# Avadhuta

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Type of mystic or saint who acts without consideration for standard social etiquette

***Avadhūta*** ([IAST](/source/International_Alphabet_of_Sanskrit_Transliteration) **avadhūta**, written as अवधूत) is a [Sanskrit](/source/Sanskrit) term from the root 'to shake' (see V. S. Apte and [Monier-Williams](/source/Monier_Monier-Williams)) that, among its many uses, in some Indian religions indicates a type of [mystic](/source/Mysticism) or [saint](/source/Saint) who is beyond egoic-consciousness, duality and common worldly concerns and acts without consideration for standard social etiquette. Avadhūta is a [Jivanmukta](/source/Jivanmukta) who gives his insight to others and teaches them about his realisation of the true nature of the ultimate reality ([Brahman](/source/Brahman) 'ब्रह्म' - not to be confused with Brahmin) and self ([Ātman](/source/%C4%80tman_(Hinduism))) and takes the role of a [guru](/source/Guru) to show the path of *[moksha](/source/Moksha)* to others.[1] Some Avadhūta also achieve the title of *[Paramahamsa](/source/Paramahamsa)*.

Similar figures (colloquially called 'mad/crazy monks') are also known in Buddhist traditions, such as the medieval Zen monk [Ikkyū](/source/Ikky%C5%AB), and the 20th-century Tibetan [tulku](/source/Tulku) [Chögyam Trungpa](/source/Ch%C3%B6gyam_Trungpa) Rinpoche. In [Tibetan Buddhism](/source/Tibetan_Buddhism) the equivalent type is called a [nyönpa](/source/Ny%C3%B6npa) ([Wylie](/source/Wylie_transliteration): smyon pa).

## Types

[Feuerstein](/source/Georg_Feuerstein) frames how the term *avadhūta* came to be associated with the mad or eccentric holiness or '[crazy wisdom](/source/Crazy_wisdom)' of some [antinomian](/source/Antinomian) *[paramahamsa](/source/Paramahamsa)* who were often 'skyclad' or 'naked' (Sanskrit: [digambara](/source/Digambara)):

The appellation "avadhūta", more than any other, came to be associated with the apparently crazy modes of behaviour of some paramahamsas, who dramatize the reversal of social norms, a behaviour characteristic of their spontaneous lifestyle. Their frequent nakedness is perhaps the most symbolic expression of this reversal.[2]

### Sacrifice

[Sarat Chandra Das](/source/Sarat_Chandra_Das) *et al.* equate [Chöd](/source/Ch%C3%B6d) practitioners ([Tibetan](/source/Tibetan_script): གཅོད་པ, [Wylie](/source/Wylie_transliteration): chod pa) as a type of avadhūta:

ཀུ་སུ་ལུ་པ ku-su-lu-pa is a word of Tantrik mysticism, its proper Tibetan equivalent being གཅོད་པ, the art of exorcism. The mystic Tantrik rites of the Avadhauts, called Avadhūtipa in Tibet, exist in India.[3]

The rites of Chöd differ between lineages but essentially there is an offering of their body as food, a blessing to demons and other entities to whom this kind of offering may be of benefit, in a feast called the [ganachakra](/source/Ganachakra). This [sādhanā](/source/S%C4%81dhan%C4%81) (practice) is common to another denizen of the [charnel ground](/source/Charnel_ground), [Dattātreya](/source/Dattatreya) the avadhūta, to whom has been attributed the nondualist medieval song, the *[Avadhūta Gītā](/source/Avadhuta_Gita)*. Dattātreya was a founding guru ([ādiguru](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/adi-guru)) of the [Aghori](/source/Aghori) according to Barrett:

Lord Dattatreya, an antinomian form of Shiva closely associated with the cremation ground, who appeared to Baba Kina Ram atop Girnar Mountain in Gujarat. Considered to be the *adi guru* (ancient spiritual teacher) and founding deity of Aghor, Lord Dattatreya offered his own flesh to the young ascetic as *prasād* (a kind of blessing), conferring upon him the power of clairvoyance and establishing a guru-disciple relationship between them.[4]

### Mahānirvāṇatantram

[John Woodroffe](/source/John_Woodroffe), in his translation of the *[Mahanirvana tantra](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mahanirvana_tantra&action=edit&redlink=1)* from the original Sanskrit into English under the [pen name](/source/Pen_name) "Arthur Avalon", may be the introduction of the archetype of "avadhūta" to the English-reading public, as none of the avadhūta [upanishads](/source/Upanishads) were translated amongst the collections of minor upanishads such as the *Thirty Minor Upanishads*.[5] The *Mahānirvāṇa tantra* is an example of a [nondualist](/source/Nonduality_(spirituality)) tantra, and the translation of this work had a profound impact on the [Indologists](/source/Indology) of the early-to mid-20th century. The work mentions four kinds of avadhūta.[6]

### Brahmanirvāṇatantram

The *Brahmanirvantantra* describes how to identify the avadhuts of the following types:[7][*[better source needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability#Questionable_sources)*]

1. **Brahmāvadhūta** : An avadhuta from birth who appears in any class of society. Completely indifferent to the world or worldly matters.

1. **Shaivāvadhūta** : Avadhutas who have taken to the renounced order of life ([sannyasa](/source/Sannyasa)), often with unkempt long hair (*jata*), or who dress in the manner of [Shaivites](/source/Shaivism) and spend almost all of their time in trance ([samadhi](/source/Samadhi)), or [meditation](/source/Meditation).

1. **Vīrāvadhūta** : This person looks like a [sadhu](/source/Sadhu) who has put red colored sandal paste on his body and wears [saffron](/source/Saffron) clothes. His hair is very well grown and is normally furling in the wind. They wear [Hindu prayer beads](/source/Hindu_prayer_beads) made of [Rudraksha](/source/Rudraksha), or of bones. They hold a wooden stick in their hand and additionally they always have a [parashu](/source/Parashu) (ritual ax) or [damaru](/source/Damaru) (small drum) with them.

1. **Kulāvadhūta** : These people are supposed to have taken initiation from the [Kaula](/source/Kaula_(Hinduism)) *[sampradaya](/source/Sampradaya)* or are adepts in Kundalini Tantra. It is supposedly very difficult to recognize these people, as they do not wear any outward signs designating them as avadhutas. The speciality of these people is that they remain and live like ordinary people do. They can show themselves in the form of kings, warriors, householders or beggars.

## Relationship with the Natha Sampradaya

The [Natha Sampradaya](/source/Natha_Sampradaya) is a form of *avadhūta* *[panthan](/source/Panthan)*. In this *sampradaya*, [Guru](/source/Guru) and [yoga](/source/Yoga) are of extreme importance. The important book for the Nath is the *Avadhuta Gita*. [Gorakshanath](/source/Gorakshanath) is considered the topmost form of the avadhuta-state.

## Books

- *Siddha Siddhanta Paddhati* is a very early extant [hatha yoga](/source/Hatha_yoga) Sanskrit text attributed to [Gorakshanath](/source/Gorakshanath) by the indigenous tradition, as [Georg Feuerstein](/source/Georg_Feuerstein) relates:

One of the earliest hatha yoga scriptures, the *Siddha Siddhanta Paddhati*, contains many verses that describe the avadhūta. One stanza (VI.20) in particular refers to his chameleon-like capacity to animate any character or role. At times, it is said, he behaves like a worldling or even a king, at other times like an ascetic or naked renunciant."[2]

- [Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar](/source/Jayachamarajendra_Wadiyar)'s *Avadhoota: Reason & Reverence*, Indian Institute of World Culture, Bangalore, 1958.

- The *[Avadhūtaka Upaniṣad](/source/Avadhutaka_Upanishad)* is the 79th book of the [Muktikā](/source/Muktik%C4%81) canon of Upaniṣads. It is a sannyāsa upaniṣad associated with the [Black Yajurveda](/source/Yajurveda#Krishna_Yajurveda) (कृष्णयजुर्वेद).

- According to the International Nath Order of the Nath sampradāya, the *Avadhūta Gītā* is a text of [Advaita Vedānta](/source/Advaita_Vedanta) sung by Dattātreya and recorded by his disciples Svāmī and Kārtika.[8]

## See also

- [Divine madness](/source/Divine_madness)

- [Nityananda](/source/Nityananda)

## Notes

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [Roaming: Webster's Quotations, Facts and Phrases](https://books.google.com/books?id=alH0Y_Lnoe0C&dq=Avadhut+texts&pg=PA83) (accessed: Sunday May 9, 2010)

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Holy_Madness_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Holy_Madness_2-1) [Feuerstein, Georg](/source/Georg_Feuerstein) (May–June 1991). ["Holy Madness"](https://books.google.com/books?id=lekDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA68). *Yoga Journal*. pp. 68–70, 103–107.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Das, Sarat Chandra; Sandberg, Graham; Heyde, Augustus William (1902). *Tibetan-English Dictionary with Sanskrit Synonyms*. Calcutta, India: Bengal Secretariat Book Depot. p. [20](https://books.google.com/books?id=8AbIHweo7PMC&pg=PA20).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Barrett, Ron (2008). *Aghor medicine: pollution, death, and healing in northern India* (Illustrated ed.). University of California Press. p. [33](https://books.google.com/books?id=BSeYR93tIzwC&pg=PA33). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-520-25218-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-520-25218-9).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Aiyar, K. Narayanasvami (tr.) (1914). [*Thirty Minor Upanishads*](https://archive.org/details/thirtyminorupani00xxxxuoft). Madras: Vasanta Press. Retrieved 2023-08-10.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** [Woodroffe, Sir John](/source/John_Woodroffe) (2007). *Mahanirvana Tantra*. NuVision Publications. p. 175. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-59547-911-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-59547-911-2).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["What is Avadhuta?"](https://www.yogapedia.com/definition/5246/avadhuta). *Yogapedia*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Sri Garudanath (May 17, 2007). ["Avadhūta Gita"](https://www.internationalnathorder.org/2007/05/17/avadhuta-gita/). *International Nath Order*. Retrieved August 10, 2023.

## External links

- [Avadhut](http://internationalnathorder.org/wiki/Avadhut) at International Nath Order

- [Avadhut Gita by Dattatreya](https://web.archive.org/web/20041020032634/http://oaks.nvg.org/pv6bk7.html)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Avadhuta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avadhuta) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avadhuta?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.