wandering ascetic, member of either an ethnic group or a sect, located principally in the Magadha (South Bihār) region of ancient India. The vrātyas lived outside the fold of the dominant Aryan society and practiced their own forms of austerity and esoteric rites. Much speculation regarding the vrātyas has left unsettled the question of whether they were forerunners of the main Aryan invaders from Iran or were non-Aryan in origin. Some scholars conjecture that the vrātya might have been a source of non-Aryan beliefs and practices introduced into the Vedic religion.