Samnyasa Upanishads: Hindu Scriptures on Asceticism and Renunciation c5.s2.t6.33

c5.s2.t6.33

The later history of the *āśrama* system represents both a retreat from the initial spirit of liberalism and a fuller incorporation of the system and of renunciation into the framework of the Brāhmaṇical world. The social and theological context that gave birth to the system had changed radically by the beginning of the common era. Celibate institutions, including renunciation, were now considered as thoroughly Brāhmaṇical. A structure for inclusion, such as that envisaged in the original system, was unnecessary and superfluous. Instead, the four *āśramas* came to be regarded as constituting four ideals of the Brāhmaṇical ethic, ideals that can and should be realized by each individual.