Talk:Parivrājaka
From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia
By Swami Harshananda
Parivrājaka literally means ‘mendicant’.
The institution of sanyāsa is very old. It is the last of the four āśramas or stations of life. The word actually means ‘one who roams about all round the place’. A sanyāsin was to live by begging and should be constantly on the move, never having a fixed abode for himself. This was the discipline imposed on him to cut off all connections of the earlier life and be free to contemplate on God.
References[edit]
- The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore