Generally sannyasa refers to an order in which one lives alone, eating only leftovers, berries, and nuts, residing in remote holy regions, or travelling about as mendicant. But Srila Prabhupada wanted to establish that the renounced order of life shouldn’t be something we fear. Of himself, he said this once in public: “In several ways there were hints from my spiritual master, but still, I was not willing. I was thinking, `If I go away, then my family, my sons, my daughters, they will suffer’… But actually, I have left my family connection in 1950. Actually ’54, but introductory in ’50. For the last twenty years. But they are living; I am living. They are not dying in my absence, and I am not suffering without being in my family. On the other hand, by Krsna’s grace, I have got better family members. I have got nice children in a foreign country. They are taking so good care of me, I could not expect such care from my own children.” (lecture from Srimad Bhagavatam 5.5.1 at Tittenhurst Park, Ascot, England, September 1969).