I'm not so sure it's a caste thing at all. The link below says that when one becomes a shankaracharya, he removes his sacred thread and becomes a sanyasi (in Guru Dev's case, he had already become a sanyasi long before becoming Shankaracharya) and thus does not belong to any caste or varna, so Maharishi could certainly have become a sanyasi, if not a swami -- the reason why MMY did not become a sanyasi is clearly that he was destined to interact with the world extensively:
http://www.sulekha.com/news/ThreadComment.aspx?cid=525375 The link below supports the idea that sanyasis are casteless, since they have renounced the illusion that the body is the self, and therefore when it is discarded, no ritual offerings are made to them: "The ritual of Pindadaana is not performed for children and sanyasis. As far as children are concerned, they do not have the sense of `I' and `mine' developed in them; and a Sanyasi on the other hand is supposed to have repudiated the illusion of considering oneself as the body. Since they have no affinity for their physical forms, no Pindadaana is necessary for neither of them. " http://www.ashram.org/~rp/rp_issues/rp141_files/main.html ********************* --- In [email protected], Peter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > This has always been my understanding too. MMY is not > a Brahmin and therefor can not become a sannyasi and > wear orange. > > --- Vaj <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > While I can't say I'm an "expert" in Vedic "culture" > > my guess would be that > > since Mahesh was not from a "twice-born" caste he > > could NOT become a swami > > and therefore could not wear the saffron robes...but > > he could and did become > > a brahmacharin and thus wore white. > > > > It's a caste thing. > > > > > > On 9/12/05 8:57 PM, "off_world_beings" > > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > In this picture can anyone give an in-depth and > > precise definition and > > > cultural/historical account of why Maharishi in > > this photo wears > > > white, and everyone else is the orange sadhu > > color? Thanks. OffWorld > > > > > > > > > http://www.maharishi.it/images/Personaggi/GuruDev/GuruDev_india_250.j pg > > > > > > > > > > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor > > --------------------~--> > > Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make > > Yahoo! your home page > > > http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/JjtolB/TM > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------- -~-> > > > > > > To subscribe, send a message to: > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > Or go to: > > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ > > and click 'Join This Group!' > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > > > > > > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around > http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/JjtolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
