The Dasanami-samnyasis : the integration of ascetic lineages into an order / by Matthew Clark.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Clark, Matthew (Matthew James)

Series:

Brill's Indological library ; v. 25.

Brill's Indological library ; v. 25

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Daśnāmīs--History.

Daśnāmīs.

Daśnāmīs--Customs and practices.

Sannyasi.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (368 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2006.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This book provides an account of the organisation, practices and history of the Dasanami-Sanyasis, one of the largest sects of sadhus ('holy men') in South Asia. According to tradition, the sect was founded by the legendary south-Indian philosopher Sankaracharya, whose floruit was most probably around 700 CE. While the first three chapters of this book examine the sect's organisation and its various branches, the latter chapters explore its history. This is the first full-length study of the Dasanami-Sanyasis to be published since the 1970s, and will be particularly useful both for students of Hinduism and for readers with a particular interest in the religious history of mediaeval India.

Contents:

Intro

Title Page

Copyright Page

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Preface

Abbreviations

Transliteration

Introduction

0.1 Introduction to the Daśanāmī-Saṃnyāsīs

0.2 Locating 'the saṃnyāsī'

0.3 Sources for this book

Chapter one. BRANCHES OF THE DAŚANĀMĪ ORDER

1.1 The Daśanāmī sect, as currently constituted, in relation to other renunciate sects

1.2 Caste

1.3 Subdivisions within the Daśanāmī order: Daṇḍī

1.4 Paramahaṃsa

1.5 'Paramahaṃsa' and 'Daśanāmī' as categories

1.6 Nāgā

Chapter two. AKHĀṚĀ-S AND DAŚANĀMĪ FUNCTIONARIES

2.1 The akhāṛā-s

2.2 Maṛhī-s and dāvā-s

2.3 Functionaries within the Śrī Pañc Daśanāmī akhāṛā organisation

2.4 Mahāmaṇḍaleśvaras

2.5 Śaṅkarācāryas

Chapter three. RENUNCIATION, RULES FOR ASCETICS, AND INITIATION

3.1. Renunciation procedures

3.2 Current initiation procedures: pañc-guru-saṃskār

3.3 Current procedures: virajā-havan/-homa (vidyā-saṃskār) and nāgā initiations

3.4 Rules for renunciates

Chapter four. THE INTEGRATION OF VARIOUS LINEAGES: THE MAṬHĀMNĀϒA-S

4.1 Śaṅkara's authorship of texts, and his date

4.2 Organisational structure of the Daśanāmīs, according to the Maṭhāmnāyastotra, Śrī Maṭhāmnāyasetu and other texts

4.3 Gotra, sampradāya, Brahmacārī name, Veda and mahāvākya

4.4 The pīṭha-s and guru-paramparā-s

4.4.1 Kāñcīpuram

4.4.2 Śṛṅgerī and other southern maṭha-s

4.4.3 Disputes concerning the western pīṭha

4.4.4 The eastern pīṭha

4.4.5 The northern pīṭha

4.4.6 The Sumeru pīṭha

Chapter five. ŚAṄKARA'S HAGIOGRAPHIES AND HIS RELIGIOUS ORIENTATION

5.1 The hagiographies of Śaṅkara

5.2 Śaṅkara's life in the hagiographies

5.3 Śaṅkara's religious orientation

5.4 Pīṭha-s, maṭha-s, and the installation of disciples in the hagiographies

5.5 The first references to the 'ten names'.

Chapter six. THE RISE AND INFLUENCE OF ADVAITA MAṬHA-S

6.1 The Pāśupatas

6.2 Maṭha-s and competing religious traditions in south India, 600-1500 CE

6.3 Religious initiation and orientation of the Vijayanagara rulers

6.4 The Saṅgamas' patronage of the Śṛṅgerī maṭha and its pontiffs

6.5 Śaṅkara and the founding of the Śṛṅgerī maṭha

Chapter seven. NĀGĀ-S, SŪFĪS AND PARALLEL RELIGIOUS IDENTITIES

7.1 The formation of militant ascetic orders

7.2 The development of Sūfī institutions in India

7.3 Religious identity in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries

7.4 Mercenary and military activities of nāgā-s and gosain-s

7.5 Saṃnyāsī-s, fakīr-s and rebellion in east India

7.6 Gosain traders and bankers

7.7 Saṃnyāsī-s and the modern political world

7.8 Concluding remarks

Appendix 1

Numbers and percentages of orthodox, reformist and radical sādhu-s

Appendix 2

Śrī Maṭhāmnāyasetu, Mahānuśāsanam, Śeṣāmnāya

Śrī Maṭhāmnāyasetu

Śāradā Maṭhāmnāyaḥ

Govardhana Maṭhāmnāyaḥ

Jyotir Maṭhāmnāyaḥ

Śṛṅgerī Maṭhāmnāyaḥ

Mahānuśāsanam

Śeṣāmnāya

Translation

Śrī Maṭhāmnāyasetu [The division of the revered traditions]

Śāradā Maṭhāmnāya

Govardhana Maṭhāmnāya

Jyotir Maṭhāmnāya

Śṛṅgerī Maṭhāmnāya

Mahānuśāsanam [The great instruction]

Śeṣāmnāya [The remaining doctrine]

Appendix 3

The history and mythology of the Kumbh Melā

Appendix 4

Subdivisions within the Daśanāmī akhāṛā-s: maṛhī-s and dāvā-s

Bibliography

Index

BRILL'S INDOLOGICAL LIBRARY.

Notes:

Revision of thesis (Ph.D.)--University of London, 2004.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [303]-338) and index.

ISBN:

1-281-39964-7

9786611399641

90-474-1002-5

OCLC:

607820741