Storytellers, Saints, and Scoundrels

Front Cover

Back Cover

Awards:

Winner of the 1990 Victor Turner Prize for Ethnographic Writing

Co-winner of the 1990 Elsie Clews Parsons Prize for Folklore

Excerpts:

Swamiji is a Hindu sadhu, a holy man. He is a sannyasi, a "renouncer" who has performed his own death ceremonies and taken on a new identity emphasizing the lack of personal ties and possessions. Like other sannyasis of the Dashanami Dandi he wears ochre robes and sacred rudraksh beads around his neck. Also, like other sannyasis, he is a Guru, drawing from a variety of backgrounds. Yet, while Gurus often become the center of large ashrams and organizations, Swamiji has resisted institutionalization.

"When you tell a story," he (Swamiji) began again after a moment’s reflection, "you should look at the situation and tell it. Then it turns out well. If you just tell the story at any time, it’s not really good. You must consider the time and shape the story so it’s right."