Sannyāsa — renunciation

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.

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.

The four kinds

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.

॥ ❖ ॥

Last revised 2026-08-16. Corrections are welcome — see how this site is written.