An austere society of devo monks (bhakta) of the deity Shiva in his guise as Pashupati, "Lord of Beasts," that has vanished.
Although the Pashupatas are no now active, they were once
the most influential ascetic cult in northern India, according to the Chinese
scholar ologist Hsuan Tsang.
According to historical accounts, its members would engage
in bizarre and deviant conduct in order to embarrass themselves, despite the
fact that they were not motivated by desire or hatred.
This was modeled by one of Shiva's epic stories, in which he
exposed himself to the women of the Sages in the Pine Forest but had no desire
for them.
See Daniel H. H. Ingalls, "Cynics and Pasupatas: The
Seeking of Dishonor," Harvard Theological Review, 55, 1962, for more
details.
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