Namaskaram Rengajay ji,
Kindly don’t complicate by thinking too much or afraid too much about Samasrayanam. Straight answers for your questions are .
Yes Non Brahmins can do Panchasamskaram.
Yes there are food restrictions.
you can live with your family and you can leave home for work or business or travel. But the food you take must be satvic as prescribed by sastras. The food has to be offered to God before you intake.
Try to get Swamins CD’s to listen more and more. He normally clears all our doubts in the upanyasam. Just by hearing very few upanyasams, He set a path for my spiritual journey. Clears most of the doubts. Try to have a habit of hearing those atleast 30 mins a day. Feeding our mind clears our doubts. We are lucky enough to born in this generation to hear his upanyasams. He is unique in this field as you all have known.
Here are some more information from what i have learned, which may help you to clear your doubts.
Varna:-
“Chaturvarnyam mayA srushtam guna karma vibhAgasa:” says Śrī Krishna in Śrīmad bhagavat geetha. The four varnas (Brahmana, kshatriya, vaishya and sudra) were all created by Krishna himself based on the qualities and activity of a person.
But don’t we determine one’s varna by birth?
Yes because generally the qualities are imbibed by a child from its parents and surroundings (genetically and also due to practice). So child born to a brahmana has a greater chance of having brahministic qualities and more over taking birth in a specific family is also determined by one’s previous karmas. So it is clear that Varna was not created by humans but by God himself but the discrimination or considering one Varna higher than the other was surely created by humans. For the Lord everyone is equal and all jobs are required to run this leela vibhoothi. So it is absolutely necessary for each one of us to do our Varna dharmas in order to keep the cycle going.
Next is ashrama.
Again it is divided into four, brahmacharya, gruhasta, vanaprasta and sanyasa. Each ashrama has specified dharmas that have to be followed in accordance with the sastras.
Now our main doubt how does this varna and ashrama affect a Śrīvaishnava?
Anyone born in any varna and in any ashrama, any gender ( male or female) is eligible to become a Śrīvaiṣṇava since no one is born as a Sri Vaishnava. If one accepts the supremacy of Lord Śrīman Narayana and with the interest to surrender to His divine feet approaches a Śrīvaiṣṇava āchārya and undertakes Samasrayanam then one becomes a Śrīvaishnava. But becoming a Sri Vaishnava will not change anyone’s varna or ashrama so they have to continue doing the varnashrama dharmas as service to the Lord (as those were prescribed by Lord himself). Once we have taken refuge unto the divine feet of Śrīman Narayana worshipping any other devata or going to other temples are strictly prohibited. Śrīvaishnavas are actually chaste women with Śrīman Narayana as the universal husband and all others are para purushas. Another thing that should be strictly avoided is bhagavata apacharam, talking ill of other bhagavatas , disrespecting them and behaving harshly with them. The Lord never forgives bhagavata apacharam.
Finally, we can conclude that wherever we are born in whichever Varna, family or place whichever ashrama we are in we don’t have to worry. The very interest to surrender to the divine feet of the supreme Lord Śrīman Narayana is enough to become His servants, Śrīvaishnavas. Once we become a Śrīvaiṣṇava our attitude towards the world surely changes, we need to develop vairagya but at the same time always remain attached to the Lord and His devotees who will slowly educate us about the truth, the way and ultimate Goal and show us the divine feet of the Lord who will guide us through the divine path to the divine abode of the Supreme Lord.
So what all should be general changes in our lifestyle:
- Refrain from those activities not practiced by our elders and try to do what has been told by the sastras
- Start each day with chanting of Hari nama 7 times. In each and every activity we do our elders have prescribed certain stotras that can be learnt and recited.
- Prayer and meditation on the lord should be done atleast for 10 mts everyday.
- Food (as prescribed by the sastras) has to be consumed only after offering to the Lord.
- Earn to live. Try to avoid greed and too much attachment towards wealth, sophistications and worldly pleasures.
- Concentrate on learning more and try to put in practice as much as possible.
- Never disregard our tradition and culture as it all has a meaning and it is not a blind belief (we need to research and know from learned why it is practiced by our elders);
- Going to temple/divyadesams, doing our mighty service at least for few hours in a week or month; Maintaining the dress code and decorum of the temple;
- Doing charity, helping the needy or taking part in social activities- as service to human is service to god;
- Totally refrain from bhagavat/bhagavata apacharam
- We can continue with all the dhArmic (those accepted by sastras) activities we do but with the thought that the supreme Lord is behind all our activities and we do it for not just the simple results it yields but for the ultimate result of getting joy to our universal creator who has given us this responsibility. Without His aid none of our activities will yield results.
Don’t hesitate to approach your nearby mutts or sri vaishnavas to clarify your doubts. They will always welcome you wholeheartedly.
Adiyen
