Sagara Dashanami

One of the ten divisions of the
Dashanami Sanyasis, renunciant ascetics
who are devotees (bhakta) of Shiva.
The Dashanamis were supposedly
established by the ninth-century philosopher Shankaracharya in an effort
create a corps of learned men who
could help to revitalize Hindu life.
Each of the divisions is designated by a
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Sagara Dashanami
different name—in this case, sagara
(“ocean”). Upon initiation, new members are given this name as a surname to
their new ascetic names, thus allowing
for immediate group identification.
Aside from their individual identity,
these ten “named” divisions are divided
into four larger organizational groups.
Each group has its headquarters in
one of the four monastic centers
(maths) supposedly established by
Shankaracharya, as well as other particular religious associations. The Sagara
Dashanamis belong to the Anandawara
group, which is affiliated with the Jyotir
math in the Himalayan town of
Joshimath.