“I wish to renounce everything and go away to the mountains” is often heard from people who are either very well off and hit by ennui or are facing intra-personal conflicts or are struggling with respect to life and its meaning. Idealists preach that renunciation is a great virtue since attachment leads to unhappiness, misery, sorrow etc. Is renunciation or sanyas truly the mark of spiritual life? Is it the only way to achieve liberation or moksha? Or can one live the life of a householder and still be a renunciate?

Consider the following.

“Sir, will you please help me?”
The young sanyasi turned around. He saw a frail old man. The old man held an axe in his trembling right hand, and sweat was pouring down his body. A big bundle of freshly cut firewood lay at his feet.
The sanyasi understood that the old man was seeking his help to lift that big bundle onto his frail shoulders.
The sanyasi, being trained into renunciation, condescendingly said to the old man, “You are so old and look as though you will kick the bucket any day. Still you have cut so much wood which you are unable to lift on your own. Isn’t your greed putting you into trouble? You should have cut only what you needed for a day or two. At your age you should be spending your waking hours in devotional practices and not in seeking mundane gains.”

The old man replied with a beaming smile, “O learned sanyasi, I am not aware of words such as greed, devotional practices etc. Today I was free and felt a little energetic, so I collected this bundle of firewood. Now I won’t need to come to the forest to collect firewood for at least ten days. In that period I can attend to other lighter chores at home. If I do die in a day or two, as you say, then this firewood will come handy and serve as a pyre for burning my body. It will save the villagers the trouble. You will appreciate that either way my effort will not go waste.”