Does Hinduism consider monastic life better ?
No. During the course of Indian history, late Buddhism brought in this idea, which led to the downfall of India. The genius of Sri Sankara converted this downfall into the “downfall of Buddhism in India” and put the society back onto the progressive track. Hinduism considers the householders and monastics as two wings of the bird called society. Whether to chose the life of a householder or a monastic depends on the individual temperament. The aim of life – God realization – can be achieved in both the ways of life. Just as there are various duties to various people in the society, the monastics also have their role and duties. The monks are the repositories of religious knowledge and are teachers of religious life. The respect given to their position is a psychological necessity to derive maximum benefit from their knowledge.
No. During the course of Indian history, late Buddhism brought in this idea, which led to the downfall of India. The genius of Sri Sankara converted this downfall into the “downfall of Buddhism in India” and put the society back onto the progressive track. Hinduism considers the householders and monastics as two wings of the bird called society. Whether to chose the life of a householder or a monastic depends on the individual temperament. The aim of life – God realization – can be achieved in both the ways of life. Just as there are various duties to various people in the society, the monastics also have their role and duties. The monks are the repositories of religious knowledge and are teachers of religious life. The respect given to their position is a psychological necessity to derive maximum benefit from their knowledge. Also, they are supposed to expressedly and explicitly follow the virtues like service, sacrifice and nobility which the householders are supposed to implicitly f
