Vana 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
737
Vana Dashanami
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 (“forest”). 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 identities,
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 Vana
Dashanamis belong to the Bhogawara
group, which is affiliated with the
Govardhan Math in the city of Puri, on
the bay of Bengal.