THE SANNYASI AND THE INDIAN WRESTLER - THE ANATOMY OF A RELATIONSHIP

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 formation and concepts of the person in Hindu South Asia.