have the strongest connection with clas-
sical Sanskrit (sacred language) learn-
ing, are the strictest in their ascetic
practices, and tend to be the most con-
servative in their social views. Dandi
Sanyasis often follow ascetic initiation
only after having completed the other
three stages of life(ashramas), and thus
fulfill the idealized pattern in the dharma
literature, the texts on religious duty.
Dandi Sanyasis were virtually always
brahmins (priests) before becoming
ascetics, and almost all Dandis belong to
the Dashanami divisions that will only
initiate brahmins—that is, the Saraswati,
Ashrama, Tirtha, and some sections of
the Bharati divisions. The remaining
Dashanami divisions will admit mem-
bers from all four of the traditional
social classes: brahmins, kshatriyas,
vaishyas, and shudras. Members from
the first three groups, known as “twice-
born” because they are eligible for the
adolescent religious initiation known as
the “second birth,” are initiated as
Paramahamsa Sanyasis, whereas shu-
dras are initiated as Naga, or militant
ascetics. Thus, despite the supposed loss
of identity among ascetics after formally
“renouncing” the world, one can see the
continuing influence of a person’s for-
mer worldly status.
These ten divisions are collected into
four larger organizational groups:
Anandawara, Bhogawara, Bhuriwara,
and Kitawara. Each of these groups has
two or three of the ten Dashanami
orders, and each is centered in one of
the four sacred centers (maths) suppos-
edly established by Shankaracharya.
Each of these four groups is also associ-
ated with one of the four Vedas—the
oldest Hindu sacred texts, a different
geographical quarter of India, a different
“great utterance” (mahavakya), and a
different ascetic quality.
Dasharatha
In the Ramayana, the earlier of the two
great Indian epics, Dasharatha is a king
of the Ikshvakudynasty and the father
of Rama, the epic’s protagonist.
Dasharatha is generally portrayed as a
good king, but like many characters in
Indian mythology, his ultimate destiny
is governed by the result of a curse,
whose effects he is unable to avoid. As a
young man, Dasharatha is very fond of
hunting. On one occasion, he blindly
sends an arrow to the spot where he
hears the sound of an animaldrinking
at a stream. When he investigates, he is
horrified to discover a young man struck
by his arrow, with the water pot he had
been filling by his side. With his dying
breaths the young man informs
Dasharatha that he is the sole source of
support for his blind parents and com-
mands Dasharatha to inform them of
his death. Dasharatha is a man of honor
and fulfills the boy’s last request. When
the boy’s father hears the story, he angri-
ly curses Dasharatha to die in similar
grief, bereft of his sons.
For many years it seemed as if this
curse would not come true, since
Dasharatha had no sons, even though
he had three wives: Kausalya, Kaikeyi,
and Sumitra. Dasharatha sponsors vari-
ous religious rites for the birthof sons,
and finally commissions the sage
Rishyashringato perform a great sacri-
fice. At the rite’s conclusion, a shining
figure emerges from the sacrificial fire,
places a pot of milk-rice before
Dasharatha, and directs him to feed it to
his wives. Dasharatha divides the con-
tents of the pot between Kausalya and
Kaikeyi, each of whom give some to
Sumitra. In due time Kausalya bears
Rama, Kaikeyi gives birth to Bharata,
and Sumitra (by virtue of receiving a
share from each of her co-wives) bears
the twins Lakshmanaand Shatrughna.
As his sons grow into manhood
Dasharatha is blissfully happy, and the
memory of the curse fades from his
mind. As a young man, Rama shows his
prowess and goodness, and Dasharatha
decides to anoint him as the heir-
apparent. Yet the night before this cere-
mony, the curse finally comes to
fruition. During the preparations pre-
ceding Rama’s investiture, the mind of
his stepmother Kaikeyi has been slowlyDasharatha