The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c18.4

v1.c18.4

In the later law books the life of a Hindu is theoretically divided into four successive stages, viz. those of *brahmachārin* or student of the sacred lore, *gṛihastha* or householder, *vānaprastha* or anchorite, and *parivrājaka* or wandering mendicant. Now there are no express statements in Vedic, or pre-Buddhist, texts, concerning the existence of this theory in older times; but from certain passages in the principal Upanishads we may infer that at least the germs of this institution existed at a comparatively early period, as in them we find the knower of the *ātman* or 'Supreme Soul,' that is to say, the *parivrājaka* or Brāhman ascetic contrasted with students, sacrificers and anchorites¹. However, the order of the different stages—with the exception of that of a *brahmachārin*, which is always the first—seems not at that time to have been a fixed one, and it may be doubted if this theory was ever on a great scale adopted in real life in India. But this question is for us of no importance, as we have here only to take notice of the fourth stage, that of the Brāhman ascetic, whose life was, no doubt, the standard for the rules of discipline laid down by Mahāvīra for his followers.