Sannyāsa — renunciation
संन्यास
Also written: sannyasa · sanyas · renunciation · swami monk hinduism · dashanami · संन्यास
Sannyāsa means 'complete laying down'. The initiate performs his own śrāddha — his own funeral rites — before taking it, because the person who held that name, that family, that property and that role is being declared finished. What follows has no lineage, no possessions and no obligations to anyone in particular, which is precisely what frees him for everyone in general.
न कर्मणा न प्रजया धनेन त्यागेनैके अमृतत्वमानशुः।
na karmaṇā na prajayā dhanena tyāgenaike amṛtatvam ānaśuḥ
Not by action, not by progeny, not by wealth — by renunciation alone did some attain immortality.
काम्यानां कर्मणां न्यासं संन्यासं कवयो विदुः। सर्वकर्मफलत्यागं प्राहुस्त्यागं विचक्षणाः॥
kāmyānāṁ karmaṇāṁ nyāsaṁ sannyāsaṁ kavayo viduḥ sarva-karma-phala-tyāgaṁ prāhus tyāgaṁ vicakṣaṇāḥ
The wise understand sannyāsa to be the laying down of desire-driven actions; the discerning call tyāga the relinquishing of the fruit of all actions.
What is renounced
Not the world, in the sense of running from it. What is laid down is agency-as-ownership: the sense of 'mine' attaching to work, property, name and result. The Gītā insists on this distinction — true sannyāsa is the renunciation of desire-driven action, not the abandonment of action, which is impossible for anyone with a body.
काम्यानां कर्मणां न्यासं संन्यासं कवयो विदुः।
kāmyānāṁ karmaṇāṁ nyāsaṁ sannyāsaṁ kavayo viduḥ
The wise understand sannyāsa to be the laying down of actions motivated by desire.
The four kinds
| Kind | Character |
|---|---|
| Kuṭīcaka | Lives in a hut, often near family; the gentlest form |
| Bahūdaka | Wanders, begging from several houses; no fixed dwelling |
| Haṁsa | Constantly moving, staying nowhere long enough to form attachment |
| Paramahaṁsa | Beyond all outward observance; the highest, in which the marks themselves are set down |
The Daśanāmī order
Śaṅkarācārya organised the monastic tradition into ten names — Giri, Purī, Bhāratī, Sarasvatī, Tīrtha, Āśrama, Vana, Araṇya, Parvata, Sāgara — attached to four cardinal maṭhas: Śṛṅgeri in the south, Purī in the east, Dvārakā in the west, and Jyotirmaṭh in the north. Each maṭha holds one Veda and one mahāvākya. The akhāḍās, the organised orders of ascetics that assemble at the Kumbh, descend from the same reform.
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Last revised 2026-08-16. Corrections are welcome — see how this site is written.