Śramaṇa

A śramaṇa (Sanskrit: श्रमण, [ɕrɐmɐɳɐ]) or samaṇa (Pali: 𑀲𑀫𑀡; Chinese: 沙門 shāmén) is a person "who labours, toils, or exerts themselves for some higher or religious purpose" or "seeker, one who performs acts of austerity, ascetic". During its development, the term came to refer to several non-Brahmanical ascetic religious movements parallel to but separate from the Vedic religion's (and its modern-day form Hinduism). The Śramaṇa tradition includes primarily Jainism, Buddhism, and others such as the Ājīvika.

Jainism and Buddhism are two of many Indian philosophies considered as Śramaṇic traditions.

The śramaṇa religions became popular in the same circles of mendicants from greater Magadha that led to the development of spiritual practices, as well as the popular concepts in all major Indian religions such as saṃsāra (the cycle of birth and death) and moksha (liberation from that cycle).

The Śramaṇic traditions have a diverse range of beliefs, ranging from accepting or denying the concept of soul, fatalism to free will, idealization of extreme asceticism to that of family life, renunciation, strict ahimsa (non-violence) and vegetarianism to permissibility of violence and meat-eating.

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