Samnyasa Upanishads: Hindu Scriptures on Asceticism and Renunciation c5.s2.2

c5.s2.2

As the Saṃnyāsa Upaniṣads need to be located within the broader literary tradition of Brāhmaṇism, so the renunciatory life and ideals of India can be adequately studied only in their historical context and within the framework of their interaction with societal religion and ethics. That the ascetic way of life and the so-called life-negating and world-denying ideals and ideologies are central elements or even defining characteristics of Indian religions is often taken as axiomatic by scholars and lay observers alike. Such assumptions, however, often create the impression of a monolithic religion unrelated to historical vicissitudes. Albert Schweitzer's evaluation of the Indian religious ethos and its presumed contrast to the Hellenistic, or more generally the Western ethos is representative: