Shramana: Traditions and Movement in Hinduism

      Traditions of Shramana was a non-Vedic movement parallel to but very different from historic religions. It developed in the Upanishad days and soon after that. This is a very important tradition which gave rise to great traditions of South Asia namely Yoga, Buddhism and Jainism. Shramana tradition is also responsible for some nastika schools of Hindu philosophies such as Charvaka and Ajivika. These will be discussed in detail once we reach Indian Philosophies section.

Shramana

      Literary meaning of the word Shramana is 'one who strives' or one who exerts himself and performs religious austerities. The term came into existence to denote those monks who got wholeheartedly devoted to pursue enlightenment on a full time basis leaving family and all other relations behind. These were individuals who considered themselves free from any binding of traditions and dedicated to self-experience by going totally independent of society around. They were wanderers and didn't remain at one place for a long time. In a way, these people were in direct competition with Vedic Brahmins who owe their allegiance to everything Vedic. Just to reiterate, Vedic Brahmins, as of this stage, didn't believe in Samsara and were stressing mastery of Veda texts and performing Vedic rituals as a way for liberation.

      This tradition evolved in the Magadha area and was certainly influenced by indigenous inhabitants of that area as against Vedanta school, which was from Aryans having significantly higher presence in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, and decreasing slowly as we travel to east direction until we come to Patliputra.

      As against Vedic system which emphasized on sacrifices and rituals for seeking liberation from samsara, Shramana opted for the path of achieving liberation by renouncing householder's life, engaging in austerities, meditation and discussions of associated philosophical theories. But many other fundamental theories namely, karma, rebirth, samsara and transmigration were accepted by Vedic systems and Shramana equally They did not accept the Brahmin authority of Vedic parampara as the media for seeking God; they wish to go there based on personal experience.

      Basically, the tradition hinged on the fact that once cycle of rebirth is understood, the goal of human should be to quickly find escape from that cycle and that was said to be possible only by moving away from the world and focus on spiritual activities. The followers of these traditions spent their entire energy on pursuing austerities, meditation and contemplating about associated theories. Mahavira and Gautama both were leaders of their Shramana orders together with many other names quoted in Jain and Buddhist literatures who were also engaged in achieving liberation similar to these two enlightened people. But it is not to say that entire Shramana traditions were dead after branching out of Buddhism and Jainism. At best, these two thoughts were a good example of the success out of this tradition.

      However, going forward, in due course, Shramana tradition also experienced evolutionary changes. Riding on the enlightenment of Gautama Buddha, many people opted for Buddhism and became known as Bhikshus. They started living in monasteries. Initially, Buddha recommended monastery living for Bhikshus during rainy season alone but later the arrangement became permanent. For those who followed Jain tradition, wandering also got waned out in due course. Some of remaining Shramana who preferred Vedic traditions over Jain and Buddha, joined mainstream Vedic system where, in due course, many of their traditions got absorbed in Hinduism.

      Beliefs and main concepts of Shramana philosophies and their comparison with the Vedic tradition are as under:

• Denial of Creator or Omnipresent Gods: This was single most important point of their independence from Vedic culture who believed in these principles as core of their traditions.

• Rejection of Vedas as Revealed Texts: Followers of Vedic traditions believe that Vedas are not composed by human but have been revealed by the creator himself as divine truth. This is the reason that every word included there is to be accepted as word of God and no alteration/deletion is permitted in Vedic parampara.

• Affirmation of Concepts like Samsara, Karma, Rebirth, Transmigration and Existence of Soul: In due course all these principles got absorbed in Hinduism and are defining features of the entire Hindu belief system. For a grown up Hindu as myself, coming to know that all these major concepts were borrowed from other independent source like Shramana is a great revelation. The common sources of these concepts define such a great similarity among Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.

• Affirmation of the Attainment of Moksha through Ahimsa, Renunciation and Austerities: These concepts were fundamental concepts for both Buddhists and Jains but Hinduism went through a lot of discussions and yes-no situation for accepting Ahimsa which was so integral part of their rituals and religious performances. Hinduism took another 400-500 years before finally accepting complete Ahimsa as part of efforts for seeking Moksha.

• Denial for efficacy of sacrifices and rituals for purification.

• Rejection of the class system and caste system.

      Undoubtedly, this important tradition had very critical footprints over emergence of many basic principles of later Hinduism. Its contribution was equally great as of Vedic traditions. Can we imagine Hinduism of today without the concepts of Samsara and Moksha as both of these are direct contribution of Shramana to the ultimate Hindu thoughts.

      In due course, Shramana traditions also went through evolutionary process and after separation of Buddhism and Jainism, rest of the movement got absorbed and incorporated by Brahmins in their own beliefs and practices. It was at this critical juncture in history that Hinduism altogether abandoned the sacrifices of animals and adopted Ahimsa as yet another sutra of Sharmana's into Hinduism. The wondering sadhus of that time created a separate place for themselves in the social structure where every householder considered it his obligatory duty to contribute for meeting basic physical needs of these sadhus. But for Shramana traditions, renunciation in Hinduism would have remained limited to people in Vanprastha and Sannyaas Ashrams. In a way, the present practice of sadhus that we come across living in Akharas who make regular appearance in large numbers on occasions such as Kumbha melas, are modified extensions of this basic thought of ancient Indian society.

      No doubt, modern Hinduism can be called a combination of Vedic and Shramana traditions as its present structure of beliefs and philosophies is a unique mix of practices drawn from both the systems. And the very success of both the systems lies in the fact that even normal inhabitants of India who have been materialistic in their quest, have had a long tradition of venerating those who seek the spiritual, and they continue to support them. (Armstrong, Buddha)