What is Vanaprastha? What is Sannyasa?

In Hinduism, life is seen as a journey through four stages — these are called the four ashramas:
Brahmacharya, Garhasthya, Vanaprastha, and Sannyasa.

During brahmacharya, one gains knowledge and discipline.
In grihastha, you repay your debts to gods, sages, ancestors, family, and society by living responsibly.
Once you’ve done that, you’re ready to step into vanaprastha.

Vanaprastha literally means 'going to the forest'.
Not necessarily living in a forest — it means stepping back from society and family duties, slowly withdrawing from worldly ties.
If we think of a lifespan as 100 years, then from age 50 to 75 is ideally the vanaprastha phase.

In the Srimad Bhagavatam, Bhagavan explains to Uddhava the duties of a person in Vanaprastha and Sannyasa.

In Vanaprastha, a man may either leave his wife in the care of his sons or take her along. He should eat only fruits and roots, gather food by himself, and not accept gifts from others.
Clothing should be natural — tree bark or forest materials.
He must stop trimming his beard, moustache, hair, and nails.
No brushing of teeth either.

He should bathe three times a day.
In summer, he must do the panchaagni tapasya — sitting surrounded by fire on four sides with the blazing sun above.
In the monsoon, he should stay out in the rain.
In winter, he must stand neck-deep in cold water.

Yajnas should be done using forest grains, but cow sacrifices are strictly forbidden.
Through such intense tapasya, when the body becomes thin and the nerves start showing, one may attain Vishnu Sayujya — merging with Bhagavan.
This kind of austerity is not meant for petty goals like heaven.

Only when complete detachment arises from within, one should enter Sannyasa.
If detachment doesn't come, he should mentally absorb his ritual fires into himself and walk into fire — a kind of final offering.

In Sannyasa, the renunciant should mentally absorb all the yajna fires he had worshipped so far, give away all his possessions, and live freely with zero attachments.
The devatas will test him with many obstacles — he has to overcome them all.

A true sannyasi wears only a kaupina (loincloth) and a small cloth over it.
He carries just a danda (staff) and a kamandalu (water pot).
He must walk slowly, looking down at the earth, and drink water only after filtering it through cloth.
Every word he speaks must be true.
He should practice silence, non-action, and breath control.

Those who wear ochre robes but don’t follow this are only fake sannyasis.

He should beg for alms from any of the four varnas, but only from seven houses that he hadn’t planned in advance.
He must eat only what he gets, purify it with water, share it with the hungry, and eat what’s left — silently.

No storing food for later.
No moving around in groups.
Live alone.
Stick to your vows no matter how tough things get.
Don’t stay long in one place — attachment can form.
Keep moving.
Keep your mind fixed on Bhagavan.
Interact with others only for collecting bhiksha.

Even if he’s a knower of all knowledge, he should act like an ignorant man.
Even if he knows all rituals, he should behave like an animal.
He should never argue, never take sides, never hate.
If someone insults him, he should listen calmly without reacting.

If he gets food, he shouldn’t get excited.
If he doesn’t, he shouldn’t feel sad.
He must never discriminate between good and bad, clean and unclean.
Even actions like bathing or cleaning the body should be done just as leela — without ego.

Such a true renunciate, after death, merges into Sri Krishna Himself and attains moksha.

Ramaswamy Sastry and Vighnesh Ghanapaathi