The Keà Âin were ascetic wanderers with mystical powers described in the Keà Âin Hymn (RV 10, 136) of the Rigveda (an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns). The Keà Âin are described as homeless, traveling with the wind, clad only in dust or yellow tatters, and being equally at home in the physical and the spiritual worlds. They are on friendly terms with the natural elements, the gods, enlightened beings, wild beasts, and all people. The Keà Âin Hymn also relates that the Keà Âin drink from the same magic cup as Rudra, which is poisonous to mortals.
The Kesin hymn of the Rigveda is the earliest evidence of yogis and their spiritual tradition, states Karel Werner. This concise hymn, depicting a long-haired ascetic, is considered a precursor to extreme ascetic practices and the Rudra-Siva tradition. The Hindu scripture Rigveda uses words of admiration for Kesins.
The Keà Âin were lone ascetics, living a life of renunciation and wandering mendicants. The Keà Âin hymn appears as a precursor to extreme ascetic practices and the Rudra-Siva tradition, primarily due to its mention of Rudra and the ascetic drink in the final verse. The munis are depicted as experiencing heightened, altered states of consciousness and possessing the mystical power to soar on the wind, which presents an early evidence for yogic practices.
YÃÂska (c. 500 BCE) offered several etymological meanings to Keà Âin, including the sun or the sun God Surya. SÃÂyana (c. 14th century ACE) supported that view, followed by some early European Sanskrit scholars, including H. H. Wilson and M. Bloomfield. Hermann Oldenberg took the view that the Keà Âin Hymn described the "orgiastic practices of the old Vedic times" and the "drunken rapture" of the Keà Âin.
Ralph T. H. Griffith and Heinrich Roth rejected both the Surya and intoxicant-drinking views. Griffith supported Roth's view of the Keà Âin Hymn: <blockquote>The hymn shows the conception that by a life of sanctity the Muni can attain to the fellowship of the deities of the air, the Vayu, the Rudras, the Apsarases, and the Gandharvas; and, furnished like them with wonderful powers, can travel along with them on their course.</blockquote>
Werner contrasts Kesin with Rishi, both loners, but the former being the silent wandering types and the latter being teachers, settled-in-a-hut types.
The description of Keà Âin is found in hymn 10.136 of the Rigveda.