Avadhuta means "one who has thrown away all attachments" in Sanskrit.
In the broadest sense, an avadhuta is an ascetic who follows no social or religious norms other than his (or, much more rarely, her) own.
- Needless to say, their actions are often unexpected, seem arbitrary, and sometimes startling.
- Avadhuta is also a word of respect for senior members of the Naga class of the Dashanami Sanyasis, renunciant ascetics who are devotees (bhakta) of the deity Shiva and who formerly worked as merchants and mercenary warriors.
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