Text 23]
The Glories of Devotional Service
1027
—renounced;  sva-jana —family relationships;  bāndhavāḥ —friendly acquaintances.
TRANSLATION
Such a  sādhu  engages in staunch devotional service to the Lord without deviation. For the sake of the Lord he renounces all other connections, such as family relationships and friendly acquaintances within the world.
PURPORT
A person in the renounced order of life, a  sannyāsī , is also called a  sādhu  because he renounces everything—his home, his comfort, his friends, his relatives and his duties to friends and to family. He renounces everything for the sake of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. A  sannyāsī  is generally in the renounced order of life, but his renunciation will be successful only when his energy is employed in the service of the Lord with great austerity. It is said here, therefore,  bhaktim kurvanti ye dṛdhām . A person who seriously engages in the service of the Lord and is in the renounced order of life is a  sādhu . A  sādhu  is one who has given up all responsibility to society, family and worldly humanitarianism simply for the sake of the service of the Lord. As soon as he takes his birth in the world, a person has so many responsibilities and obligations—to the public, to the demigods, to the great sages, to the general living beings, to his parents, to the family forefathers, and to many others. When he gives up all such obligations for the sake of the service of the Supreme Lord, he is not punished for such renunciation of obligation. But if for sense gratification a person renounces all such obligations, he is punished by the law of nature.
TEXT 23
मदाभ्रयाः कथा मृष्टाः शृण्वन्ति कथयन्ति च ।
तपन्ति विविधास्तापा नैतान्मद्रतचेतसः ॥२३॥
mad-āśrayāḥ kathā mṛṣṭāḥ śṛṇvanti kathayanti ca tapanti vividhās tāpā naitān mad-gata-cetasaḥ
mat-āśrayāḥ —about Me;  kathāḥ —stories;  mṛṣṭāḥ —delightful;  śṛṇvanti —they hear;  kathayanti —they chant;  ca —and;  tapanti —inflict suffering;