Gōsvāmī is a honorific used for renunciates in the religious traditions of India. This use of the word is predominantly found in its Standard Hindi form,gossain. Those who can use the title "goswami" are usually those who have taken the sannyasa vows.
The exact origin of the Goswami Brahmins is difficult to ascertain. They are mentioned in the Vedas, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Bhagavataand even the Bhavisyottara Purana by different names and titles. Most Goswami Brahmins are ethnically Indo-Aryan.
Widespread Buddhism saw a decline in the number of Hindu monks in India. With the decline of Buddhism, there was no organised structure that could provide an impetus for the resurgence of the Vedic dharma. One of the major achievements of Adi Shankara was to organize a section of the Ekadandi monks under an umbrella grouping of ten names, to provide an organized base for the growth of Hinduism. Several other Hindu monastic and Ekadandi traditions remained outside the organization of the Dasanamis.