The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism (2 Vol Set)

(vip2019) #1

philosopher, Shankaracharya, in an
effort to create a corps of learned men
who could help revitalize Hindu life.
Each of the divisions is designated by a
different name—in this case, vana (“for-
est”). Upon initiation, new members
are given this name as a surname to
their new asceticnames, thus allowing
for immediate group identification.
Aside from their individual identities,
these ten “named” divisions are divid-
ed into four larger organizational
groups. Each group has its headquar-
ters in one of the four monastic centers
(maths) supposedly established by
Shankaracharya, as well as other par-
ticular religious associations. The Vana
Dashanamis belong to the Bhogawara
group, which is affiliated with the
Govardhan Mathin the city of Puri, on
the bay of Bengal.


Vanamalin


(“wearing a garland of forest flowers”)
Epithet of the god Krishna. See Krishna.

Vanaprastha


(“forest-dweller”) According to the
dharma literature, the vanaprastha was
the third of the idealized stages of life
(ashrama) for a twice-bornman, that is,
a man born into the brahmin, ksha-
triya, or vaishyacommunities, who had
undergone the adolescent religious ini-
tiationknown as the “second birth.”
According to this idealized pattern, after
engaging in religious learning as a celi-
bate student (brahmacharin), the first
stage; marrying and raising a family as a
householder (grhastha), the second
stage; a man should, in the third, gradu-
ally disengage himself from the world by
giving up his attachments and with-
drawing to a more secluded place. The
renunciation in this third stage of life is

Vanamalin


Varanasi ghats with pilgrims bathing in the Ganges.
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