Tradition
Sannyasa
Overview
Sannyasa (Sanskrit: संन्यास, romanized: saṃnyāsa), sometimes spelled sanyasa, is the fourth stage within the Hindu system of four life stages known as ashramas, the first three being brahmacharya (celibate student), grihastha (householder) and vanaprastha (forest dweller, retired). Sannyasa is traditionally conceptualized for men or women in the last years of their life, but young brahmacharis have the choice to skip the householder and retirement stages, renounce worldly and materialistic pursuits and dedicate their lives to spiritual pursuits.
Sannyasa, a form of asceticism marked by renunciation of material desires and prejudices, is characterized by a state of uninterest in and detachment from material life, with the purpose of spending one's life in peaceful, spiritual pursuits. An individual in Sanyasa is known as a sannyasi (male) or sannyasini (female) in Hinduism. Sannyasa shares similarities with the Sadhu and Sadhvi traditions of Jain monasticism, and the sannyasi and sannyasini share similarity with the bhikkhus and bhikkhunis of Buddhism.
Sannyasa has historically been a stage of renunciation, ahimsa (non-violence), a peaceful and simple life and spiritual pursuit in Indian traditions. However, this has not always been the case. After the invasions and establishment of Muslim rule in India, from the 12th century through the British Raj, parts of the Shaiva (Gossain) and Vaishnava (Bairagi) ascetics metamorphosed into a military order, where they developed martial arts, created military strategies, and engaged in guerrilla warfare. These warrior sanyasi (ascetics) played an important role in helping European colonial powers establish themselves in the Indian subcontinent.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Possible passages
Found by search and not yet checked by a person; they may only mention the idea in passing.
Then change and motion begin and all this evolution goes on. This state of things is going on cyclically, periodically; that is to say, there is a period of disturbance of the balance, when all these forces begin to combine and recombine, and this universe is projected; and there is also a period when everything has a tendency to revert to the primal state of equilibrium, and the time comes when a total absence of…
Swami Vivekananda, Jnâna Yoga, Part II
States what Sannyasa is.
The warrior-class attains a perfect separation from classes devoted to the cultivation of the soil or other occupations regarded as servile. And there arises a priesthood that is defined in its rank, its functions, its privileges. This sharpness of definition, growing both greater and more variously exemplified as societies advance to maturity, is extremest in those that have reached their full development or are…
Herbert Spencer, First Principles
States what Sannyasa is.
These are simple, dry relations, originating from the understanding. Under affirmation, tradition or revelation is understood, such as that of the orthodox Vedas; in a wider sense, immediate certainty or the affirmation in my consciousness, and in a less wide sense, an assurance through verbal communication or through tradition is so denominated.
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Hegel's Lectures on the History of Philosophy
States what Sannyasa is.
Philosophers who discussed Sannyasa
Related ideas
- Arjuna
- Paul Deussen
- Vishishtadvaita
- Hinduism
- Vedas
- Gavin Flood
- Saṃsāra
- Bhakti
- Moksha
- Adi Shankara
- Mahatma Gandhi
- Indian subcontinent
- Brahman
- Bhagavad Gita
- Mundaka Upanishad
- Shaivism
- Sanskrit
- Ahimsa
- Sutra
- Shiva
- Yajnavalkya
- Advaita Vedanta
- Brahmana
- Samhita
Place in the tradition
Part of Indian philosophy.