Ascetics have played an important role in moulding the religious history of India throughout the ages. The ascetics mentioned here include sages, seers, rsis, mystics, yogins, sants (saint singers) and others who by their teachings guided the masses and enabled them to proceed on the righteous path. Asceticism not only influenced life in ancient India but also constituted largely to the religious and philosophical thought of the respective period. The ascetic life came to be regarded as holy and essential for emancipation.
Asceticism, which is a means for getting relieved from worldly miseries, is to be followed in the true spirit. The real samnyasins, who are respected for their unselfish service to all the people, bring comfort to thousands of less fortunate fellow beings through their service, counselling and prayers.
Dr. T. V. Vasudeva, a specialist in Advaita procured his Masters in Sanskrit from the R.K.M. Vivekananda College, Chennai. His Ph.D. on the "Precepts and Practices of Samnyasa Asrama" was highly appreciated.
Fluent in Sanskrit, he has been guiding graduate, post-graduates, M.Phil and Ph.D. research scholars for more than a decade. He teaches special Sanskrit texts for students from the United States, Europe, India and South-East Asia.
From 2001 he holds the post of Deputy Director of the Kuppuswami Sastri Research Institute in Chennai. He also serves on doctoral committees and as an external examiner for other universities in south India.
Dr. T.V. Vasudeva has co-edited, co-authored and has authored nearly forty books in the field of Sanskrit and Indology in general and specifically in Advaita.
Asceticism or Samnyasa, a feature common to all religious systems is one of the important contributions of the ancient Indian culture. Ascetic practices have been widely prevalent in ancient India. The mortification of the body and self-inflicted penances associated with asceticism have been practiced for long. Describing the term 'sadhu (ascetic), J.C.Oman observes in his book, Mystics, Ascetics and Saints of India, "... is no recent importation, no modern excrescence, but has been flourishing in India, a veritable indigeneous growth from a time which dates many centuries before the advent of Christ, or even the preaching by Buddha of the eight-fold path leading to enlightenment and deliverance. Alexander of Macedon, in his march across the plains of Punjab in the fourth century B.C. saw, and took interest in the Indian sadhu, but Sadhuism in his day was already hoary with antiquity."
Traces of the stages of Hindu life (asramas) brahmacarya, grhastha, muni are found in the vedic texts; but clear formations of the theory of the stages (asramas) is discernible only from in the Upanisads, The term muni in Rgveda denotes an ascetic. These ascetics were known as vatarasanas, literally meaning one having wind (vata) as his girdle that is 'being naked'. There is a fundamental difference between the vedic rsis and vatarasana munis. The vedic rsis led domestic life, believed in yajnas, propitiated gods and goddesses for worldly gains like son, property, etc. and received charities. Vatarasana munis did not indulge in such activities.
begging. They practiced silence and were engrossed in meditation. They represent the oldest form of the sramana tradition and hence they can be separated from the vedic tradition. Har Dutta Sarma in his 'Contribution to the History of Brahmanical Asceticism' (p.19) suggests, that the vatarasanas of Rgveda were the earliest dissenters from the orthodox vedic religion, who took the title of sramana by the time of Aranyakas. In Rgveda the term tapasa (X. 109. 4) is used in the sense of asceticism which constituted the function of Samnyasins. Thus, the practice of asceticism is as old as the Rgveda, though the conception and the thought underlying it, are not quite easily traceable.
The origin of asceticism from scriptural evidence is traced to the Rgveda. The four divisions of the veda such as the Samhita, Brahmaņa, Aranyaka and the Upanisads correspond to the four stages in the Hindu life. The Aranyakas are the last potions of Brahmana intended to be studied in the forest, in retirement. In Upanisadic period the third and fourth stages viz., Vanaprastha and Samnyasa are considered to be one, though the former is a preparatory stage for the latter. It is closer to Samnyasa with regard to renunciation from worldly life. The meditation on the Supreme Being and the ascetic mode of life are enjoined, in common terms, for both.
Various terms have been used in the scriptural texts for ascetics. Some of the popular terms denoting an ascetic are samnyasin, tapasvin, yogin, muni, parivrajaka, sadhu, yati, bhiksu, sramana, bairagi, fakir and so on. Though these terms refer to a recluse in general there are some differences with regard to their characteristics.
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