Dashanami

Dashanami

दशनामि, daśanāmi, also एकदण्डि, ekadaṇḍi

Dashanami (tradition of ten names) or Ekadandi (sanyasi with one staff) are orders of monks, wandering hermits (sadhus) originating from Adi Shankaracharya.

The historical background of the emergence of the orders is connected with the fact that during the widespread expansion of Buddhism in India, the number of Hindu monks significantly decreased. Adi Shankaracharya was able to revive the monastic tradition of Hinduism by combining disparate currents of sadhus (monks) into a well-organized structure, dividing it into 10 parts according to the nature of the worldview of its adherents. Several other Hindu and monastic traditions of Ekadandi remained outside the Dashanami organization.

Dashanami orders were ascetic and used the practice of jnana-yoga, but much later, due to popularity throughout India, everyone who adhered to Advaita-Vedanta began to join them, and many of dashanamis stopped focusing on asceticism.

There are two categories of dashanamis, the first ones carry a danda (staff), the second ones do not. Danda is owned by those dashanamis who were brahmins by caste before taking sannyasa. Such dashanamis adhere to many restrictions related to rituals, nutrition, contact with worldly people, they have many prescriptions. Only a Paramahamsa-level sannyasi can ignore these prescriptions.

Dandins are three lines out of ten in the Dashanami tradition, the distinctive feature of the adherents of which is a staff wrapped in cloth, which they always carry with them and symbolizes the unity of jiva and Brahman. The purpose of such sannyasa is moksha as the realization of true self by renouncing all manifestations of the material world. The monks of the order lead an ascetic lifestyle, living on alms, which they get from five houses.

It is assumed that ekadandins (with one pole) differ in their practice from tridandi sannyasis or Vaishnava sannyasis (who carry a triple pole). Tridandi sannyasis continue to wear the sacred thread when accepting renunciation, while ekadandins often do not wear the sacred thread.

Dashanami branches: Sarasvati, Tirtha, Aranya, Bharati, Ashram, Giri, Parvata, Sagara, Puri.

Sarasvati, Puri and Bharati are related with Shringeri Sharada Pith.

Tirtha and Ashrama are related with Dvaraka Pith.

Giri, Parvata and Sagara are related with Jyotir math.

Vana and Aranya are related with Govardhan math in Puri.

The famous representatives of the order are: Adi Shankaracharya, Tulsidas, Svami Sarasvati Dayananda, Svami Sarasvati Sahajananda, Agehananda Bharati, Sri Svami Mahamandaleshvar Vishveshvarananda Giri.