DANDI. limn. A Hindu sect who worship Siva, and represent the fourth, Asrama or mendicant, life, into which the Hindu is to enter, after passing through tho previous stages of student, householder, and hermit. He shaves him hair and beard, wears only a cloth round his loins, and subsists on food obtained ready dressed from the houses of Brahmans, once a. day only. Any Ilindu of the first three classes, of student, householder, and hermit, may become a Sanyasi or Dandi. Indeed, in these days, a Hindu of nny caste may adopt the life and emblems of this order. These constitute the Dandi, simply so termed, and aro regarded a.s distinct from the primitive members of the order, to whom the appellation of Das-nami is also applied, and who admit 'Hone but Brahmans into their fraternity. But the Brahman can pass from any one of the first ordera to the butt at once. He becomes a &myna', abandoning all sensual affection. The Dandi is distinguished by carrying a small dand or wand with several knots on it, raid A piece of cloth dyed with red ochre, in which the 13tab =Meal cord is supposed to be enahrined and attached to it. The Dandl are followers of San karaclutrya, and are a numerou.s order of religious mendicants, many of whom have been eminent as writers on various subjects, especially on the Vedanta philosophy. They are divided iuto ten
classes, hence their other name Das-nami, each of which is distinguished by a peculiar name, tut Tirtha, Asrama, Vana, Amnya, Saraswati, Puri, Bharat', Gir or Giri, Parvata, and Sagam, which ia added to the proper name of the individual, as Purushottama Gir, or Bodhendra Saraswati, ete. They are hence known collectively as the Das mani, or ten-name Gosains. Of these, only three and a half tribes, the Tirtha, Asrama, Saraswati, and part of Bharati are now considered pure Dandi of Sankaracharya; the other six and a half members of the Das-nami are called Atit. They have abandoned the staff, the use of clothes, money, and ornaments, prepare their own food, and admit members from any order of Hindus. They aro often collected in maths as well as the Dandi ; but they mix freely in the business of the world, carry on trade, and often accumulate pro perty, and they frequently officiate as priests at the shrines of some of the deities. Some of them even marry, and are then styled Sam-yogi. The Dandi are to the SaiVa sect what the followers of Ramanuja are to those of the Vaishnava faith. Sankara's Dandi aro sufficiently numerous in and about Benares.-117i/son. See Danda; Hindu.