Daśanāmī

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Daśanāmī (Skt., ‘having ten names’). A Hindu order of wandering monks founded by the great philosopher Saṅkara and upholding his philosophy of Advaita Vedānta. It is a loose federation of Śaivite saṃnyāsins (‘renouncers’), consisting of ten monastic lineages, the members of each lineage bearing a distinctive title or ‘name’ (nāman), which is suffixed to their individual monastic names at the time of initiation.

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