Svetlqer at 05:41, 15 January 2025

2025-01-15T05:41:21Z

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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 [[guru]]s, [[sadhu]]s, [[rishi]]s, [[swami]]s, [[Muni (saint)|muni]], [[yogi]]s, [[yogini]]s 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 (religion)|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 brahman|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 [[Avatar|incarnations]] of [[Vishnu]], [[Shiva]], and other [[Trimurti|aspects of God]], sometimes many years after their deaths. This explains another common name for Hindu saints, "[[Godman (India)|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 [[concubine]]s ([[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}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Hindu saints| ]]
[[Category:Sainthood]]
[[Category:Hindus]]

Hindu sants - Revision history

Svetlqer at 05:41, 15 January 2025