the Madhva-sampradāya; therefore our sampradāya, this disciplic succession, is called Madhva-Gauḍīya sampradāya.