Indian ascetics

[Sam Garg]

>The ash helps, believe it or not.

No surprise here.  I’m positive it does, though I do not have the first hand
research experience that your personal apologist claims you have.

>And do I detect the pukka sahib's attitude towards the Indian >environment
>here? Methinks you have lived outside India for far too >long.

Exposure to second hand smoke from chillum-smoking, naked Sadhus must be a
job hazard for Indology ‘researchers’.  That it leads to mushy, unwarranted
conclusions is evident from the above statement.


>From: Vidyasankar Sundaresan <vsundaresan at HOTMAIL.COM>
>Reply-To: Indology <INDOLOGY at LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK>
>To: INDOLOGY at LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK
>Subject: Re: Indian ascetics
>Date: Wed, 5 Apr 2000 13:55:49 PDT
>
>>I was not aware that the Nathpanthi and Dasnami Mahants were the official
>>spokespeople/ registrar for all naked Indian ascetics.
>
>Maybe not in your book, but the very fact that they are called Mahants
>gives
>them traditional authority. The Nagas are a very disciplined group, with
>deep links to Dasnami institutions. They have a Pancayat kind of internal
>government among themselves, and grant a lot of power to their Mahants. So
>also with the Nathpanthis. And of course, I'm not including the Digambara
>Jain monks, another possible group of naked Indian ascetics, but you rarely
>see them discussed in publications of Indian sadhus.
>
>>Not quite.  Yours was the comment on Indian poverty. Mine had to do with
>>the
>>pain & suffering involved in exposing 100% skin to the harsh Indian
>>climate
>>& insects.
>
>The ash helps, believe it or not. And do I detect the pukka sahib's
>attitude
>towards the Indian environment here? Methinks you have lived outside India
>for far too long.
>
>>What distorted perspective?  Name one other country/ religion, exotic or
>>otherwise, which would allow naked sadhus roaming freely all over the
>>place.
>
>Ahem, this is getting into quite deep issues of culture and society. And I
>don't want to argue for argument's sake. All I wish to point out is that
>there are other aspects to Sadhus and Sannyasis in India, naked or clothed,
>that the picture books never portray. If you think otherwise, you're
>welcome
>to your opinion.
>
>Vidyasankar
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