Sannyasa (saṃnyāsa)

Sannyasa is complete renunciation, the fourth stage of life, in which a person abandons home, fire, possessions and social role to wander in search of liberation. The Bhagavad Gita's final chapter distinguishes it carefully from mere abandonment of work, arguing that giving up the fruit of action is the renunciation that matters. Yudhishthira wants sannyasa immediately after the war and is refused it by everyone around him, and only gets his renunciation decades later, walking north with his brothers and a dog.