Editing Saint (section)

=== Hinduism ===
{{Main|Hindu saints}}
[[File:Kanua Baba.jpg|thumb|Portrait of the saintly [[Kanua Baba|Kanua]], a Hindu [[baba (honorific)|baba]] of [[Mathura]], India, also pictured with a halo encircling his head.]]

Hindu saints are those recognized by [[Hindus]] as showing a great degree of holiness and sanctity. Hinduism has a long tradition of stories and poetry about saints. There is no formal [[canonization]] process in Hinduism, but over time, many men and women have reached the status of saints among their followers and among Hindus in general. Unlike in Christianity, Hinduism does not canonize people as saints after death, but they can be accepted as saints during their lifetime.<ref>{{Cite book|title = The Essentials of Hinduism|last = Bhaskarananda|first = Swami|publisher = The Vedanta Society of Western Washington|year = 2002|isbn = 978-1-884852-04-6|location = Seattle|pages = 12}}</ref> Hindu saints have often renounced the world, and are variously called [[guru]]s, [[sadhu]]s, [[rishi]]s, [[devarishi]]s, [[rajarshi]]s, [[saptarishi]]s, [[brahmarshi]]s, [[swami]]s, [[Pandit|pundits]], [[purohit]]s, [[pujari]]s, [[acharya]]s, [[pravaras]], [[yogi]]s, [[yogini]]s, and other names.<ref name="Rinehart2004">{{cite book|author=Robin Rinehart|title=Contemporary Hinduism: Ritual, Culture, and Practice|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hMPYnfS_R90C&pg=PA88|access-date=3 June 2013|date=1 January 2004|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-57607-905-8|pages=87–90}}</ref>

Some Hindu saints are given god-like status, being seen as [[Avatar|incarnations]] of [[Vishnu]], [[Shiva]], [[Devi]], and other aspects of the Divine—this can happen during their lifetimes, or sometimes many years after their deaths. This explains another common name for Hindu saints: godmen, is invention of western Abrahamic media to a Pagan Ideas.<ref name="Woodward2001">{{cite book|author=Kenneth L. Woodward|title=The Book of Miracles: The Meaning of the Miracle Stories in Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e951hHwu3X0C&pg=PA267|access-date=3 June 2013|date=10 July 2001|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=978-0-7432-0029-5|page=267}}</ref>