Sramanas

Sramanas (Singhalese srama, performances of asceticism), a name given to the priests of Buddha, who are monks as to their mode of living, but priests as to the world without. Their vows are in no case irrevocable. They seek their food by carrying the alms bowl from door to door, and their chief employment is teaching the novices, or writing books upon the leaf of the talipot. See Hardy, Eastern Monachism.