A Modern Twist on Classical Renunciation

A Modern Twist on Classical Renunciation

Hinduism is a vast and very complex religion to comprehend and consists of various different branches of philosophies. Although it is considered that Hinduism does not necessarily have one text that provides the guidelines for the contemporary Hindu devotee, like the Bible does for Christians, but there are a few scriptures that help identify the ultimate goal for the followers of Hinduism. The Upanishads try to exemplify the message of obtaining the righteous path as much as possible with rooting its context to the most ancient Hindu text, the Vedas. Tying both of these scriptures together the main purpose of a practicing Hindu is laid out; which is being able to obtain moksha, or liberation, from samsara, which is the endless cycle of birth and rebirth (Knott 1998: 23). The Upanishads state that the way to achieve this liberation is through renunciation, which in turn leads to living a spiritual life. During the time period in which the Upanishads were allegedly written, the requirements of renunciation described in the Upanishads were both acceptable and reputable in ancient Indian society. However, as time evolved and there was an increased social change in society, there were many challenges in following the Upanishads’ ideologies. In Meena Khadelwal’s book Women in Ochre Robes, we can see that women are being introduced into the whole concept of renunciation and because of the clashes with some of the principal theories of renunciation, which are based off the ancient text of the Upanishads and Vedas, women have tweaked certain aspects derived from the classical methods to help fit their gender role but at the same time legitimizing all the altered practices.

The Upanishads are divi...

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...ng moksha vis-à-vis renunciation. A renouncer’s goal is to obtain moksha through the understanding of Brahman and atma, and when looking at the gender barriers for women renouncers there should not be any because a renouncer understands that everything and everyone is genderless and is made up of Brahman (Khandelwal 2004: 180). The contemporary renouncers have still legitimized their renunciation and are still able to gain moksha while deviating from the classical interpretations of the Upanishads.

Bibliography

Khandelwal, Meena. 2004. Women in Ochre Robes: Gendering Hindu Renunciation. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Knott, Kim. 2000. Hinduism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press.

Olivelle, Patrick. 1998. The Early Upanisads: Annotated Text and Translation, Mundaka Upanishad. New York: Oxford University Press.