Sannyasa means complete devotion to Krishna's service and spreading His consciousness worldwide for the liberation of all fallen souls.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Anantarām Śāstrījī: [chants mantras for fire sacrifice; devotees loudly chanting japa] [break] oṁ candramā manaso jātaś cakṣoḥ sūryo ajāyata mukhād indraś cāgniś ca prāṇād vāyur ajāyata [Puruṣa-sūkta-mantra 13] oṁ nābhyā āsīd antarikṣaṁśīrṣṇo dyauḥ sāmavartata padbhyāṁ bhūmir diśaḥśrotrāt tathā lokān akalpayan [Puruṣa-sūkta-mantra 14] oṁ yat puruṣeṇa haviṣā devā yajñam atanvata vasanto 'syāsīd ājyaṁ grīṣma idhmaḥśarad dhāviḥ [Puruṣa-sūkta mantra 6] namaste viśvarūpāya śaṅkha cakra gadābhṛte padmanābhāya devāya ṛṣīkapataye namaḥ namaste anantarūpāya triguṇātma vibhāvine namo smaraṇtāya sahasra mūrtaye. Sahasrapāda śiśirorvave sahasra nāmne puṁsāya casyate sahasrakoṭi gadārine namaḥ Prabhupāda: ...śrī-viṣṇu [devotees repeat], śrī-viṣṇu [devotees repeat]. Now you get the śloka on. Sannyāsi come.
You chant this mantra. Etām [devotees repeat]. Chant, they will repeat. Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Etām [devotees repeat], sa āsthāya [devotees repeat]... Prabhupāda: Not all. Only sannyāsīs. Hrdayananda: Only sannyāsīs chant. Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Etām [Prabhupāda and devotees repeat after each word], sa āsthāya parātma-adhyāsitāṁ pūrvatamair maharṣibhiḥ ahaṁ tariṣyāmi duranta pāram tamo, mukundāṅghri niṣeyevayaiva [SB 11.23.57]. Prabhupāda: Translation and purport. Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Translation and purport. Prabhupāda: You can come... Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Translation: "This was spoken by a brāhmaṇa from Avantī deśa. 'I shall cross over the insurmountable ocean of nescience by being firmly fixed in the service of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa.
This was approved by the previous ācāryas, who are fixed in firm devotion to the Lord, Paramātmā, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.' " Purport. "In connection with this verse, which is a quotation from the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Eleventh Canto, Twenty-third Chapter, [sic] fifty-eighth verse, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura says that of the sixty-four items required for rendering devotional service, acceptance of the symbolic marks of sannyāsa is a regulative principle. If one accepts the sannyāsa order, his main business is to devote his life completely to the service of Mukunda, Kṛṣṇa. If one does not completely devote his mind and body to the service of the Lord, he does not actually become a sannyāsī.
It is not simply a matter of changing dress. In Bhagavad-gītā, Sixth Chapter, first verse, it is also stated, anāśritaḥ karma-phalaṁ kāryaṁ karma karoti yaḥ, sa sannyāsī ca yogī ca: [Bg 6.1] 'One who works devotedly for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa is a sannyāsī.' The dress is not sannyāsa, but the attitude of service to Kṛṣṇa is. "The word paramātmā niṣṭhā means being a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Parātmā-vigraha.
Parātmā, the Supreme Person, is Kṛṣṇa. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ [Bs 5.1]. Those who are completely dedicated to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa in service are actually sannyāsīs. As a matter of formality, the devotee accepts the sannyāsa dress as previous ācāryas did. He also accepts the three daṇḍas. Later, Viṣṇu Svāmī considered that accepting the dress of a tridaṇḍa was parātma-niṣṭhā.
Therefore sincere devotees add another daṇḍa, the jīva daṇḍa, to the three existing daṇḍas. The Vaiṣṇava sannyāsī is known as tridaṇḍī-sannyāsī. The Māyāvādī sannyāsī accepts only one daṇḍa, not understanding the purpose of tridaṇḍa. Later, many persons in the community of Śiva Svāmī gave up the ātma-niṣṭhā, devotional service of the Lord, and followed the paths of Śaṅkarācārya.
Instead of accepting 108 names, those in the Śiva Svāmī sampradāya follow the path of Śaṅkarācārya and accept the ten names of sannyāsa. Although Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted the then existing order of sannyāsa, namely ekadaṇḍa, He still recited from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam about the tridaṇḍa-sannyāsa accepted by the brāhmaṇa of Avantīpura. Indirectly He declared that within the ekadaṇḍa [one daṇḍa], four daṇḍas existed as one. Accepting ekadaṇḍa sannyāsa without parātma-niṣṭhā, devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa, is not acceptable to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.