a stage in the life of a Brāhman (of which there are four corresponding to four different periods or conditions, viz. 1st, Brahmacārin, ‘student of the Veda’; 2nd, Gṛha-stha, ‘householder’; 3rd, Vānaprastha, ‘anchorite’; and 4th, Saṃnyāsin, ‘abandoner of all worldly concerns’, or sometimes Bhikṣu, ‘religious beggar’; in some places the law-givers mention only three such periods of religious life, the first being then omitted), Mn.; R.; Suśr.; Ragh. &c.
