Blurb:

Chapter 1 provides a comprehensive introduction to Indian asceticism by considering Vedic and Brahmanical textual sources. It then describes different philosophical and religious streams that developed in the Hindu religious landscape (Sāṃkhya-Yoga, tantric and devotional traditions) demonstrating the complexity of Hindu renunciation and of the substratum that paved the way to the establishment of different yogic methods. The importance of the concept of sampradāya (religious order) and paramparā (lineage) will be explained, as well as the role of patronage in the development of ascetic orders. A brief introduction to warrior ascetics will also be given.