Swami ([sʋaːmiː];Sanskrit:स्वामी,romanized: svāmī; sometimes abbreviatedsw.) inHinduism is an honorific title given to anascetic who has chosen thepath of renunciation (sanyāsa).[1][2] It is used either before or after the subject's name (usually an adopted religious name). An alternative form,swamini (svāmini), is sometimes used by female renunciates.
The meaning of the Sanskrit root of the wordswami is "[he who is] one with hisself" (swa stands for "self"),[3] and can roughly be translated as "he/she who knows and is master of himself/herself".[1] The term is often attributed to someone who has achieved mastery of a particularyogic system or demonstrated profound devotion (bhakti) to one or moreHindu gods.[1] TheOxford English Dictionary gives the etymology as:[4]
Hindisvāmī 'master, lord, prince', used by Hindus as a term of respectful address, < Sanskritsvāmin in some senses, also the idol or temple of a god.
As a direct form of address, or as a stand-in for a swami's name, it is often renderedSwamiji (alsoSwami-ji orSwami Ji).
In modernGaudiya Vaishnavism,Swami is also one of the 108 names for asannyasi given inBhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati'sGaudiya Kanthahara, along withGoswami, also traditionally used as an honorific title.[5]
Swami is also the surname of theBairagi caste inHaryana,Uttar Pradesh, andRajasthan. InBengali, the word (pronounced[ˈʃami]), while carrying its original meaning, also has the meaning of "husband" in another context. The word also means "husband" inMalay, in which it is spelledsuami,[6] and inKhmer,Assamese andOdia. TheThai word for "husband",sami (สามี) orswami (สวามี) is acognate word.
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