278
Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta
[Madhya-līlā, Ch. 16]
TEXT 238
মর্কট-বৈরাগ্য না কর লোক দেখাঞা । যথাযোগ্য বিষয় ভুঞ্জ’ অনাসক্ত হঞা ॥ ২৩৮ ॥
markaṭa-vairāgya nā kara loka dekhāñā   yathā-yogya viṣaya bhuñja’ anāsakta hañā
SYNONYMS
markaṭa-vairāgya —monkey renunciation;  nā kara —do not do;  loka —to the people;  dekhāñā —showing off;  yathā-yogya —as it is befitting;  viṣaya —material things;  bhuñja’ —enjoy;  anāsakta —without attachment;  hañā —being.
TRANSLATION
“You should not make yourself a showbottle devotee and become a false renunciant. For the time being, enjoy the material world in a befitting way and do not become attached to it.”
PURPORT
The word  markaṭa-vairāgya , indicating false renunciation, is very important in this verse. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Thākura, in commenting on this word, points out that monkeys make an external show of renunciation by not accepting clothing and by living naked in the forest. In this way they consider themselves renunciants, but actually they are very busy enjoying sense gratification with dozens of female monkeys. Such renunciation is called  markaṭa-vairāgye —the renunciation of a monkey. One cannot be really renounced until block actually becomes disgusted with material activity and sees it as a stumbling block to spiritual advancement. Renunciation should not be  phalgu , temporary, but should exist throughout one’s life. Temporary renunciation, or monkey renunciation, is like the renunciation one feels at a cremation ground. When a man takes a dead body to the crematorium, he sometimes thinks, “This is the final end of the body. Why am I working so hard day and night?” Such sentiments naturally arise in the mind of any man who goes to a crematorial  ghāṭa . However, as soon as he returns from the cremation grounds, he again engages in material activity for sense enjoyment. This is called  śmaśāna-vairāgya , or  markaṭa-vairāgya .
In order to render service to the Lord, one may accept necessary things. If one lives in this way, he may actually become renounced. In the  Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu  (1.2.108), it is said:
yāvatā syāt sva-nirvāhaḥ   svīkuryāt tāvad arthavit   ādhikye nyūnatāyāṁ ca   cyavate paramārthataḥ