(16th century) A well-known member of the Sanyasi society,
which consisted of renunciant ascetics who were Shiva worshipers (bhakta).
His surname indicates that he belonged to the Saraswati
sect, one of the most renowned of the ten Dashanami divisions; he is supposed
to have spent the most of his life at Benares, the world's biggest religious
center at the time.
According to ascetic tradition, Madhusudana was the founder
of the Naga Sanyasis, a class of battling ascetics.
Madhusudana, according to legend, developed these fighters
in response to the depredations the Sanyasis had undergone at the hands of
hostile Muslim faqirs.
Madhusudana wanted to start a military ascetic order
committed to safeguarding fellow ascetics after conferring with Birbal, the
Moghul emperor Akbar's counsellor.
Recruits came from the shudras' ranks.
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