Wandering with Sadhus: Ascetics in the Hindu Himalayas

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Wandering with Sadhus Sondra L. Hausner Ascetics in the Hindu Himalayas Winner of the Joseph W. Elder Prize in the Indian Social Sciences, American Institute of Indian Studies “Wandering with Sadhus is a nuanced, humane, and evocative study of Hindu renouncers in South Asia. It is also a theoretically powerful contribution to anthropological scholarship on bodies in culture, the intricacies of social organization in South Asia, and the lived practice of a complex religious system.” —Ernestine McHugh, author of Love and Honor in the Himalayas: Coming to Know Another Culture “Will be of interest to students and scholars who are interested in any of a number of subjects: meditation, yoga, sacrifice, Vedānta, gender, bhakti, pilgrimage, body, space, desire, and liberation. Beautifully written, it is also a wonderful contribution to the fields of anthropology and religion.” —Lindsey Harlan, Connecticut College In this moving ethnographic portrait of Hindu renouncers—sādhus or ascetics—in northern India and Nepal, Sondra L. Hausner considers a paradox that shapes their lives: while ostensibly defined by their solitary spiritual practice, the stripping away of social commitments, and their break with family and community, renouncers in fact regularly interact with each other and with “householder” society. They form a distinctive, alternative community with its own internal structure, one that is not located in any single place. Highly mobile and dispersed across the subcontinent, its members are regularly brought together through pilgrimage circuits on festival cycles. Drawing on many years of fieldwork, Hausner presents intimate portraits of individual sādhus as she examines the shared views of space, time, and the body that create the ground of everyday experience. Written with an extraordinary blend of empathy, compassion, and anthropological insight, this study will appeal to scholars, students, and general readers alike. Includes photographs by award-winning photographer Kevin Bubriski. Sondra L. Hausner is Lecturer in the Anthropology of Migration at the University of Oxford. Contemporary Indian Studies Published in association with the American Institute of Indian Studies http://iupress.indiana.edu 1-800-842-6796 Eastern Religion Anthropology $19.95 Cover photo: Sādhus Parade to Kumbh Melā, Allahabad, India. © Thomas L. Kelly. INDIANA INDIANA University Press Bloomington & Indianapolis Wandering with Sadhus Hausner Wandering with Sadhus • Contemporary Indian Studies Published in association with the American Institute of Indian Studies Susan S. Wadley, Chair, Publications Committee/general editor AIIS Publications Committee/series advisory board: John Echeverri-Gent Akhil Gupta Brian Hatcher David Lelyveld Martha Selby Books in this series are recipients of the Edward Cameron Dimock, Jr. Prize in the Indian Humanities and the Joseph W. Elder Prize in the Indian Social Sciences awarded by the American Institute of Indian Studies and are published with the Institute’s generous support. A list of titles in this series appears at the back of the book. Wandering with Sadhus Ascetics in the Hindu Himalayas • Sondra L. Hausner Indiana University Press Bloomington & Indianapolis This book is a publication of Indiana University Press 601 North Morton Street Bloomington, IN 47404-3797 USA http://iupress.indiana.edu Telephone orders 800-842-6796 Fax orders 812-855-7931 Orders by e-mail iuporder@indiana.edu© 2007 by Sondra L. Hausner All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher . The Association of American University Presses’ Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984. Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hausner, Sondra L. Wandering with sadhus : ascetics in the Hindu Himalayas / Sondra L. Hausner.    p. cm. — (Contemporary Indian studies) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-253-34983-5 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-253-21949-7 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Sadhus—India—Social conditions. 2. Sadhus—Nepal—Social conditions . 3. Sadhus—Social networks—India. 4. Sadhus—Social networks—Nepal. 5. Asceticism—Hinduism. I. Title. BL1241.53.H385 2007 294.5’6570954—dc22                2007022645 1 2 3 4 5 12 11 10 09 08 07 for my parents, the yoginī-householder and the wise old man • [18.116...