Sannyasa
Samnyasa (
IAST ', also spelled ',
Sannyasa) in
Hinduism symbolizes the conception of the life of a
mystic, a person is now integrated into the spiritual world after wholly giving up material life. One who walks this path is known as a
sannyasi,
sannyasin or
sanyasi. The sannyasi lives without possessions, practises
yoga meditation — or in other traditions,
bhakti, or devotional meditation, and prays to his or her conception of
God in the hopes of ultimately achieving
samadhi (enlightenment) and, subsequently,
moksha (liberation), and reunion with the Divine.
' in Sanskrit means "renunciation", "abandonment". It is a tripartite compound of has "collective" meaning, ni- means "down" and ' is from a root
', meaning "to throw" or "to put", so a literal translation would be "laying it all down".
The term is generally used to denote a particular phase of life. In this phase of life, the person develops vairagya,'' or a state of determination and disillusionment with material life. He thus renounces all worldly thoughts and desires, and spends the rest of his life in spiritual contemplation. It is the last in the four phases of a man, namely,
brahmacharya,
grihastha,
vanaprastha, and finally sannyasa, as prescribed by
Manusmriti for the
Dhwija castes, in the Hindu system of life.
Orthodox Hindus do not generally accept the claims of the followers of Bhagwan Shree
Rajneesh / Osho to be sannyasins, and often even find this claim insulting. Though Rajneesh took pains to distinguish his sannyasins from the traditionals, and called them neo-sannyasins, in practice that prefix is rarely used. The result is more like the co-optation of the name than a claim.
Having succeeded in overcoming all sensual affections and desires, and in acquiring perfect equanimity towards everything around him, the
hermit has fitted himself for the final and most exalted order, that of devotee or religious mendicant. As such, he has no further need of either mortifications or religious observances; but with the sacrificial fires reposited in his mind, he may devote the remainder of his days to
meditating on the divinity. Taking up his abode at the foot of a tree in total solitude, with no companion but his own
soul (
jiva), clad in a coarse garment, he should carefully avoid injuring any creature or giving offence to any human being that may happen to come near him. Once a day, in the evening, when the charcoal fire is extinguished and the smoke no longer issues from the fire-places, when the pestle is at rest, when the people have taken their meals and the dishes are removed, he should go near the habitations of men, in order to beg what little food may suffice to sustain his feeble frame. Ever pure of mind he should thus bide his time, as a servant expects his wages, wishing neither for death nor for life, until at last his soul is freed from its fetters and absorbed into the
atman, the impersonal self-existent Brahman, or else returns to dwell with Brahman experienced as the personal Deity.
Of the 108
Upanishads of the
Muktika, 23 are considered Sannyasa Upanishads. They are listed with their associated Veda ():
# (KYV)# (ŚYV)#
(KYV) "The Faces of God"# (SV)# (KYV)# (ŚYV)#
(SV)# (SV)# (KYV)# () (AV)# (ṚV)# (ŚYV)# (SYV)# (SYV)# (SV)# (AV)# (SV)# (AV)# (KYV)# (KYV)# (SYV)# (KYV)# (SYV)
*
Yogi*
Sadhu*
Gymnosophist*
Articles on aspects of Sannyasa, Vairagya, and Brahmacharya*
'The Song of the Sannyasin', poem by Swami Vivekananda*
The Internal Meaning of Sannyasa
