Sannyasa
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Sannyasa, sometimes spelled sanyasa, is the fourth stage within the Hindu system of four life stages known as ashramas, the first three being brahmacharya, grihastha and vanaprastha. Sannyasa is tradi
Photograph of a Sanyasi ascetic, albumen print, by Captain W. W. Hooper & Surgeon G. Western, Hyderabad, c. 1865
Adi Shankara, founder of Advaita Vedanta, with disciples, by Raja Ravi Varma (1904)
A Hindu monk walking during sunrise in a mango garden in Dinajpur, Bangladesh
A Hindu Sannyasi. In ancient and medieval literature, they are usually associated with forests and remote hermitages in their spiritual, literary and philosophical pursuits.
Sadhu
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Sadhu is a religious ascetic, mendicant or any holy person in Hinduism and Jainism who has renounced the worldly life. They are sometimes alternatively referred to as yogi, sannyasi or vairagi.
Sannyasa
…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…
Two sadhus near Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu
Sadhu in Pashupatinath Temple, Kathmandu, Nepal.
A sadhu in yoga position, reading a book in Varanasi
A female sadhvi with a Vishnu mark on her forehead