Secularizing Renunciation?

Abstract

Focusing on Swami Shraddhananda (1857–1926), the chapter discusses the turn towards an ideal of political samnyasi-hood in the early twentieth century. With Gandhi, Shraddhananda shared the conviction that the regeneration of India could only be achieved through a personal disciplinary regime. Paying particular attention to the speech Shraddhananda gave at the session of the Indian National Congress in Amritsar in 1919, the chapter demonstrates his understanding of the public function of a modern samnayasi. Shraddhananda had ordained himself samnayasi in 2017. While traditionally a samnyasi renounced his social role, Shraddhananda conceived of a samnyasi in his days as one who uses his independence to become a responsible actor in social and political matters, doing seva, service, for the whole world, and working for the liberation of the nation. The author embeds her analysis in a specific understanding of secularization following which values and forms of institutionalization can be transferred from the religious to the secular sphere.