Śramaṇa

Śramaṇa (Sanskrit: श्रमण, Samaṇa in Pali) means "seeker, one who performs acts of austerity, ascetic". The term refers to several Indian religious movements parallel to but separate from the historical Vedic religion. The Śramaṇa tradition includes Jainism of 9th-century BCE,Buddhism of 6th-century BCE, and others such as Ājīvika and Cārvāka.

The Śramaṇa movements arose in the same circles of mendicants in ancient India that led to the development of Yogic practices, as well as the popular concepts in all major Indian religions such as saṃsāra (the cycle of birth and death) and moksha (liberation from that cycle).

The Śramaṇic traditions have a diverse range of beliefs, ranging from accepting or denying the concept of soul, fatalism to free will, idealization of extreme asceticism to that of family life, wearing dress to complete nudity in daily social life, strict ahimsa (non-violence) and vegetarianism to permissibility of violence and meat-eating.

Etymology and origin

One of the earliest recorded use of the word Śramaṇa, in the sense of a mendicant, is in verse 4.3.22 of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad composed by about the 8th century BCE. The concept of renunciation and monk-like lifestyle is found in Vedic literature, with terms such as yatis, rishis, and śramaṇas. Early Vedic literature from about 1000 BCE, mentions Muni (मुनि, monks, mendicants, holy man), with characteristics that mirror those of Sramanas. Rig Veda, for example, in Book 10 Chapter 136, mentions mendicants as those with Kesin (केशिन्, long haired) and Mala clothes (मल, dirty, soil-colored, yellow, orange, saffron) engaged in the affairs of Mananat (mind, meditation). Rigveda also uses the term vatarazana (वातरशन, one who wears air as clothes, naked monk).

Missoula, Montana

Missoula ⁱ/mᵻˈzuːlə/ is a city in the U.S. state of Montana and is the county seat of Missoula County. It is located along the Clark Fork River near its confluences with the Bitterroot and Blackfoot Rivers in western Montana and at the convergence of five mountain ranges, thus is often described as the "hub of five valleys".In 2014, the United States Census Bureau estimated the city's population at 69,821 and the population of the Missoula Metropolitan Area at 112,684. Since 2000, Missoula has been the second most populous city in Montana. Missoula is home to the University of Montana, a public research university.

Missoula was founded in 1860 as Hellgate Trading Post while still part of Washington Territory. By 1866, the settlement had moved east, 5 miles (8 km) upstream, and renamed Missoula Mills, later shortened to Missoula. The mills provided supplies to western settlers traveling along the Mullan Road. The establishment of Fort Missoula in 1877 to protect settlers further stabilized the economy. The arrival of the Northern Pacific Railway in 1883 brought rapid growth and the maturation of the local lumber industry. In 1893, the Montana Legislature chose the city as the site for the state's first university. Along with the U.S. Forest Service headquarters founded in 1908, lumber and the university remained staples of the local economy for the next hundred years.