Śramaṇa

Śramaṇa (Sanskrit: श्रमण, Samaṇa in Pali) means "seeker, one who performs acts of austerity, ascetic". The term refers to several Indian religious movements parallel to but separate from the historical Vedic religion. The Śramaṇa tradition includes Jainism of 9th-century BCE,Buddhism of 6th-century BCE, and others such as Ājīvika, Ajñana and Cārvāka.

The Śramaṇa movements arose in the same circles of mendicants in ancient India that led to the development of Yogic practices, as well as the popular concepts in all major Indian religions such as saṃsāra (the cycle of birth and death) and moksha (liberation from that cycle).

The Śramaṇic traditions have a diverse range of beliefs, ranging from accepting or denying the concept of soul, fatalism to free will, idealization of extreme asceticism to that of family life, wearing dress to complete nudity in daily social life, strict ahimsa (non-violence) and vegetarianism to permissibility of violence and meat-eating.

One of the earliest recorded use of the word Śramaṇa, in the sense of a mendicant, is in verse 4.3.22 of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad composed by about the 8th century BCE. The concept of renunciation and monk-like lifestyle is found in Vedic literature, with terms such as yatis, rishis, and śramaṇas. Early Vedic literature from about 1000 BCE, mentions Muni (मुनि, monks, mendicants, holy man), with characteristics that mirror those of Sramanas. Rig Veda, for example, in Book 10 Chapter 136, mentions mendicants as those with Kesin (केशिन्, long haired) and Mala clothes (मल, dirty, soil-colored, yellow, orange, saffron) engaged in the affairs of Mananat (mind, meditation). Rigveda also uses the term vatarazana (वातरशन, one who wears air as clothes, naked monk).

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