The Sannyasi and The Indian Wrestler TH

The "sannyasi" and the Indian Wrestler: The Anatomy of a Relationship
Author(s): Joseph S. Alter

Source: American Ethnologist, Vol. 19, No. 2 (May, 1992), pp. 317-336
Published by: Wiley on behalf of the American Anthropological Association
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the sannyasi and the Indianwrestler: the anatomy of a
relationship
JOSEPH S. ALTER-Goshen College
In this article I propose to examine the relationship between two categories of person in
northern India: the world-renouncing sannyasi and the Indian wrestler. I will show how the
Hindu wrestler models himself on a particular conception of ascetic self-discipline and how
the somatic basis of this discipline gives the wrestler a unique sense of self.1 In India, wrestling
is far more than a sport. Competition is but the formal and somewhat superficial aspect of what
is in fact an elaborate way of life. The "intellectual" side of wrestling is what concerns many
wrestlers. They dwell on the complexity of such issues as moral propriety, national reform, and
personal self-control (Atreya 1971, 1972, 1986; Muzumdar 1950; Patodi 1973, 1982; K. P.
Singh 1972). One must emphasize this fact when trying to convey a notion of who a wrestler
is and what wrestling means, for the unfortunate image which comes most readily to mind is
that of a single-minded and ratherdull-witted sportsman. A more appropriate image of the In-
dian wrestler, one which I will try to convey, is that of a self-conscious paragon of physico-
moral health.
the model of sannyas
The sannyasi ascetic has been the focus of considerable interest among scholars of South
Asia, originally because of the subject's orientalist appeal (Farquhar1918; Oman 1905) but
more recently on account of Dumont's study of sannyas as the linchpin in a structurallogic of
Hinduism (1960, 1970) and O'Flaherty's interpretation of asceticism in Hindu mythology
(1973). Oman (1905) and Farquhar(1918) gave early general overviews, to which Ghurye
(1964) added a more comprehensive summary (cf. Das Gupta 1969). Thapar(1982, 1984) has
supplied a much needed historical perspective, which has been echoed by Lorenzen (1978),
Olivelle (1986), Burghart(1983), and van der Veer (1987) (cf. Cohn 1964; Ghosh 1930). More
recently there have been a number of theological and anthropological studies of specific as-
cetics in various parts of South Asia (Briggs 1973; Carrithers1979; Obeyesekere 1981; Parry
1982a, 1982b; Sinha and Sarasvati 1978; van der Veer 1988). Narayan (1988) has provided an
even more specific, narrativeaccount of one particularsadhu's perspective on life.2
Indian wrestling (pahalwani) is a disciplined way of life that demands rigorous

physical and moral training. In this regard it is analogous to the Hindu life path of
world renunciation (sannyas). Here I show how Indian wrestlers use the model of
sannyas to help define their way of life. Wrestlers recognize the centrality of the
physico-moral body as a defining idiom of identity. Their interpretation of body
discipline thus sheds light on general theoretical issues relating to identity forma-
tion and concepts of the person in Hindu South Asia. [India, wrestling, sannyas,
asceticism, identity, body discipline]
l
the sannyasi and the Indian wrestler 317
Given the nature of these recent works, it is no longer completely tenable to speak of sannyas
as an ahistorical, empirical category of being. Strictly speaking, only contextualized interpre-
tations of sannyas have analytic validity. Sannyasis and the monastic orders to which they be-
long take shape and change in particularsociohistorical contexts. Even so, all particularsann-
yasis are modeled-by themselves and by those who view them-on a general conceptual
theme. In this regard the noninitiated layperson or the theologian is able to speak-stereotyp-
ically and abstractly-of pan-South Asian asceticism as such.
In the Hindu worldview, sannyas is the fourth stage in the fourfold life cycle scheme, ash-
ramadharma: brahmacharya (apprenticeship), garhasthya (householdership), vanaprastha
(withdrawal), and sannyas (renunciation) (Kakar 1981:43).3 A sannyasi is one who has re-
nounced all material possessions and is no longer encumbered by social and ritualobligations.
As a free individual he pursues divine knowledge on his own terms. To engage in this pursuit,
a sannyasi must develop a categorically asocial attitude and style of life: he must go through
life naked, alone, wandering, celibate, begging, fasting, and silent.
A slightly refined layperson's notion of sannyas guides the wrestler in drawing a comparison
between his and the sannyasi's lifestyle. Wrestlers see sannyas as a generic category and are
not concerned with intersectarian differentiation or with historically mandated monastic pro-
tocol. For the wrestler, sannyas is an iconic category of person against which he can measure
his own sense of self. He draws on the polysemic cultural construct of the fourfold ashrama
scheme, but molds the concept of sannyas to fit his own ideological image of what constitutes
that category. Because wrestlers coopt the terms of sannyas, their view of sannyas is rather
idiosyncratic. Wrestlers are prone to see the sannyas/garhasthya opposition in terms of a sharp
dichotomy between values of asocial abnegation on the one hand and materialist concerns
with wealth, success, and social propriety on the other. As Burghart(1983) and van der Veer
(1989) have pointed out, this seemingly rigid opposition may in fact be fluid and flexible-
householders can be "renouncers," and "renouncers," in turn, can be wealthy merchants
whose religious experience is devotional. (Devotional religiosity is here opposed to more doc-
trinaire modes of ritualized, brahmanic worship.) However, wrestlers see things in quite Du-
montian terms: in their view, the relation between the asocial ascetic and the man-in-the-world
is one of complementary opposition, and the structuralprinciples of identity are irreconcilably
black and white (Dumont 1960). As a consequence, wrestlers find and force opposition where
many others have rationalized some form of synthesis.
In this regard it is instructive to consider Khare's(1984) work on a burgeoning Chamar ide-
ology in the city of Lucknow. Khareshows how low-caste Chamars have manipulated the terms
of sannyas in order to establish an anticaste identity for themselves (1984:30). What makes the
Chamar case most intriguing is that it involves a nonbrahmanic interpretationof sannyas, an
interpretationcentered on the issue of socially contextualized ascetic values. The Chamars un-
dermine hierarchy by disconnecting caste holism from other-worldly asceticism; theirs is an
ideology of this-worldly asceticism in which the sannyasi's anticaste activity takes on a tone of
moral reform.The Chamar ascetic gives a "protohumanist" interpretationto the sannyasi's in-
dividuality by inscribing notions of freedom and equality onto the extant concept of yogic self-
realization. In a somewhat Gandhian fashion, the Chamar sannyasi's peripatetic life of self-
discipline takes on a clearly political tone of advocacy.
While the Chamarsof whom Kharewrites have criticized the caste ideology and thus marked
out for themselves a reformed self-image, one is left with the nagging sense that as their ideol-
ogy coalesces into a sectarian form it falls victim to the terms of the larger Hindu worldview.
In partthis is a question of recognizing legitimacy and primacy-which is to say, power-for
who, after all, is accepting the terms of this ideology? Certainly not those who subscribe to the
brahmanicview of things, and probably not other ascetics, who would find too much "worldly
baggage" in this low-caste reform theology. In other words, however ingenious and intrinsi-
318 american ethnologist
cally meaningful the Chamar interpretationof sannyas may be, it is still an interpretationsub-
sumed by the structurallogic of a more inclusive, hierarchical, caste-based ideology.
Likethe Chamars of Lucknow, wrestlers are concerned with reinterpretingwhat it means to
be ascetic-like. However, the wrestler's interpretationis guided not simply by anticaste values
but by ideals of moral self-definition. The wrestler's interpretationis thus radical, for it seeks to
integrate ascetic values into the practice of everyday life by drawing a direct line between as-
cetic values, wrestling discipline, and the moral duty of the common citizen. Likethe Chamar
ideology, the wrestler's ideology is "weak," or of limited persuasive power, when viewed from
a nonpartisan perspective in which skepticism, doubt, or antipathy is the primary attitude to-
ward the wrestler's predilections. But the wrestling ideology-however utopian and idealis-
tic-is strong at precisely that point at which the Chamar ideology is weak, for it affords a non-
sectarian vision of the social order based on a meticulous reformof the individual body. Unlike
the Chamar, who actually becomes a sannyasi-albeit a reformed and nonbrahmanic one-
the wrestler psychosomatically reconstitutes himself and his worldview by manipulating sann-
yas categories in order to become a different kind of person altogether.
wrestling
The spatial, social, and substantive locus of a wrestler's life is his akhara (gymnasium). Con-
temporaryakharas are located in both villages and urban neighborhoods. There is no accurate
informationon how common or prevalent akharas are: one wrestler spoke of three in his home
village in the district of Etawa, Uttar Pradesh, and many of the urban wrestlers in their forties
or fifties mentioned a village akhara in which they had first started wrestling. Perhaps more
precisely indicative of wrestling's popularity is the fact that many men in India with whom I
have spoken-rickshaw drivers, college professors, businessmen-have at least seer, an ak-
hara, and most are able to name someone of their acquaintance who has wrestled. In Banaras
there are as many as 200 akharas, of which perhaps half are active. Kumar(1985, 1988) argues
that akhara participation has declined because of changing values concerning the form, place,
and natureof leisure activities. While this may be true-and certainly wrestlers lament the pass-
ing of a golden age when there ostensibly were more akharas and more wrestlers-wrestling
remains a vital tradition in Banaras and much of northern India.4
An akhara is typically located in a cool area in the shade of pipal, banyan, and nim trees.
The akhara compound is supposed to be clean and well demarcated. At its center is an earth
pit of roughly square or rectangular dimensions, ten to 15 meters on each side, often covered
by a cement, thatch, or tin pavilion. Surroundingthe pit is an area of flat, packed earth where
the wrestlers exercise. Everyakhara has a source of water, usually a well. The earth of the pit
is brought into the compound from a riverbank,the bottom of a dried-out pond, or a field where
the soil is found to be particularlysoft. Once in the pit, it is mixed with oil, turmeric, and some-
times rosewater, buttermilk, and other substances to give it a smooth texture, healing proper-
ties, and a pleasant fragrance. Wrestlers emphasize the aesthetic qualities of the akhara com-
pound, seeing it as a kind of geomantic place where shade, wind, water, and earth mix to create
an environment charged with invigorating energy.
Without exception Hindu akharas are dedicated to Hanuman, the wrestler's patron deity. In
addition to Hanuman's shrine, they usually have smaller shrines dedicated to Shiva, other gods
and goddesses, and local saints. Thus, an akhara is regarded as a sacred precinct and wrestlers
are careful to maintain the compound with an eye toward purity. As Kumarhas noted, in some
instances it is difficult to tell whether the central aspect of an akhara is the temple or the wres-
tling pit, for the two blur into each other to such an extent as to preclude any sharp distinction.
However, as the wrestler sees it, his activities are distinct from the ritual and devotional life of
the largerreligious complex.
Since akharas are usually open to the public, many male nonwrestlers take advantage of
them simply for relaxation in the tradition of what Kumarhas described as bahri alang (going
to the outside).5 In this regard the akhara is like a combination of health spa, public park, and
club-it is a socially defined place of healthful recreation. Forthe wrestler, however, the akhara
is not so much a place for pleasant relaxation and revery as it is a clean environment where he
can abandon himself to the discipline of a particular regimen. The distinction between recre-
ational pleasure and structuredself-discipline is an important point, to which I will return.
Practically speaking, a wrestler is someone who knows a range of the moves and counter-
moves that constitute the specialized martial art of classical malla yuddha-wrestling.6 To be
a wrestler one must practice hard, eat properly, exercise regularly, and control one's passions.
These are minimal criteria.
Most wrestlers are in their late teens and early twenties. Senior wrestlers remain active, how-
ever, and are staunch advocates of discipline and practice. Although physical training is a cen-
tralaspect of the wrestler's routine, in fact the wrestler's whole life is a form of self-preparation.
Inthe wrestling scheme of things, everything from defecation and bathing to comportment and
devotion is integrated into the precise discipline of a daily regimen. Wrestlers come to the ak-
hara early each morning to practice under the watchful eye of a guru or other senior akhara
member. They rehearse moves and countermoves again and again with a range of variously
qualified and weighty partners until the execution of a maneuver becomes a matter of habit.
Lastingfor about two or three hours, practice of this sort is referredto as jor (literally, exerting
force). Afterjor is completed and the wrestler has bathed, he is enjoined to eat a mixture of ghi
(clarified butter), milk, and ground almond paste or chana (chickpeas). These items, in con-
junction with the other ingredients in a wrestler's diet, are known collectively as khurak. In the
course of a day a wrestler who is at the peak of health can consume as much as two liters of
milk, a half liter of ghi, and a kilogram or more of almonds, all in addition to his regular meals.
Most wrestlers eat less than this, but those who have access to milk, ghi, and almonds-notably
Yadav dairy farmers-make a habit of copious consumption. Most Hindu wrestlers are vege-
tariansand abjure tobacco, liquor, and other intoxicants, with the qualified exception of bhang
(hashish).
After resting for a good part of the day, wrestlers returnto the akhara in the early evening to
begin their vyayam (exercise) routine. Vyayam consists of two primaryexercises: dands (jack-
knifing pushups) and bethaks (deep knee bends). There are various subtypes of each of these
primaryexercises, but in principle all are fairly simple. What is more significant than how each
exercise is done is the number of each that the wrestler is called on to perform. A strong young
wrestler will regularlydo as many as 2000 bethaks and half as many dands a day. Each type of
exercise is done in sets of 50 or 100. The rhythm remains constant for one and a half to two
hours while the wrestler remains focused on one objective and fixed in one spot. A number of
wrestlers pointed out the similarity between the focused concentration of vyayam and the met-
ronomic recitation (japna)of sacred secret verses (mantras)in contemplative meditation.7Once
the vyayam routine is completed, the wrestler bathes, rests, eats an evening meal, and is asleep
by eight or nine at night.
Although vyayam, khurak, and jor are clearly articulated aspects of the wrestler's regimen,
even the most minute facet of the wrestler's life is linked directly to his psychosomatic identity.
When, where, and how to defecate, bathe, brush one's teeth, walk, talk, and sleep are only a
few of the daily imponderabilia for which wrestling provides specific guidelines. It is essential
to keep in mind that most contemporary wrestlers are, of necessity, also shopkeepers, police-
men, postal clerks, electricians, purveyors of coal and gunnysack material, college teachers,
railway clerks, and porters, as well as peasant farmers and dairymen: in other words, your av-
erage wrestler is, in an importantway, also your average man on the street, or at least the two
are not antithetical. While the obligations of work and family pose importanttime constraints
on the wrestler's exercise regimen, there is a close correlation between being a good, healthy
wrestler and being a productive, self-motivated worker. The mundane terms of everyday life
inextricably bind the two arenas-although not always smoothly or coherently.
But the wrestler, so cast as a common man, is really unique when his structuralposition in
society is taken into account. He is a social character cut in a preeminently asocial mode. Al-
though a member of society with family ties, an occupation, and other responsibilities, the
wrestler, like the sannyasi, is not concerned with his position in the domains of caste or class.
Akharas are frequented by men with doctorates and those who are illiterate; by the sons of
wealthy entrepreneursand the sons of railway porters;by Brahmans,Rajputs,Yadavs, and Cha-
mars; by Hindus and Muslims. While Yadav dairy farmersare more likely to wrestle than either
Chamars or Brahmans,wrestlers are almost always vocal opponents of caste segregation, reli-
gious communalism, and class chauvinism. Although their rhetoric on this point is often very
compelling, what is most visually dramatic is the close and intimate physical contact that wres-
tling requires, a contact which demands a reassessment of notions of purity and pollution. The
anticaste drama of wrestling (which I have discussed in detail elsewhere [AlterIn press a]) pro-
vides the wrestler with an explicitly nonhierarchical framework in which to situate his actions;
and this, too, means that the sannyasi and the wrestler are speaking the same language.
Ideally, in becoming a wrestler one renounces other markersof identity in favor of a more
general, basic sense of self, one that is neither social-in the sense of institutionalized roles and
obligations-nor directly implicated in hierarchies of status and power. In other words, the
wrestler's self-concept is highly individualistic.
sannyasis and wrestlers
Both wrestling and sannyas are chosen life paths. As the final stage in the ideal Hindu life
cycle, sannyas is an elective path that relatively few Hindus follow. The option of renouncing
the world is, however, theoretically open to anyone at any time of his life (Ghurye 1964:78).
When a boy becomes a wrestler-which may mean joining an akhara, recognizing a guru, or,
more generally, disciplining himself through exercise, diet, and devotion-he thinks of what
he is doing as a total commitment to a distinct way of life. It is somewhat surprisingthat sannyas
is the model for this commitment, since one would expect that brahmacharya (adolescent dis-
cipleship) would be the more appropriate model (cf. Kakar1981). While certain aspects of a
young wrestler's life do fit the patternof brahmacharya-absolute devotion and loyalty to one's
guru, for example-the discipline of wrestling is all-encompassing and not restricted to the
gurukul-likeatmosphere of the akhara.8Thus, while many wrestlers are of the appropriate age
to assume a brahmachari status, the fact that they have turned their backs on worldly pursuits
and are actively engaged in a specific type of self-discipline-which is in no way designed to
prepare a boy for becoming a garhasthya-makes sannyas the more appropriate analogue.
Thatbrahmacharyadoes not serve as a model for the wrestler's identity is also a consequence
of akhara demographics. While many wrestlers are between 15 and 18 years old, a wrestler
who has made a name for himself may continue to wrestle well into his thirties. Moreover, older
men who wrestled competitively in their youth often returnto the akhara in later years to wres-
tle purely for exercise. The ideology of wrestling and the interpretation of self-discipline are
largely the product of these senior wrestlers' reflections on the younger wrestlers' more rigor-
ous, direct experience.
Wrestlers argue that they are like sannyasis because they subject their bodies to a similar
disciplinary regimen. The wrestler's regimen encodes a certain set of values in the wrestler's
physique; somaticity, that is, is the locus of the wrestler/sannyasi analogy, an analogy that ex-
tends from the most banal and mundane to the most subtle.
appearances
On a superficial and often farcical level, wrestlers believe that they resemble sannyasis. Both
sannyasis and wrestlers wear langots (g-strings)and go about their routines in a state of near
nakedness. Justas sannyasis cover themselves with the ashes from sacrificial fires and funeral
pyres (cf. Parry1982b), so wrestlers cover their bodies in akharaearth. While the elements differ
substantially, both are charged with vibhuti (power). The formal appearance of a besmeared
body is enough to make the analogy operative.
The qualities of the earth are important to the wrestler. Pure akhara earth is regarded as a
tonic and is applied to the body as a curative agent. It draws out heat and poison and imparts
a general sense of well-being. Covering one's sweat-saturated body with earth has powerful
emotive value. Wrestlers talk at length of the sense of comfort and satisfaction that is experi-
enced on this visceral level. While they employ powerful images of protection and security to
explain their identification with the earth of the pit-which is always spoken of in strongly
maternal terms-they also describe "rolling in the earth" and "rubbing oneself with earth" as
quintessentially sensory experiences that bring everybody down to the same level of elemental
unity. Occasionally the experience is likened to that of the farmerwho lives close to the earth
and who, as one commentator put it, "daily feels the soil between his toes and the dust on his
hands"; but more often it is likened to that of the sannyasi who, having chosen to relinquish
the luxuryof shelter, lives, sleeps, and eats on the bare ground. The wrestler, like the sannyasi,
is "down to earth" in this sense. As Atreya writes:
TheIndianwrestlerwho returnsto the earthis a truesadhu;he is a trulygreatsage and yogi...
He who haseven once experiencedthe satisfactionof the earthcannotforgetthe feeling.Thebenefits
of practicingin the earthare incomprehensible.
Greatwisdom,strengthandenergyareall derivedfrom
the akharaearth.He who abidesby a regimenof wrestlingin the earthremainsyouthfulforever.... He
is able to look on problemsfromthe vantagepointof a jivan mukta[literally,one who is releasedor
freedfromlife,an ascetic].11972:32-33]
Like some sannyasis, wrestlers shave their heads completely or at least have their hair cut
very short. Though many sannyasis have long hair rather than no hair at all, sannyasis and
wrestlers alike are distinguished from other men by their radical attitude toward hair as a sym-
bol of identity. Why wrestlers are concerned with cutting and oiling their hair is as complex a
question as why some sannyasis let their hair grow matted and long (cf. Obeyesekere 1981).
Short hair-in conjunction with a range of other symbols-represents the vitality of radically
controlled sexual energy; it also symbolizes the wrestler's disregard for worldly fashion (Alter
1989:ch. 5, In press b).
Despite these similarities, one would not be very likely to mistake a sannyasi for a wrestler.
While a wrestler is big, bulky, and muscular, a sannyasi is, at least in the popular imagination,
a thin yogi. The sannyasi has a unique costume: ocher robe, staff, rudrakshabeads, and begging
bowl (Ghurye 1964:106). Moreover, sannyasis do not work. They beg for a living and are per-
ipatetic, whereas wrestlers hold jobs, live in communities, and are family members. There is
thus an element of farce in the analogy between the wrestler and the sannyasi.9
exercise, asans, and austerity
A primarydimension of sannyas is tapas, or tap: the performance of austerities that produce

the "heat" of enlightened consciousness. Tap takes various forms, and many authors have
grown enamored of the exotic nature of the sannyasi's self-mortification: the ubiquitous bed of
nails, self-mutilation, flagellation, and extended fasting, to name but a few of the less imagi-
native forms (cf. Oman 1905). It is doubtful that the public performance of such austerities has
ever been a primary dimension of sannyas, except, perhaps, at fairs and pilgrimage centers.
The spectacle of mortification may, indeed, be linked to specific historical forces and regional
trends. Moreover, the nature of the sannyasi's mortification has been misunderstood on ac-
count of its often spectacular, exotic form. As Staal has noted, the sannyasi, unlike his Francis-
can counterpart in Europe, does not do penance in order to expiate sin; he engages in a form
of self-control-in the most extended, corporeal sense of this term-that is directed at a man-
ifest mastery of the very substances of life (1983-84:35; also see Parry 1989; van der Veer
1989:460). When a sannyasi sits under cold running water for days on end during the dead of
winter or meditates while lying on a bed of nails, he is not making atonement or abusing him-
self. He is, rather,extending sensory control to the end of self-realization by way of reconsti-
tuting the individual substantial self on a transcendental plane.
As with physical appearance and dietary practice, the wrestler compares himself to the sann-
yasi on the mundane, substantial level of tapas. The physical regimen of exercise is, as he sees
it, analogous to the sannyasi's austerity. On a number of occasions I was told that being a wres-
tler was like "chewing iron chana": an arduous undertaking that has merit only in its own
terms. Others said that as a wrestler one had to "wear a necklace of pain"-a somewhat oxy-
moronic metaphor suggesting the emblematic character of physical fitness as a form of auster-
ity. In any case, wrestlers spend hours exercising and wrestling, and they link these acts directly
to a notion of sannyasi-like self-discipline. Commenting on this point in general, Atreya writes:
Rishis[sages]haveprovidedus with a divine insight:a consciousnessof the bodyas integralto life as a
whole. Theyknewthatone could not progresseven one step towardself-realizationwithouta good,
strongand healthybody. Itis forthis reasonthatexerciseis a formof religionin India.[1971:27-28]
Fitness, however, is cast in a particularlight. The wrestler is not only big, strong, and healthy,
he is also balanced and refined. A wrestler who is regarded as having successfully endured the
"necklace of pain" is said to have a "body of one color" (ek rang ka sharir).Color here refers
only in partto the radiant, uniform glow of healthy skin. Itrefersequally to the fluid musculature
of a body that is not separated into distinct anatomical parts;to the properly proportioned thick-
ness of thighs, chest, neck, elbows, and ankles; to an energetic biogenetic balance of the three
psychosomatic properties, sattva (white, cool, calm, pristine), raja (agitated, red, aggressive),
and tama (dull, dark, lethargic); to a certain bright clearness in the eyes, a spring to the step,
and an attitude of composure and control. In explicit comparison to the heated energy pro-
duced by the sannyasi's tapas, the "body of one color" is often described as ojasvi-radiant
with vital energy.
At face value the body of the sannyasi stands diametrically opposed to this icon of health
and strength.The gaunt, emaciated figure of the sannyasi would almost seem to mock the wres-
tler's overt corporeality. And yet, despite obvious differences in form, the two types of disci-
plined body have an underlying structuralsimilarity. The key lies in the somatic philosophy of
yoga.
Raja yoga is a complex theory of self-realization achieved through meditation and a type of
physical culture-stretching, breathing, bending-known as asan vyayam. One learns the var-
ious asan positions in order to transcend consciousness by developing a body that is in perfect
balance (cf. Kakar1981:16-36). Although yoga is not the exclusive province of the sannyasi,
sannyasis are often the most accomplished practitionersof the art; it is a specific aspect of their
more general tap regimen. When I asked wrestlers if their vyayam exercises corresponded to
the asan vyayam of the yogi, they responded that the two activities belonged to different realms:
a bethak, dand, or wrestling move was simply not an asan.'0
However, yoga has a broader meaning, one that makes it more relevant to the concerns of
the wrestler. What is important is not the form of bodily discipline but its more abstract objec-
tive: self-realization. In other words, on the plane of transcendent consciousness-harmonic
integrationwith Brahman-the different shapes of the wrestler's and the sannyasi's bodies are
incidental. In yogic terms, health is achieved through, but not in, the body. While wrestlers
employ some elementary aspects of yogic physical culture in the form of pranayama (breath
control), they consider wrestling a subdiscipline of yoga in its broadest, nonsomatic sense-
that is, as a general philosophy of health consciousness. The coordinates of this philosophy are
the moral, intellectual, and emotional principles of fitness known as yama and niyama (Atreya
1965:11).11 Yama and niyama mandate a moral code of conduct that includes, among other
things, continence, honesty, internal and external cleanliness, and the contemplation of God.
A sannyasi who practices asans without yama and niyama is simply a thin, lithe man, just as a
person who does dands without adherence to yama and niyama is not a wrestler but a corporeal
brute. Both forms of discipline take on significant meaning only from this common point of
reference where morals and muscles meet.
While wrestling may be a partof yoga in this sense, the wrestler and the sannyasi nonetheless
understand the body in very different ways. The sannyasi's attitude toward his body is tran-
scendental. This does not mean that he sees or tries to see his body as illusionary; in fact, as
Staal has indicated (1983-84), transcendent self-realization is a function of a multilayered sym-
biosis of mind and body, rather than a sublimation of the physical body by the intellectual
mind. Transcendence is achieved not by a mystical arithmetic of mind over matter but by a
complete synthesis of these two aspects in the whole person of the ascetic. Samadhi, in which
the body appears lifeless but is not dead, reflects this perfect state of somatic transcendent con-
sciousness. What the sannyasi has achieved is a complete dissolution of self into the ultimate
realityof Brahman. Having achieved mukti (release), he is freed from the endless cycle of sam-
sara (rebirth).
Intune with the general principles of yama and niyama, the wrestler is certainly sympathetic
to this kind of self-dissolution. Infact, many akharas have shrines commemorating the samadhis
of formerwrestlers. Although Iwas unable to discern whether these were the samadhis of wres-
tlers who later became ascetics or of ascetics who were in some sense wrestlers, what is note-
worthy is that the two dimensions are enough alike to warrantdirect and easy translation. That
is, it is perfectly logical for a wrestler to achieve the end of a sannyasi with only a slight modi-
fication of terms. Significantly, Zarrilli has found this to be true among south Indian martial
artistsas well (1989:1307).
For the most part, however, the wrestler does not have a transcendent attitude toward his
body. His is a manifest physico-moral identity firmly rooted in the ethical world of protocol
and duty. Whereas the sannyasi comes to terms with himself in the godhead, the wrestler comes
to terms with himself in the here and now of everyday life. As I have discussed more extensively
elsewhere:12
A sannyasitrainshis body so as to leave the world;the wrestlertrainshis body so as to be immuneto
worldlythingsbut to remainin the world.The sannyasimoves away fromthe world,discardingthe
trappingsof social life; the wrestlermoves throughthe world,cloakinghimselfin a mantleof ascetic
values.Inthisregardthewrestler'sstrengthstandsformanyof the samethingsas thesannyasi'sausterity.
However,the wrestler'sdisciplinarypractices-exercise, diet, self-control-are structuredin manifest,
socialtermsratherthanin termsof transcendental abnegation.IAlter1989:455]
brahmacharya
If there is one thing which links wrestlers to sannyasis, it is that both categories of person
advocate absolute celibacy. A key symbol of the sannyasi's world renunciation is his mastery
of sensual desire. Significantly, the Hindu sannyasi does not renounce sexuality, at least pri-
marily, on moral grounds. To be sure, he regards sex as polluting and sexual preoccupation as
a sign of moral weakness, but to focus on pollution and morality is to focus on the mores and
taboos of interpersonal contact. The sannyasi in fact sees sexuality as a central aspect of the
integrated,energized body. Control over sexuality generates a different kind of physico-moral
fortitude than does a total denial of sexuality, and it is the power of controlled sexuality with
which the wrestler and the sannyasi are concerned.
In the Hindu worldview, semen is a vital force that plays an integral part in maintaining a
person's overall health (Carstairs1958; Edwards 1983; Kakar1981; Obeyesekere 1976). In a
cosmological sense, semen is also a vital source of dynamic energy (shakti), part and parcel of
the very substance which drives the universe (O'Flaherty 1973; Wadley 1975). By controlling
his sexuality, the sannyasi is tapping into this powerful life force; by not engaging in sex, he
stores up his semen and, through yoga and meditation, is able to channel its energy to the end
of self-realization. Sex is not easily controlled, and diet in particularplays an important role in
cooling the fires of passion and building up resilient sexual energy.
Because food is of such vital importance in many spheres of Hindu life (cf. Appadurai 1981;
Daniel 1984; Marriott1968, 1976; Zimmermann 1988), sannyasis consider its use, quality, and
nature potentially dangerous. Food contains the essence of life-energy, which can either bring
the body into harmonious balance or throw it into imbalance (cf. Parry1989:500). The degree
of harmony or imbalance is related to the guna (psychosomatic quality) of particular foods;
some are designated as sattva, others as raja, and still others as tama (cf. Beck 1969; Khare
1976). Food also plays a crucial role insofar as it influences the balance of the three bodily
humors-wind, bile, and phlegm. An imbalance in the body, caused either by a preponderance
of one or another guna or by the action of an enraged or inhibited humor, results in some form
of illness (cf. Daniel 1984:173-175; Kakar1981:47-49; Raheja 1988:46-47).'3
Forthe sannyasi and the wrestler, somatic imbalance is most dangerous as it relates to sexual
energy. Sexuality has to be carefully controlled and therefore a particulardiet must be followed;
to eat haphazardly is to run the risk of losing control. As a general rule, sannyasis eat very little
of anything, and they tend to eat fairly benign items. They subscribe to the disciplinary regimen
of fasting.
By contrast, wrestlers are extraordinary eaters of specific types of food: ghi, milk, and al-
monds, as mentioned above, but also fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains, and other standard
items. On one level wrestlers eat to put on bulk and to develop muscle. Stories abound about
famous wrestlers who could consume upward of a 25-kilogram canister of ghi in a week and
of wrestlers in the Punjab whose monthly ration included 40 kilograms of almonds. Even less
spectacular diets are still remarkable. Many wrestlers consider two liters of milk and a half
kilogram of ghi per day normal fare.
With regardto type and quantity of food the wrestler and the sannyasi seem to be diametrical
opposites, a fact that, again, contributes to the farcical aspect of the analogy. But in order for
the farce to work there must be a fundamental similarity between these seemingly opposed
dietetics. The similaritycan be found in part in the wrestler and the sannyasi's common concern
with balance and harmony.
As primary ingredients in the wrestler's diet, milk and ghi are powerful symbols of sexual
energy. Elsewhere I have argued that the symbolic logic of wrestling life in general and its die-
tetics in particularis a highly complex dynamic of interrelatedforces (Alter 1989:ch. 7). Simply
put, however, wrestlers drink milk and eat ghi to build their store of energized semen. These
two substances also lower the natural heat of the invigorated body so that once built up, the
store of semen will not be spilled, spent, or wasted but be channeled into the development of
a strong, healthy physique. What the wrestler achieves by copious consumption the sannyasi
achieves by opposite means. By fasting the sannyasi is able both to channel and to develop the
power of his semen-semen produced not by means of exercise and eating but by means of
the heat generated by meditation and various forms of austerity.
There is another, more immediate basis for drawing a comparison between these two die-
tetics: both the wrestler and the sannyasi are dependent on others for food. While the sannyasi
begs and receives donations of "leftover" food, the wrestler depends either on his family re-
sources or on the resources of a patron. Unlike the sannyasi, the wrestler does not accept food
fromjust anyone; he does not completely dissociate himself from the world of food transactions
and responsibilities by begging. For the wrestler, eating remains a social act insofar as he is
dependent on a specific class of donor. Ideally, a wrestler should not have to work but should
be supported by members of his family. He has a vested interest in, but no direct responsibility
for, the cows and buffalos his father or patron owns. Significantly, the food that the wrestler
accepts from his family is supposed to be in a raw, unprocessed form. The wrestler must make
his meals with his own hands, for if someone else prepares his food it may be contaminated
with dangerous emotions. As one wrestler told me, "Ifyou eat food prepared by a lustful person,
you yourself will become lustful." Thus, the wrestler is a somewhat marginal family member,
at once dependent and independent, a consumer but not a producer.14In effect the wrestler is
a kind of sannyasi-within-the-family character. Consider this passage from Jawalamast Pahal-
wan's biography:
Althoughhe came froma familyof modestmeans,his brothershad achieveda degreeof prosperity.
Evenso, Jawalamast only tookenoughfromthemto supporthimselfas a wrestler.Theresthe leftin their
hands.Thisascetic,simpleand honestmandevotedhimselfcompletelyto wrestling.Nevermarryingor
otherwiseencumberinghimselfwithworldlyobligations,he workedto upliftwrestlinguntilhe leftthis
worldin 1900. [Malhotra1981:33-34]
Wrestlers regulate not only diet but a whole range of behavior in order to keep the fire of
passion from raging out of control. Regulardefecation, bathing in cool ratherthan warm water,
washing one's feet before sleeping, not sleeping on a full stomach, not riding tandem on a
bicycle, not watching animals copulate, and, as far as possible, avoiding the company of
women are all prescriptions for achieving celibacy. K. P. Singh points out that wrestlers fully
appreciate the virtue of a "regular routine" in controlling their sexuality:
For[thewrestlerlsex is likea celluloidimage-fleeting andwithoutsubstance.His-mindis likea cinema
screenwhich remainspurewhite despitea myriadof flashingimages.... His task is rigorousand he
remainswell detachedfromthe colorfulworld. [1972:26-27]
While the mundane mandate of a desexualized everyday life is fairly consistent and straight-
forward, the issue of sexuality becomes more complex when the wrestler's diet and vyayam
regimen are examined together. Wrestlers tend to disagree about the connection between
vyayam, khurak,and self-control: some argue that a diet of ghi, milk, and almonds is by nature
sattva and thus does not inflame passion; others, however, are not so sure, for they recognize
that anything in large quantities-even milk and ghi-can cause an imbalance in the bodily
humors, an imbalance that may lead to inflamed sexuality. Moreover, buffalo milk, from which
most commercial ghi is made, is not as sattva as cow milk, which is problematic in its own
right.
Forthe most part,wrestlers argue that vyayam is a mechanism by which the dynamic energy
of food is changed into the potential energy of stamina and physical strength. Significantly,
exercise also changes food into semen and generates heat that can throw the body into drastic
imbalance, exciting one's sexual passion. The wrestler thus tries to create more and more highly
energized semen while ensuring that the energy manifests itself as "the body of one color"
ratherthan as sensual lust. Although there is no direct parallel between the fire of raja passion
and a body overheated by exercise or overfilled with food, wrestlers feel that careful manage-
ment is required to keep one from turning into the other. In a sense, then, when wrestlers are
exercising and eating they are playing with fire. For this reason the akhara provides a cool,
soothing atmosphere where the earth of the pit absorbs the sweat of potential passion and the
water of the well reintegratesthe wrestler into the more stable, temperate climate of everyday
life.
In all, the wrestler must walk a fine line between developing his strength and controlling his
sexual passion. In this regard he differs from the sannyasi: whereas the sannyasi controls his
sexuality in absolute terms, the wrestler invokes his sexuality in order to change it into the
manifestterms of his social identity. Iwas told a number of times that wrestlers found it far more
difficult to be celibate than sannyasis did. Not only must wrestlers live in the world, but they
must actually tempt fate. As one wrestler explained:
A wrestler's life is like that of a sadhu. The sadhu lives in his hermitage. He worships and does his prayers.
The wrestler lives in his house and is entangled in the world of maya [illusion]. He is in the garhasthya
ashrama.Evenin thisconditionhe mustpracticeself-control.Thesadhulivesapartfromthe world.The
wrestlerlives in a house, but he mustdissociatehimselffromthe concernsof a householder.He must
close his eyes to it [hishouseholdresponsibility]and wrestle.Thewrestlerand the sadhuare alike be-
cause they mustboth removethemselvesfromthe garhasthyaashramaand be absorbedin God. And
yet the wrestleris tied to his family.He mustlive close to his wife [whenhe does get married]and yet
turnawayfromtemptation.A personwill neverbe a wrestleruntilhe becomes likea sadhuand averts
hiseyes andcloses his mouthto the world.
The sannyasi's celibacy is metaphysical to the extent that it is a means to an end, one step
on the road to self-realization. In contrast, the wrestler's checked sexuality is integrated into his
manifest social identity. Itbecomes emblematic of who he is and what he advocates in addition
to being an aspect of his regimen.15
bhang, bhog, masti, shauk
In her historical study of leisure among the artisans of Banaras, Kumarincludes a chapter on
the place of akhara culture in urban life (1988:111-124). She shows that the akhara regimen
is part of a system of refined pleasure known as bahri alang, or "going to the outside." Bahri
alang is a kind of structured, almost affected leisure, involving not only established cultural
activities such as drama, music, and religious ceremony but also more mundane pursuits from
which men get visceral and aesthetic satisfaction-bathing, defecating, washing clothes. From
the perspective of bahri alang, the culture of the akhara, which Kumarrightly characterizes as
"multifunctional and multivocal" (1988:11 2), is "strictly a matter of shauk"-that is, a hobby
or an infatuation.
The shauk of the Banarsi is, of course, a very serious affair, and one should not assume that
making a "hobby" of such mundane activities as bathing and washing clothes is in any sense
petty or insignificant. However, one must distinguish between those for whom wrestling is
purely shauk and those tor whom it is a form of disciplined self-development. This distinction
is, I think, implicit in Kumar'sdiscussion, for she emphasizes the "regimen" aspect of akhara
activities (1988:115)-diet, exercise, and wrestling-just as she talks about the pleasure de-
rived from covering oneself with mud or from reflectively relaxing in the shade of a tree.
In my experience, the "shaukiya wrestler"-preoccupied with pleasure and aesthetic self-
gratification-can be easily distinguished from the disciplined wrestler who abides by a bal-
anced regimen of copious consumption, does hundreds and hundreds of dands and bethaks,
and daily engages in an hour or more of physically exhausting wrestling practice. The shaukiya
wrestler is concerned more with "feeling good"-in the deeply important sense of which Ku-
mar writes-than with developing a strong, disciplined physique. In the city of Banaras the
distinction between pleasure and discipline has to some extent become blurred, but compar-
ative material from Delhi and Dehra Dun, as well as the popular literatureon wrestling pub-
lished in Delhi, Rajasthan,Maharashtra,and Madhya Pradesh, firmly supports the contention
that wrestlers see their program as one of dispassionate self-control (Atreya 1978; Dev 1972;
Krishnananda1985; Pathak 1974). Although the disciplined wrestler and the Banarsishaukiya
have much in common in terms of their respective akhara experiences, they differ fundamen-
tally in their perception of how what they do relates to who they are. Their uses of and attitudes
toward bhang (hashish), for example, reflect these differing perceptions.
Kumarsays that every akhara must have a place where bhang is prepared for postpractice
consumption (1988:112). In a similar vein, Lynch notes that bhang consumption is an impor-
tant partof the mastram identity of Mathura'swrestling Chaube Brahmans(1990:101). He con-
vincingly demonstrates how bhang induces or enhances the emotional passion of masti, which,
as the Chaubes experience it, is "a care-free lifestyle with a sense of emotional and physical
well being" (1990:98). As Lynch indicates, many Indians regard bhang as "morally good" and
"religiously valuable" (1990:100), and some believe that the intoxication it produces is sattva
in nature. Moreover, since bhang is a religious substance that is said to be used regularly by
LordShiva and Krishna'sbrother Balram, devotees may legitimately consume it in the context
of worship and devotion. On this level of interpretation, Lynch argues that bhang intoxication
serves to conflate religious experience with a powerful emotional state:
To drinka heavydose [of bhang]is to actualizeand experiencean emotionaloneness, peace, nonat-
tachment,andtrueself-awarenessapproachingthe blissfulpleasure(ananda)thatis unionwithdivinity
andself-integration.
[Lynch1990:1011
Itis easy to see how this kind of experience can also be partof the Banarsiethos of which Kumar
writes (1985, 1986:50-51).
While the masti of bhang intoxication is considered essentially good and wholesome, Lynch
notes, drinking marijuana also makes one "lusty" or sexually impassioned (1990:101).
Chaubes, among others (cf. Marglin 1990; Toomey 1990), feel that eroticism is not antithetical
to ascetic ideals. Among the RasikRamanandiascetics of whom van der Veer writes, the notion
of emotional passion as a form of ascetic service is highly developed (1989:463, 464). Shiva of
course exemplifies the synthesis of these "logical contraries" (O'Flaherty 1973).
All this said, the information I gathered on wrestling in Banaras, Delhi, and Dehra Dun in-
dicates that wrestlers-some of whom are Chaubes and some of whom are Banarsishaukiyas-
have an ambivalent atti.tudetoward bhang. Their ambivalence stems from the fact that bhang
induces the passion of masti on the one hand and the focused concentration of ascetic tapas
on the other. Whereas many Indian individuals and groups are comfortable with the inherent
tension of this symbiosis, disciplined wrestlers are not. On the whole they tend to take a dog-
matic stand on the issue, arguing that a wrestler may take bhang only when the regular regimen
of akhara activities fails to establish a refined balance of emotion, physical development, and
moral propriety. If,for example, a young wrestler has difficulty controlling his sexuality, bhang
may be prescribed as a remedy of last resort. In other words, bhang is not an integral partof the
wrestler's regimen.
As I pointed out at the beginning of this article, wrestlers tend to see ascetic renunciation in
absolute, black-and-white terms. Somewhat naively, they interpretthe ascetic's use of bhang
in terms of a rigid opposition between emotion and discipline. In their view, bhang should
simply be a calming agent, an anaphrodisiac by means of which the sannyasi-like wrestler may
achieve greater self-control. They view bhang used in the context of recreation or leisure as a
dangerous narcotic not unlike liquor or tobacco, the consumption of which produces addiction
and the wanton bhog (enjoyment) of pure self-indulgence (Atreya 1975a, 1975b).
While many of the akharas in Banaras have an area for grinding and preparingbhang, I have
never seen wrestlers preparing or using bhang in their akharas. It is certainly possible to rec-
oncile the attributes and effects of bhang with akhara culture in general. For the mastram
Chaube, physical exercise and bhang intoxication are emotionally complementary. For the
Banarsishaukiya, bhang, earth, and water enhance the mood of reflective leisure. But for the
disciplined wrestler such uses of bhang entail too much dangerous emotion. One wrestler I
spoke with stated explicitly that the regimen of wrestling was quite distinct from the shaukiya
aspect of various leisure activities. He went on to say that consuming bhang would turn the
regimen of wrestling into just another form of leisure, like going to popular films, wearing stylish
clothes, or flying kites.
akharas and akharas
Although the term akhara usually refers to a wrestling gymnasium, monastic sannyasi orga-
nizations are also known as akharas. In its monastic sense the term is most often used to distin-
guish between various groups of Naga sannyasis, who are a subgroup of the larger Dasnami
order (Ghurye 1964:6). Of particular interest is the fact that many of these Dasnami sannyasi
akharastook an active part in defending Hindu shrines from Muslim invaders at various times
during the eras of Mogul and British imperialism (Ghosh 1930; Ghurye 1964:110-127; Lor-
enzen 1978; Sarkar1950; van der Veer 1987). Whatever the details of their complex history,
it is clear that sannyasi akharaswere-at various times and to various degrees-training schools
in the martialarts and weaponry (Ghurye 1964:116). And the sannyasis did not simply take up
arms in self-defense. For the Nagas in particular, fighting became an integral aspect of the as-
cetic identity. The Nagas were able to translate their tap into truncheons, in a kind of religious
inversion of the swords into plowshares progression, and to put their skill at developing an
immunityto pain to use in offensive combat (Ghurye 1964:122). The practice of various martial
arts-club swinging, lancing, swordplay, archery, and wrestling-remained consistent with the
general notion of self-realization through renunciation.
Contemporary Nagas continue to practice various martial arts in a less combative environ-
ment. As Ghurye notes, some monastic akharas sponsor wrestling, gymnastics, and other forms
of exercise (1964:127). In the course of my research I saw one Naga akhara where, ironically,
the sannyasis wrestled along with a number of Muslim, Brahman,Thakur,and Yadav "secular"
wrestlers. There is also a defunct Naga wrestling akhara on the bank of the Ganges at Mani-
karnikaGhat in Banaras.A single room with an earthen floor, it appears to have been an akhara
in the wrestling sense, but one used by those who were affiliated with a larger Naga akhara in
an ascetic, monastic sense.
However, despite the obvious parallels of form and content, wrestlers told me repeatedly
and without exception that the two types of akhara had nothing to do with each other (cf. also
Kumar1988:118). I did not have the opportunity to solicit the opinion of the Nagas on this
matter, but wrestlers explained that Nagas do not compete, nor do they consume milk and
almonds in large quantities: they are sannyasis first, practicing wrestling only as an ancillary
form of self-discipline. Although secular wrestlers are unanimous in opposing themselves to
the wrestling Nagas in these terms, van der Veer (personal communication) has observed that
at least some Ramanandi Naga sannyasis wrestle competitively and, presumably, eat a diet
much like that advocated by the secular wrestlers of Banaras. In his collection of wrestler bio-
graphies, Malhotrarecounts the history of Mangal Das, a wrestling sannyasi who trained in one
of the many akharas around the Hanumanghari temple in Ayodhya. Malhotra's account is
ratherambiguous, for it never says that Mangal Das was an ascetic in the Naga sense-although
of this there is little doubt-but it does say that Mangal Das was a wrestler who lived in, trained
with, and was revered by the community of sannyasis in Ayodhya.
With these complex and seemingly contradictory cases in mind, we may well ask why "sec-
ular" wrestlers find it so importantto maintain the fiction of a sharp distinction between them-
selves and sannyasis who wrestle. The answer lies in the wrestler's understanding of asceticism.
Fromthe perspective of the householder, a sannyasi is someone who has renounced the world,
someone who (given a strict interpretation)has no ties to community, state, or nation. In terms
of power-to achieve enlightenment, magically influence the course of events, change form,
and so on-the sannyasi is a pure individual whose relationship to God and "Self" is more
importantthan his relationship to other people or the institutions of society. The wrestler, how-
ever, clearly identifies himself as a family and community member, as a member of society.
Fromthe wrestler's perspective, wrestling should not be directed purely toward spiritual tran-
scendence; it should be integrated into the world of everyday life; it should transcend the mon-
astery. The Nagas threaten to undermine wrestling's social significance by turning the whole
thing into just another form of ascetic self-control. Put another way, the wrestler must be able
to discipline his body without becoming a sannyasi, even though his discipline is very sannyasi-
like. So, from the disciplined wrestler's perspective, the two akharas are homonymic, and the
analogy between them is something on the order of a complex pun on the nature of power.
K. P. Singh, one of the most poetic writers on the subject of wrestling, weaves together these
parallel meanings thus:
A wrestlershouldnotonly be a wrestler.He shoulddo otherworkas well, and he shouldmakehimself
capableof thatwork.Thenpeople in otherwalksof life will become familiarwith wrestlingand will
turnto it. Inthisway wrestlingwill notbe exclusivebutwill become publicand inclusive.Everyonewill
enjoyit andwill experiencethe satisfactionit impartsbecausetheywill haveno sense of its limitations.
Whetherit is wrestlingin the akhara,readingdeeply in books,or contemplatingseriousissues,all ways
of navigatingthe ocean of lifewill be regardedas havingequal merit.A g-stringanda beggingbowl are
the symbolsof renunciation,symbolsin accordancewithwhich the wrestlertoo mustdevelopan aver-
sion to the routineof life.Wealthand luxurymustbe dealta fatalblow.The lampof asceticismmustbe
lighted.Inshort,servitudeand slaverymustnot be toleratedunderany condition.[1972-73:15]
Hanuman and the ascetic bhakta
Everywrestling akhara is dedicated to LordHanuman, the heroic warrior-disciple of the God-

King Ram.'6 As van der Veer notes, the story of Ram's exile, as described in Tulsi Das's Ra-
macaritamanasa,is a story of the power of detachment played out in a world alive with passion,
intrigue, and deception (1989:462). Although Ram, his brother Lakshman,and Hanuman are
all cast in the role of ascetic, Hanuman's ascetic power-his ability to change form at will and
his superhuman strength-is embodied to a greater degree than Ram's or Lakshman's.Where
Hanuman is said to be as big as a mountain, with thighs the size of tree trunks, Ram is at once
more humanly incarnate-in terms of his stature and mobility-and more nearly supernatural
and incomprehensible on the level of divine consciousness.
The source of Hanuman's divine power is his absolute celibacy, his total control over the
latent energy (shakti)of semen (van der Veer 1989:463; Wolcott 1978). It is in this sense that
Hanuman is an ascetic, a fact clearly reflected in the disciplinary practices of the various Ra-
manandi sannyasi suborders described by van der Veer. The Tyagis in particular seek to "ig-
nite" the heat of tapas by internalizing the power of semen (1989:462-464). Similarly, Nagas
see celibacy as central to the disciplinary practice of wrestling and exercise through which they
"refine their bodies" (1989:463).
What is unique about Hanuman's asceticism is that it is couched in terms of service and
devotion to Ram. As I have written elsewhere (AlterIn press a, In press b), Hanuman's character
is defined in terms of three interrelatedattributes:shakti, bhakti (devotionalism), and brahma-
charya. Significantly, these attributes become powerful agencies for action only when con-
ceived in terms of Ram's overarching divinity. Without Ram, Hanuman has no power of any
kind. Forthe Ramanandi Nagas and Tyagis, Hanuman serves as a model of devotion and ser-
vice to Ram's ultimate divinity. Thus, as van der Veer observes, the Ramanandi takes on the
role of Hanuman and other actors in the larger "devotional theater" of the Ram story, so trans-
forming "the desires that motivate human action into positive, devotional energy" (1989:465,
462). In other words, the Ramanandis' is a programof self-realization couched purely and une-
quivocally in terms of individual religious experience.
As van der Veer clearly argues, devotional discipline is eminently concerned with a refined
elaboration of aesthetics and emotion; among the Ramanandis, humility and servitude "must
be refined in a devotional sentiment of total surrender" (1989:465). Hanuman is the perfect
embodiment of such emotion, and the Ramanandi is rightly characterized as an impassioned
slave of Ram. For the wrestler, however, Hanuman is an object of devotion and service in his
own rightratherthan simply a conduit to the greater-and more abstract-glory of Ram's love.
Much of the popular mythology about Hanuman derives from Tulsi Das's corpus and is there-
fore couched in terms of the Ram story. However, as evidenced by other strains of scripture,
myth, and folklore, Hanuman is considered an incarnation of Shiva (Dixit 1978:11-1 7). Wres-
tlers tend to emphasize this side of Hanuman's character, a side that brings Shiva's ascetic qual-
ities into sharp focus. In akhara temples, Shiva lingams (phallic icons) are often found in close
association with Hanuman figures, and during the daily morning incantation Shiva's name is
invoked more often than Ram's. When asked about their relationship to Hanuman, wrestlers
say that they derive their skill, strength, energy, and wisdom from "thinking on him." In other
words, when wrestlers think of themselves as sannyasi-like, they think more in terms of the
independent Shiva analogue than in terms of the Naga or Tyagi sannyasi's Ram-oriented service
and devotional asceticism.
Moreover, service and devotion become somewhat "secularized" in the wrestling arena. By
secular I do not mean nonreligious, for Hanuman's form is worshiped in the akhara and his
power and knowledge are sought by means of both ritual and devotion. Forthe wrestler, Han-
uman becomes an integral partof everyday emotional experience. He is substantially, formally,
empirically, and sensually present at all times in all places. As wrestlers repeatedly pointed out,
there is no such thing as a representation-a symbol-of Hanuman. In a tactile and emotional
sense a "calendar art" image of Hanuman is Hanuman, just as a book about Hanuman is Han-
uman; this fact was brought home to me when a wrestler ran his hand through the pages of one
of my Hanuman worship manuals, touching the words in the same way as, on other occasions,
he touched the akhara earth or the vermilion paste with which he anointed Hanuman in the
akhara.
In the context of the akhara, Hanuman is the nexus of what it means to be of service, to be
humble, to be strong, to be celibate. And he is all of these things in a way that is both highly
personal and, fundamentally, of public significance. One must not only "think on Hanuman"
but also "act like Hanuman"; celibacy, humility, and service become moral virtues and char-
acter traits ratherthan simply spiritual exercises mandated by a particularform of ascetic de-
votionalism. To be sure, this sociomoral dimension does not indicate a radical change in the
fundamentally somatic terms of the respective disciplinary regimens. What has changed is that
the purely individualistic emotion of the bhakta (devotee) has become the wrestler's impas-
sioned commitment to morality in everyday life.
conclusion
Aside from its obvious sportive dimension, which I have not considered here, wrestling is
largely a matterof defining the self by selectively attributingvalue to certain ideals and somatic
principles. As Khare has noted with respect to the Chamars of Lucknow, sannyas provides a
powerful conceptual framework for social criticism in general and the reworking of caste iden-
tity in particular. The Chamar's critique is effective because, as Dumont has noted (1960,
1970), sannyas is a central category in the larger structureof Hindu society; rethinking what it
means to be a sannyasi can, therefore, be a way of undermining the ideological edifice of hi-
erarchical relations. As a pure individual who has renounced worldly obligations, the sannyasi
is the antithesis of the caste-based garhasthya, whose identity is wholly the product of his ritual,
familial, and social obligations. In a sense, the Chamar's radical nonbrahmanic interpretation
of sannyas is based on a tacit recognition of the sannyasi's key structuralposition in the logic
of brahmanic Hinduism. Only because sannyas is a symbol of proto-equality does its integra-
tion into the subaltern world of the socially conscious Chamar make sense as a strategy of em-
powerment.
While the strict opposition between sannyas and garhasthya-the opposition on which this
Dumontian critique is based-has been rightlycriticized by a number of scholars (for example,
Burghart1983; van der Veer 1987), Ifound that many wrestlers offered a ratherstructuralmodel
of sannyas very much in keeping with Dumont's notion of complementary opposition. The
wrestler cannot be a sannyasi, for he works, earns a living, and raises a family; yet he cannot
simply be a garhasthya, for he must be celibate and must regularly countermand the prescripts
of hierarchical separation by grappling-if he is a Brahman or Rajput-with men classified as
impure. To an extent, then, wrestlers, like the Chamars of Lucknow, are guilty of reifying sann-
yas as a static category of being, an ideal type. Only in this way are they able to compare
themselves to the sannyasi without blurringwhat are regarded as significant categorical differ-
ences between themselves and others.
What is unique about wrestling is its casting of self-definition in primarily somatic terms.
What the wrestler borrows from the sannyasi is a self-conception rooted in a disciplinary me-
chanics of psychosomatic development. The tradition of those who have sought to integrate
ascetic principles into social and political life is certainly a long one: the Chamars of Lucknow,
among others-Gandhi, for instance-are clear examples. But in both Gandhian political phi-
losophy and Chamar theology, advocacy gives rise to a purely intellectual ideology-a theory
of practice that uses the body as a means of achieving certain changes in perception, but not
as an end in itself. Wrestlers, on the other hand, conflate body discipline, self-perception, and
ideology in a radical way and, in so doing, make a powerful statement about the essential con-
nections between the individual, the body, and society as a whole.
notes
Acknowledgments. Thisarticleis partof a largerstudyon Indianwrestlingundertakenas a doctoral

dissertationprojectin the Departmentof Anthropologyat the Universityof California,Berkeley.Support
forthe researchwas providedby a Fulbright-Hays DoctoralDissertationResearchGrant.Iam also grateful
to the MabelleMcLeodLewisMemorialFundcommitteefor providingfundsthatsupporteda yearof un-
interrupted writingduringwhich time manyof the ideas in this articlewere developed. I would like to
thankGeraldD. Berreman forprovidingguidanceandencouragement.NicoleConstablehas readvarious
draftsof the articleand providedinvaluablecommentsand criticisms.I am also indebtedto Elizabeth
Traubeforprovidingtheearlyinspiration forthe project.Iamgratefulto Don Brenneisandfouranonymous
reviewersforthe AmericanEthnologist fortheirinsightfulcommentson an earlierdraft.
Indianwrestlingis certainlynotexclusivelyHindu.TherearenumerousMuslimwrestlerstoday,and in
fact, manyfamousIndianwrestlersof the past-Gama, ImamBaksh,Sadiki-were Muslim(Ali 1984; B.
Singh1964).HinduandMuslimwrestlingdifferverylittlefromeach other,andmanywrestlerswouldargue
thatthereis no significantdifferenceat all. However,the wrestlingway of life thatI discussin this article
is Hinduin tone, character,and structure.Manyof the generalpointsaboutwrestlingas such-diet, ex-
ercise, self-discipline,self-control-would apply equallyto Muslimwrestlers,but the sannyasianalogy
wouldnot.
AlthoughIndianwrestlingis not exclusivelyHindu,however,it is exclusively-and self-consciously-
male.ForthisreasonIdeliberatelyuse masculinepronounsthroughout,even when referring to sannyasis.
Althoughtherearefemalesannyasis,wrestlersmodelthemselveson a maleprototype.
21nadditionto the formaldesignation,sannyasi,wrestlersuse a numberof moreor less synonymous
colloquialdesignations.The termsadhu(mendicant)is verycommon,as is baba(father,grandfather, or
ascetic).In some contextsthe honorificmaharaj(literally,greatking)is used to designatea sannyasiof
renown.Thetitlesant(saint)maybe givento a personwhose statusis equivalentto thatof a sannyasi,the
titlerishi(sage)or muni(saintor hermit)to someonewho is sannyasi-likein his character.
3Forthe wrestler,the garhasthyastage is the most problematic.Itdenotes a conditionof duty-bound
involvementin the spheresof ritualandsacrificialobligation,politicalassociation,andeconomicwelfare.
By implicationa garhasthyais a personwho is eminentlyworldly,a personwho mustdeal with passion,
sexuality,greed,and materialgratification of all kinds.
Althoughwrestlersarefamiliarwiththe classicaldistinctionbetweenvanaprastha andsannyasi,theydo
not seem to use it to makesense of the ways in which particularasceticsact or to classify"grades"of
asceticbehavior.A personis eithera garhasthyaor a sannyasi,butnevera vanaprastha.
4Wrestling is primarilya northernIndiansport.As faras I have been able to determine,it is not partic-
ularlypopularin the southernstatesof TamilNadu, Kerala,and Karnataka. Inthe centralpartof India,
Kolhapur, Sangli,Miraj,andotherdistrictsof Maharashtra arewell knownas wrestlingcenters,as areparts
of Haryana,easternUttarPradesh,and Bengal(cf. Rosselli1980) in the northandeast.
5"Goingto the outside"is a colloquialphrasethatrefersto a constellationof leisureactivitiesentailing
participation in the open, publicspace of the Banarasurbanenvironment.One goes outsideto defecate,
wash clothes,bathe,preparebhang,visit temples,walk along the riverbank,swim, listento music,and
takepartin manyotherformsof recreation.
6Wrestling in Indiadatesbackto at leastthe time at which the Mahabharata and Ramayanawere com-
posedinwrittenform,andprobablywell beforethen(Muzumdar 1950; Raghavan1979; Rai1984; L.Singh
1982-83). Althoughearlyaccountsof wrestlingare scantand ratheroblique,two texts,the 12th-century
Manasollasa of KingSomesvara(Srigondekar 1959)andthe 13th-centuryMallapurana of the GujaratiJyes-
thimallas(Das 1968; Sandesaraand Mehta1964), providefairlydetailedoutlinesof mallayuddhaduring
the earlymedievalperiod.
7Zarrillihas notedthatthe southIndianmartialartof kalarippayattu explicitlyrecognizesthe powerof
"single-pointconcentration"(ekagrata)(1989:1302).Infact, it seems thatthe practitioners of kalarippay-
attu conflate the spiritual dimension of meditation with the somatic discipline of exercise, training, and
combat to a much greater and more comprehensive extent than do the north Indian wrestlers.
8Agurukul is a Hindu institution of education modeled on the relationship between a guru and his dis-
ciples. In a gurukul, disciples are cast in the mold of devout adolescent brahmachariswho regardtheir guru
as the source of absolute truth.
9The farcical nature of this relationship was played out on various occasions in one Banaras akhara I
regularlyvisited. A sannyasi would come to the akhara to bathe and cover himself with earth before spend-
ing the better part of the late afternoon walking through the city begging for alms. While he was in the pit
applying earth to his body, some of the wrestlers would entice him to engage in a little friendly wrestling.
Inevitably one of the wrestlers would put a quick move on the unsuspecting sannyasi and pin him to the
ground, much to the amusement of the younger wrestlers and the feigned chagrin of the complaisant as-
cetic.
'00n this point the north Indian wrestlers differ greatly from the south Indian martial artists. Where the
kalarippayattuexperts seem to use yogic theories of physical culture-breathing, stance, balance, and
channeled energy-to explicate and develop their art (Zarrilli1989:1 300-1 301), the wrestlers do not, per-
haps to some extent because most advocates of a wrestling way of life are ruralmen who have had little or
no formal training in classical "high culture." More significantly, however, wrestlers regard yogic physical
culture as a contrived form of self-control that emphasizes the purely metaphysical dimension of somatic
consciousness. They do not make much of the common Hindu cultural distinction between the "gross
body" of muscle and bone and the "subtle body" of prana (breath), cakra (centers), and nadi (conduits).
Elements of the "subtle body" are important, but for the wrestler they do not seem to constitute a distinct
set of attributesclearly articulated within his own body, maybe in part because the wrestler's "gross body"
is magnified to such an extent that it subsumes all other dimensions. However, what the wrestler refers to
as his body, sharir, includes what in the West would be referred to as distinct mental, ideational, or psy-
chological aspects-a fact that enables muscles to take on a clearly moral tone.
aYamaand niyama constitute the firsttwo steps of ethical preparation in the Raja yoga tradition (Kakar
1981:21). They are rules for everyday life-nonviolence, truthfulness, continence, and the like-that lay
the foundation for the six subsequent steps leading up to samadhi.
12Thispoint may become clearer if we consider the role of citta in the yogic scheme. Citta is "that part
of the psychic organization which represents the elemental, instinctual drives of the organism" (Kakar
1981:22). While the perfect state of citta is unidimensional, with "I" and "other" existing in a blissful state
of balanced harmony, in most people citta is agitated and imbalanced. The sannyasi's goal is to achieve
complete self-dissolution through samadhi by training himself to "see through" the emotional agitation of
greed, lust, hate, anger, frustration, and so forth in order to comprehend citta in its perfect state. To an
extent, the wrestler turns this process inside out by seeking a social reconciliation of emotion through ex-
ercise and action ratherthan a psychic synthesis through meditation and enlightenment.
3As Zarrillihas noted, the South Asian martial art of kalarippayattuis integrally related to these general
theories of illness and health. The practitioners of kalarippayattuhave an extremely sophisticated under-
standing of the "fluid body's" humors and saps (1989:1292-1294).
14Since many wrestlers work, the extreme ideal is rarely realized in practice. Nevertheless, some wres-
tlers receive a stipend of almonds and milk, and most wrestlers take responsibility for preparing their own
milk-ghi-almond tonic.
15Atissue here is the problem of establishing self-discipline as the primary referent for public morality.
Forthe sannyasi the referent of abnegation is never public morality; it is purely individual self-realization.
As K. P. Singh, a prominent wrestling advocate, writes, wrestlers are not the only ones who have sought to
give the values and experience of renunciation a certain ethical tone:
Gandhi controlled himself, kept himself in check and was a brahmachari. He was a great saint and a
reformist. He freed the nation. And Gandhi's discipline of self-control was not contrived.... His was
the work of the world and he would shoulder his burden of work taking only the name of God for support.
Gandhi was greater than Shankaracharya. Shankaracharyaadvocated the complete separation of men
from women, but Gandhi said that all men and women should be as brothers and sisters.... What an
excellent method of uprooting the evil of sensuality! What a grand vision! What insight to turn sensuality
into a feeling of respect and honor. We must all live in society and we must purge the evils of social life
from our thoughts.... We must tire our bodies, focus our minds and cleanse our thoughts. We must
adopt commitment and independence as our way of life. [1972:31; emphasis added]
Many wrestlers see themselves as following in Gandhi's footsteps. His advocacy of a wholesome diet,
yogic fitness, and disciplined thought complements the wrestler's ideal of moral fitness. Fromthis perspec-
tive, strict asceticism disconnects emotion and experience from action, since it would be logically incon-
sistent, in the wrestler's estimation, for a "pure sannyasi"-which is to say a self-proclaimed or formally
initiated one such as Shankaracharya-to engage himself in a sociopolitical cause. This, I think, is the
distinction K. P. Singh is making between those who radically dissociate themselves from women in order
to achieve self-control and those who redefine their social relationships with women in order to make their
self-control serve a moral purpose.
'6Hanuman is a popular heroic figure in the 16th-century epic Ramacaritamanasa, by Tulsi Das. He is
the dutiful and devout agent of Lord Ram, an incarnation of Vishnu. Hanuman helps Ram and Ram's
younger brother Lakshmandestroy the evil kingdom of Lanka.Elsewhere I have discussed Hanuman's role
vis-a-vis wrestling in general (Alter 1989:399-435) and the wrestler's physique in particular(AlterIn press
b), but here I focus on his ascetic attributes.
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submitted 20 April 1990

revised version submitted 13 February1991
accepted 22 March 1991

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The "sannyasi" and the Indian Wrestler: The Anatomy of a Relationship

Author(s): Joseph S. Alter

JOSEPH S. ALTER-Goshen College

the model of sannyas

Indian wrestling (pahalwani) is a disciplined way of life that demands rigorous

the sannyasi and the Indian wrestler 317

318 american ethnologist

the sannyasi and the Indian wrestler 319

320 american ethnologist

sannyasis and wrestlers

the sannyasi and the Indian wrestler 321

exercise, asans, and austerity

A primarydimension of sannyas is tapas, or tap: the performance of austerities that produce

322 american ethnologist

the sannyasi and the Indian wrestler 323

324 american ethnologist

the sannyasi and the Indian wrestler 325

326 american ethnologist

bhang, bhog, masti, shauk

the sannyasi and the Indian wrestler 327

akharas and akharas

328 american ethnologist

the sannyasi and the Indian wrestler 329

Hanuman and the ascetic bhakta

Everywrestling akhara is dedicated to LordHanuman, the heroic warrior-disciple of the God-

330 american ethnologist

the sannyasi and the Indian wrestler 331

Acknowledgments. Thisarticleis partof a largerstudyon Indianwrestlingundertakenas a doctoral

332 american ethnologist

the sannyasi and the Indian wrestler 333

334 american ethnologist

the sannyasi and the Indian wrestler 335

submitted 20 April 1990

336 american ethnologist

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