[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Reference works](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference) › [Vedic Index of Names and Subjects](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912) › v2.c4.s8.849 # Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s8.849 Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s8.849 - **Language:** English ### [v2.c4.s8.849](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s8.849) Śramaṇa ‘mendicant monk,’ is first found in the Upaniṣads.¹ According to Fick,² anyone could become a Śramaṇa. For the time of Megasthenes this seems indicated by his evidence, which, however, refers only to the east of India, beyond the Madhyadeśa proper.³ The Vedic evidence is merely the name and the fact that Tāpasa, ‘ascetic,’ follows it in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad and the Taittirīya Āraṇyaka. - [Previous: v2.c4.s8.848](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s8.848) - [Next: v2.c4.s8.850](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s8.850) - [Up: v2.c4.s8](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s8) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s8.849](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s8.849) · Pramāṇa