All stages of life exist to cultivate Krishna consciousness, not to change one's position but to transform one's purpose.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Bhagavad-gītā 4.26–30 — January 13, 1969, Los Angeles 690113BG-LOS ANGELES [51:53 Minutes] Bg-04.26–30_690113BG-LOS ANGELES [prema-dhvani prayers led by devotee] [break] [01:43] Prabhupāda: Page? Go on. Madhudviṣa: [reading] Chapter Four, "Transcendental Knowledge." Verse twenty-six. "Some of them sacrifice the hearing process and the senses in the fire of the controlled mind, and others sacrifice the objects of the senses, such as sound, in the fire of sacrifice." Purport: "The four division of human life, namely the brahmacārī, the gṛhastha, the vānaprastha and the sannyāsī, are all meant to help men to become perfect yogīs, or transcendentalists. Since human life is not meant for our enjoying sense gratification like the animals, the four orders of human life are fixed so that one may become perfect in spiritual life. The brahmacārīs, or students under the care of a bona fide spiritual master, control the mind by abstaining from sense gratification.
Furthermore, a brahmacārī hears only words concerning Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Hearing is the basic principle for understanding, and therefore the pure brahmacārī engages fully in chanting and hearing the glories of the Lord…" Prabhupāda: Brahmacārī..., brahmacārī means brahmacārati iti brahmacārī. Brahma means the Supreme Absolute Personality of Godhead, and cārati, "executes." Cārati, brahmacārati, brahmacārī. In Sanskrit, every word has got root meaning.
Brahma means the Supreme Absolute Truth, and cāra means one who executes, cārati. So one who's life is completely devoted simply to execute the function of the Supreme Absolute Truth, he is called brahmacārī. Gṛhastha, gṛhastha means… Gṛha means home; home means wife. Na gṛhaṁ gṛham ity ucate [Cc. Ādi 15.27]. [“Merely a house is not a home, for it is a wife who gives a home its meaning. If one lives at home with his wife, together they can fulfill all the interests of human life.”] What is the difference between sannyāsī—we are sannyāsī—and gṛhastha?
Gṛha means home. Home means wife. One who lives with his wife to execute Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he is called gṛhastha. Āśrama, they are called āśrama: brahmacārī-āśrama, gṛhastha-āśrama, vānaprastha-āśrama, sannyāsa-āśrama. Āśrama means… This "āśrama" word is now very popular in your country also. Āśrama means where there is some spiritual connection. That is āśrama.
So all these four divisions are called āśrama, different āśrama. Either you remain as brahmacārī or gṛhastha or vānaprastha or sannyāsa, your main business is to cultivate Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is called āśrama. And gṛha… Caitanya Mahāprabhu, when He was about seventeen years old, He was married, and when He was twenty years old His first wife died. Then He married for the second time, and in twenty-fourth year He took sannyāsa.
So after the death, or disappearance, of His first wife… He was not at home at that time—He was out of His country, because a brāhmaṇa's business is to preach. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu was born in a very respectable family, a brāhmin, so when He came back home He saw His wife is no more. So mother requested, "My dear boy, please accept another wife." Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, "Yes. I’ll accept, because home… I have come home.
Home means wife." Actually gṛhiṇī, gṛhiṇī, "the mistress of the home." Without wife there is no meaning of home, according to Vedic culture. Home means wife, gṛhiṇī gṛham ucyate. Na gṛhaṁ gṛham ity ucate [Cc. Ādi 15.27]. Home… If we mean home means an apartment—so we are also living in an apartment: four walls, one ceiling, one floor.