swami

{{Short description|Honorific title for Hindu monks; Indian surname}}

{{otheruses}}

File:Swami-saradananda.jpg

Swami ({{IPA|sa|sʋaːmiː|}}; {{Langx|sa|स्वामी|svāmī}}; sometimes abbreviated sw.) in Hinduism is an honorific title given to an ascetic who has chosen the path of renunciation (sanyāsa),{{cite encyclopedia |last=Boeving |first=Nicholas Grant |year=2014 |title=Swamis |editor-last=Leeming |editor-first=David A. |editor-link=David Adams Leeming |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion |pages=1760–1761 |edition=2nd |publisher=Springer Verlag |location=Boston |doi=10.1007/978-1-4614-6086-2_673 |isbn=978-1-4614-6087-9}} or has been initiated into a religious monastic order of Vaishnavas.{{cite book |first1=E. Cobham |last1=Brewer |author-link=E. Cobham Brewer |editor-first=Camilla |editor-last=Rockwood |isbn=9780550104113 |at="Swami" entry |title=Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable |location=London |publisher=Chambers Harrap |date=2009 |ol=2527037W}}. It is used either before or after the subject's name (usually an adopted religious name). An alternative form, swamini ({{IAST|svāmini}}), is sometimes used by female renunciates.

The meaning of the Sanskrit root of the word swami is "[he who is] one with his self" ({{lang|sa-Latn|swa}} stands for "self"),{{cite book |last=Yogananda |first=Paramhamsa |date=1997 |title=Autobiography of a Yogi |location=Mumbai |publisher=Jaico Publishing House |page=14}}{{unreliable source|date=July 2018}} and can roughly be translated as "he/she who knows and is master of himself/herself". The term is often attributed to someone who has achieved mastery of a particular yogic system or demonstrated profound devotion (bhakti) to one or more Hindu gods. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the etymology as:{{cite web |url= http://oed.com/view/Entry/195404?rskey=Cbewbm&result=1 |title=swami |work=Oxford English Dictionary |edition=online |date=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=31 August 2011 |url-access=subscription}}

{{quote|Hindi {{lang|hi|svāmī}} 'master, lord, prince', used by Hindus as a term of respectful address, < Sanskrit {{lang|sa-Latn|svāmin}} in same 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 rendered Swamiji (also Swami-ji or Swami Ji).

In modern Gaudiya Vaishnavism, Swami is also one of the 108 names for a sannyasi given in Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati's Gaudiya Kanthahara, along with Goswami, also traditionally used as an honorific title.{{cite web |last1=Narasingha |first1=Bhakti Gaurava |title=Bhaktivedanta |url=https://gosai.com/writings/bhaktivedanta |website=Sri Narasingha Chaitanya Ashram |access-date=5 January 2022}}

Swami is also the surname of the Bairagi caste in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan. In Bengali, the word (pronounced {{IPA|bn|ˈʃami|}}), while carrying its original meaning, also has the meaning of "husband" in another context. The word also means "husband" in Malay, in which it is spelled {{lang|ms|suami}},{{cite web |title=Istilah Malaysia |url= http://prpm.dbp.gov.my/Search.aspx?k=suami |work=Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu |publisher=Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Malaysia |access-date=31 May 2013}} and in Khmer, Assamese and Odia. The Thai word for "husband", {{lang|th-Latn|sami}} ({{lang|th|สามี}}) or {{lang|th-Latn|swami}} ({{lang|th|สวามี}}) is a cognate word.