From the Bhakti List Archives
Mani Varadarajan
• Thu Jan 21 1999 - 13:54:19 PST
Sri Mohan wrote:
> >There are SriVaishnava monks, known, I believe, as ekAngis,
> >who have many of the same rites and responsibilities as the Brahmin Jeears,
> >except for the practice of these vEdic rites.
To which Sri Varadhan replied:
> EkAnkis do not fall under the category that is quoted above.
> an EkAki is a bramhAchAri that is kind of an "assistant" ...
Varadhan,
Though this is the terminology used at Tirupati,
the word "ekAngi" also refers to sAttAda (non-brahmin)
Sri Vaishnava sannyAsis. I refer you to Sri M. Srinivasan's
post from 1995:
http://www.best.com/~mani/sv/bhakti/archives/dec95/0070.html
where he mentions a svAmi who bore the title "ekAngi". This
title is used regularly by sannyAsis in our sampradayam
who are not brahmins.
Mani