There is no formal canonization process in Hinduism, but over time many men and women have reached the status of saints among their followers and among Hindus in general. '''Hindu saints''' have often renounced the world, and are variously called gurus, sadhus, rishis, swamis, muni, yogis, yoginis and other names.<ref name="Rinehart2004">{{cite book|author=Robin Rinehart|title=Contemporary Hinduism: Ritual, Culture, and Practice|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hMPYnfS_R90C&pg=PA88|accessdate=3 June 2013|date=1 January 2004|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-57607-905-8|pages=87–90}}</ref>

Many people conflate the terms "saint" and "''sant''", because of their similar meanings. The term ''sant'' is a Sanskrit word "which differs significantly from the false cognate, 'saint'..." Traditionally, "sant" referred to devotional Bhakti poet-saints of two groups: Vaishnava and a group that is referred to as "Saguna Bhakti".<ref name="SchomerMcLeod1987">{{cite book|author1=Karine Schomer|author2=W. H. McLeod|title=The Sants: Studies in a Devotional Tradition of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OkKhOivXrhgC&pg=PA3|accessdate=3 June 2013|date=1 January 1987|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0277-3|pages=2–3}}</ref><ref name="Jones2009">{{cite book|author=Jacqueline Jones|title=Performing the Sacred: Song, Genre, and Aesthetics in Bhakti|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=38HzAM6jfSQC&pg=PA7|accessdate=3 June 2013|year=2009|isbn=978-1-109-06430-8|page=7}}</ref>

Some Hindu saints are given god-like status, being seen as incarnations of Vishnu, Shiva, and other aspects of God, sometimes many years after their deaths. This explains another common name for Hindu saints, "godmen".<ref name="Woodward2001">{{cite book|author=Kenneth L. Woodward|title=The Book of Miracles: The Meaning of the Miracle Stories in Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e951hHwu3X0C&pg=PA267|accessdate=3 June 2013|date=10 July 2001|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=978-0-7432-0029-5|page=267}}</ref>

Hindu saints have come from many walks of life including the blind (Bhima Bhoi, Surdas, and Tulsidas<ref>P. 126 ''A history of Hindu civilisation during British rule'' By Pramatha Nath Bose {{OL|67794W}}</ref>), orphaned (Andal,<ref>P. 48 ''A History of Indian Literature, 500-1399: From Courtly to the Popular'' By Śiśira Kumāra Dāsa. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi (2005) {{OL|17012582M}}</ref> Kabir<ref>P. 355 ''Awakening Indians to India'' By All India Chinmaya Yuva Kendra. (Paperback) {{OCLC|296288988}}</ref>), former criminals (Kaladutaka [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304103825/http://www.hindubooks.org/temples/tamilnadu/srivaikuntam/page3.htm], Valmiki) and former concubines (Kanhopatra and Shatakopa).<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3vp_AAAACAAJ&q=hindu+saints|title=Handbook Of Hindu Gods, Goddesses And Saints|last=Narasimhachari|first=H. Daniel Smith & M.|date=1997|publisher=Sundeep Prakashan|isbn=978-81-7574-164-5|language=en}}</ref>

==See also== * List of Hindu gurus and sants

==References== {{Reflist}}

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Category:Hindu saints Category:Sainthood Category:Hindus