Shramana (derived from the Sanskrit word shram, which means
"to strive") - Religious adepts whose beliefs emphasized renunciation,
ascetic disciplines, and the pursuit for intuitive insights from the middle of
the first millennium before the common period.
Individualist, experiential, free-form, and
society-independent religious activity characterized Shramana.
All of these characteristics put them in religious
competition with brahmin priests, whose practice emphasized mastery of sacred
texts and the performance of extremely complex rituals; the need for sponsors
for these rituals made brahmin religion a "establishment" religion
that served the patron classes.
The terms shramana and brahmin are used by Indian
grammarians to illustrate typically bitter opponents, including mongoose and
cobra, and the difference appears to be between a religious model emphasizing
individual charisma (shramana) and one emphasizing highly trained technical
expertise (brahmin) (brahmin).
By vehemently rejecting the authority of the Vedas, a
segment of the shra mana lineage stayed outside the Hindu fold; the Jains,
Buddhists, Ajivikas, and other religious organizations arose as a consequence
of this rejection of the Vedas.
The dharma literature, which found a home for renunciant
asceticism in the shape of the Sanyasi, the final of the four traditional
phases of life, incorporated part of the shra mana legacy into conventional
Hinduism (ashramas).
Padmanabh S. Jaini, "Sramanas: Their Conflict with
Brahmanical Society," in Joseph Elder (ed. ), Chapters in Indian
Civilization, 1970, for further information on the shramanas and the evolution
of this tradition.
