Vaidika Samskaras

Om, Sri gurubhyo namaha

Vaidika Samskaras

Dr. S. Yegnasubramanian

1. Introduction

Over the ages, humankind has always strived to reach perfection and to explore the ultimate Truth. In this quest, every religion has some unique features. Some of the unique features characteristic of the Hindu Faith or sanAtana dharma are:

·The concept of God as the very creation it-self. For example we come across passages like,

&U”p;d;w ySy n;i&”.;

i]&uvnvpuW’ iv-,umIx’ nm;im .;

and

a;p;t;{ön&” Sql;Ntö&uvnöb[„;;<@’

a;ivSfurtß .

in the dhyAna slokas of Vishnu Sahasranamam and Sri Rudram respectively.

·One’s birth according to one’s karma. The entire chapter of karma yoga in Bhagavad Gita deals with this aspect in great detail. ·The idea of liberation, mukti, even when one

is alive - jeevanmukti:. For example, we have in the in Bhagavad Gita:

pXynß xO<vnß SpOxnß ij`[nß aXnnß gCznß

Svpnß Xvxnß a;Tmnev a;Tmn; tuÎ; .

·The manifestation of the Divine through

in-numerable avatAras - ten of them are more popular; Bhagavatam mentions 21 avataras, but says that they are countless ! avt;r;” as’:yey” .

·varNASrama dharma - The Lord says, ctuvR<yR’

my; sOÏmß in the Gita.

All these features are found in various texts and derive their basis from the Vedas. However, these are not given in a clear and concise format in the Vedas. For the Vedic

teachings to be useful to humankind, our Rishis, through their inquiry, extracted the vedic wisdom, like extracting a precious metal from the ore! Consequently, a new family of literature known as Sootras (cryptic statements) - emerged, such as, the Strouta sutras, grihya sootras, dharma sootras etc. Since the sootras themselves were abstract, commentaries on these sootras were given by Rishis in the form of smritis, such as, YAjnavalkhya smriti, ParAsara smriti, etc. The term smriti refers to a ‘remembered idea’ (from the vedas). Later, itihAsas (RaAmAyanNa and MahAbhArata) and purANas (BhAgavatam SkAndam etc.) were written in the form of personified stories, to make these concepts understandable to common people.

2. Inner Virtues (Atma Guna’s)

The scriptures have expounded the Truth in absolute terms in all the Upanishads. The Hindu Faith aims at enabling every human being to the realization of this Absolute Truth or the Self, and proclaims that, this realization is the only goal for every one to reach. The scriptures say that this realization could be achieved though the development of Atma GuNa’s, or certain inner virtues. Eight virtues have been mentioned in particular, and they are:

1. Compassion (dayA), consideration and sen-sitivity for all.

2. Patience or forbearance or the ability to face provoking situations without agitation (kshamA or kshAnti).

3. Free of jealousy (anasooyA).

4. Purity - internal and external (Soucam). 5. Keeping cool, free from burden

which then becomes eligible to be offered to the Lord.

ivi/ik[y;jNy” aitxy ivxeW” .

(Vedic rites, when formed, certain special qualities are born)

All through, the vedas teach that the ultimate goal of life is liberation (moksha:) and if one has to achieve this goal, one has to become qualified (yogyah:). This eligibility comes by offering oneself to the Lord (Atma samarpaNam) and before such offering, the individual has to go through -almost a life-long - purification process. The entire life-style is designed to be a process of samskAra, and in this life-style, every stage is indicated by a particular ritual. All these rituals are given in the scriptures. It can be interpreted then, that, those special qualities, which are born by performing certain vedic rituals that make one fit for the True Knowldege of liberation, are samskAra’s. In course of time, the rituals themselves, which led to these special qualities, came to be known as samskAra’s. So, two meanings are primarily given for samskAra’s

a) characteristic/special quality - atiSaya viSesha: and

b) the very ritual or ceremony.

In addition, a third definition also is given to the word, which means, mental impression or vAsana. The Rishis acknowledged the fact that a person’s mind can be influenced by so many factors all through the life based on one’s own actions and through actions of others. The samskaras are supposed to accomplish two things to an individual:

doW apnynen v; gu,;/;nen v;.

1) doW apnynmß dosha apnayanam - elimination of physical and mental impurities (dosha) and 2)

gu,;/;nmß

guNAdhAnam - adding special virtues or Atma guNa’s. As mentioned in the 6. Not being miserly (akArpaNyam).

7. Absence of desire, attachment (aspruhA) 8. Auspiciousness, peace (mangalam,

Ananda:).

When an individual acquires these qualities, he/she becomes eligible to Atma JnAnam, and through inquiry, the person realizes the Abso-lute.

3. Vedic Rituals (vaidika samskAra’s) The scriptures proclaim that a total person should be harmonious in thought (maanasam), word (vAcika), and deed (bodily actions - kAyikam). As can be seen, this virtue is far from realization by the vast majority of people, and so has to be evolved right from birth! Instead of just listing the above mentioned Atma GuNa’s and postulating them as a requirement in the building up of a total person for gaining the eligibility to the inquiry of the Self, our scriptures provide us with a manual as to how to acquire these qualities throughout one’s life, through the performance of rituals known as vaidika samskAra’s, starting from the conception of the child, until death! In addition to some of the unique characteristics of the Hindu Faith mentioned earlier, vaidika samskAra is another unique and important feature since it helps the individual to develop into a total person, physically and spiritually.

3.1 The word samskAra

The seed for the samskAra’s is the Vedas, and, the word samskAra, the mantras and the arrangement are given in the grihya sootra’s. (For an overview of our vedic scriptures please refer to Vol. 1 No. 1 of Paramaartha Tattvam.) In the vedas, the process of purification is denoted by the term samskuryAt. If any object is to be offered to the Lord, that object has to be purified first, both at the physical level and at the spiritual (subtle) level. After such purification, a new quality is believed to be born in the object,

d) Creation of awareness of the stage of life -after upanayanam, brahmacarya ASrama; af-ter vivAham, grihasta ASrama. Development of sanctity for life itself.

e) Sensitivity to elements of nature - for example, all divinities are water -

sv;R devt;

a;p” ; similarly fire is Divinity and so on.

f) The respect that the entire creation is some-thing to be worshipped - is brahman - sarvam brahma mayam jagat.

g) The awareness that the individual is part of Nature and not separate from it.

h) The concept of social / family life - all rituals involve relatives, friends etc.

So, the vaidika samskaras have been designed by the Rishis to contribute to the overall growth of the individual.

3.2 How many samskaras are given in the scriptures?

As was mentioned earlier, the sootra’s give a comprehensive account of various samskAra’s and, among the sootra’s, the grihya sootra’s give the most elaborate account. The grihya sootra’s themselves are many, which deal with all aspects of domestic life like marriage, etc. Since these samskAra’s are basically derived from the vedas, various numbers are given in these grihya sootra’s. Most popularly, forty one samskAra’s are enumerated, which we can broadly classify in to nine groups. We will discuss in detail, each of the forty one samskaras - starting from conception of the baby, till the final cremation - in subsequent issues of Paramaartha Tattvam. Source Material:

1.Hindu Samskaras, Rajbali Pandey, Motilal Benarasidas,Delhi, 1998.

2. The Book of Samskaras, Prema Rasa Dasa, Bhakti Vedanta Book Trust International, 1977. 3. Lectures by Swami Paramarthananda, Madras.

am;inTvmdiM&Tvmih’s; =;iNtr;jRvmß.

a;c;yoRp;sn’ x;wc’ SqwyRm;Tmi

ving[h” .. (humility, unprententiousness, non-violence, patience, uprightness, service to the teacher,

purity, steadiness and self-control) It is interesting to note that, even though the samskAras were meant to purify an individual to become eligible for moksha, the Rishis have formulated them in such a manner that the individual also attains other benefits - dharma, artha and kAma.

They involve the purification of the total personality - mAnasam, vAcikam and kAyikam - since one is likely to have sinned through all these three instruments !

Samskaras contribute to the overall growth of the individual, such as:

a) The physical discipline during and after the ritual - for example, prANAyAmam helps to regulate the blood circulation, etc. Also, several do’s and don’ts are prescribed for the brahmacAri such as:

ajanavAdaSIla: ajnv;dxIl” - no gossip; adhivA svApI

 ai/v; Sv;pI / m; suWuPq; - no

sleeping during day time;

strtIbhi: yAvatharta sambhAshI S]Ii&” y;vqtR

s’&;WI - speak only what is required to ladies,

etc.

(More details will be seen during the discussion on upanayanam later).

b) The mental growth - again, prANAyAmam helps to sharpen the mind; improves medha Sakti:; for example, prayers such as,

SraddhAm medhAm yaSa: prajnAm Sriyam Ayushyam teja Aroghyam dehime

havyavAhana.

Also, sraddhAvAn labhate jnAnam etc. c) Imparting of values, ethics and morality -for example: kAmo kArshIt manyuh kArishIt - japa to overcome greed and anger.

Om, Sri Gurubhyo Namaha

Vaidika Samskaras

Dr. S. Yegnasubramanian

(Sections and sub-sections are numbered in continuation from the previous article) In the previous article in Volume 4 No. 1

of Paramaartha Tattvam, we said that,

l the samskaaras are a series of sacrements performed by any one belonging to the vedic tradition, which are meant for the overall purification or overall refinement of the individual.

l by overall refinement, we mean the physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual development and maturity of the personality at the total level.

l the term samskaara has three meanings 1. the refinement itself

2. the ritual by which the refinement is achieved, and

3. the impressions - vAsanAs - created by oneself and the environment

l the purpose was not just material prosper-ity - which was incidental - but the moksha purushArtha - based on which the entire samskaras were developed. As side benefits, one also gets dharma, artha and kaama purushArthas.

l before anything is offered to the Lord, the offering should be purified, and our sages took the entire life as the greatest offering of the individual - the jivaatmA - to the paramAtman:

(SravaNam keertanam vishnoh: smaraNam pAdasevanam arcanam vandanam dAsyam sakhyam Atmanivedanam)

l the total life itself is an yajna. dwvmev;pre y_’ yoign” pyuRp;ste. b[„;;Gn;vpre y_’ y_enwvopju‡it..

(Srimad Bhagavadgita 4.25)

(Some yogis perform sacrifices especially to propitiate deities; still others offer the Atman itself as oblation in the fire of brahman)

l in all other offerings, the ego ahamkAra: -is present. If one offers oneself to the Lord, one must make sure that he/she is offer-able - in a fit condition.

l samskaara is that process by which one makes oneself “samskrita jeevah:” (refined individual) to be offered to ISwarah: ISwaranivedanaarhah: or yogyah: bhavati -in the language of devotion, or AtmajnAnayogya: bhavati, in the language of vedaanta.

l Since the impurities are accumulated over innumerable number of births, the purifi-cation will take a long cleansing process over the entire life - right from the very conception onwards. If the purification becomes successful, one will be able to at-tain moksha in this life itself.

l If not, the final rites- the cremation etc. ritu-als - are performed and if one is born as a human being, one can continue the perfor-mance of the samskaaras to become eli-gible for moksha. As Sri Krishna says:

aneköjNmös’isi·” tto y;it pr;’gitmß. (having achieved purity through several births one can attain liberation)

As was mentioned earlier, there are forty one samskaaras, starting from the conception of the baby in the mother’s womb, till the cremation. We will discuss each of these forty one samskaaras in some detail in a series of articles, starting from this number of the

4.1 Pre-natal samskaaras :

There are three pre-natal samskaaras which are performed by the father before the birth of the child, and they are:

1. garbhAdhAnam - the conception ceremony; 2. pumsavanam - prayer for a male child; 3. seemantam or seemantonnayanam - parting

of the hair of the wife.

4.1.1 garbhAdhAnam - the conception ceremony:

There are two schools of thought regarding this ceremony.

l Purification of the mother - to make her eligible to conceive the baby through the spiritual cleansing of the womb - =e]ös’Sk;r” l Purification of the seed - bIjös’Sk;r” l How do the interpretations affect the

conduct of this samskaara? If it is =e]ös’Sk;r”, then there is no need to repeat it for every conception. But if it is bIjös’Sk;r”, then it has to be performed for each child. Popularly, the latter is accepted even though the ritual itself is performed once only for the first child.

What is garbhaadhaanam? The word garbha: has two meanings:

a) the womb of the mother, and

b) the baby itself the embryo or fetus -g&RSy ixxu”.

l Here we take the second meaning, the jeeva and the term aadhaanam means the transfer or placement of the jeeva in the womb of the mother.

g&RSy ixxo” a;/;nmßö>g&R;/;nmß.

l The jeeva is not created afresh; it already exists in the father, and is only transferred to the mother! The jeeva (jIv”) is anaadi -never created and when present in the Journal. The intent is not to give the mantras

used in the rituals or the actual conduct of the rituals themselves, but to give a glimpse of the significance of the rituals along with some peripheral details.

4. Classification of samskaaras

The forty one samskaaras can be broadly classified in to nine groups:

1. Pre-natal samskaaras (3)

2. Pre-educational samskaaras (4) 3. Educational samskaaras (6) 4. Marriage

5. Five mahAyajnas 6. Seven pAka yajnas 7. Seven havir yajnas 8. Seven soma yajnas 9. Final Rites

The concept is that, by the time a person completes all the forty samskaaras, he may become qualified for jnAnam - so all through the life, going through each of the aaSramas (stages - brahmacarya aaSrama, grihasthASrama, vAnaprastha aaSrama and sannyAsa aaSrama), the person becomes yogya: (qualified) to study vedaanta so that the knowledge aham brahmAsmi will be realized. Once the person gains this knowledge, then there is no need for any further samskaaras. However, this realization may not be possible for most because of the thickness of the impurity accumulated over several cycles of birth and so even after death, the individuality continues. The person has to be purified further and so, after death, the final samskaara, known as antyeshTi: (the 41st samskaara), is performed (by one’s son or close relative), with the hope that the person will become qualified for a better birth next time!

As a picture becomes clearer and clearer by each stroke that the artist draws , each of the samskaaras makes the jeeva more and more refined, to become yogyah for moksha.

l The birth of the child protects one’s family lineage - kula-paramapara.

l Also, from the spiritual angle, any person is born with three debts - 1) to the devas (deva-RuNam), 2) to the Rishis (Rishi-RuNam), and 3) to the ancestors (pitru-RuNam). Among these, the third debt is removed by getting an offspring. So the son is called RuNa-mocaka: (the remover of debt) who can perform srAddha etc. rituals. l It is believed that, even if the father had

committed some sins and has to go to naraka,called put-naraka:

(

putß-nrk” ), he

will be saved by the performance of srAddhas. The name putra: for the son came from the statement: puNn;Mn” nrk;tß ];yte Eit

pu]”.

l Getting a child is indirectly perpetuating oneself. The child is nothing but one’s own flesh and blood. Aitereya Upanishad says that the father only is reborn as the child; every organ is made of one’s own organs etc.

Time of conception:

The scriptures prescribe the time of conception based on various considerations.

l Physical health of the parents: For example, if the parents are not healthy at the time of conception, the child may be affected. l The mental condition of the parents will

influence the child. If the parents are focused on artha, kAma (material or sensual pleasure) only, the child also will be artha, kAma oriented. The scriptures prescribe marriage for begetting dharma-prajA (righteous offspring) only.

l The astrological time - position of planets, stars etc - is considered very important. Conception during the day- time is never prescribed.

father, it is called reta: ( ret” or pu™WöbIjmß ). This reta: is called garbha: after transfer to the mother.

l From where did the father get this jeeva? It is an elaborate process in which the jeeva is believed to go through five stages before coming to human form, the last stage being the mother’s womb. According to Mundaka Upanishad (II.i.6)

tSm;tß aiGn” sim/o ySy sUyR” som;TpjRNy aoW/y” pOiqVy;mß.

pum;nß ret” is’cit yoiWt;y;’ b‡I” p[j;” pu™W;tß s’p[sUt;”..

(From Him emerges the fire (i.e. heaven) of which the fuel is the Sun. From the moon emerge clouds, and (from clouds) the herbs on the earth. A man sheds the semen in to the woman. From the Purusha have originated many creatures.)

What are these five stages?

1. After leaving previous birth, the jeeva enters the pitru loka: (or «uölok”)

2. From there enters the clouds - pjRNy” 3. From clouds, enters the plants - aoW/y” 4. From plants, enters the father

5. From the father, enters the mother’s womb. l The transfer of jeeva from one stage to the other is considered a yajna. In other words, the jeeva comes to this world as a result of five yajnas! In each of these yajnas, the jeeva is offered as the oblation.

Thus, the conception is considered as the greatest yajna, which brings a human life into existence, and so it is given a lot of importance. The ritual by which the mother conceives the baby is garbhaadhaanam

ùg&R’ s’/;yRte yen ttß g&R;/;nmßú.

l Several interesting details are given regarding the time/day of conception. Certain ideal time is prescribed, called Rutu-kAlam and sixteen days are given. If conceived on even days (2nd, 4th etc. days), the child will be a boy and, if conceived on odd days, will be a girl. (yuGm;su pu];” j;yNte i–y” ayuGm;su)

l Further differences are also mentioned: for example, a male child born on the

p 4th day, will be poor and short lived p 6th day, will be a mediocre child p 8th day, will be prosperous p 10th day, will be wise

p 12th day, will be best all round p 14th and 16th days, will be spiritual l Similarly, a female child born on the

p 5th day, will give birth to girls only p 7th day, will have no children p 9th day, will be very auspicious p 11th day, will be irreligious p 13th day, will be an evil person p 15th day will get male children

l For getting children of certain types and qualities, brihadAraNyaka upanishad gives several mantras: (Ch. 6, Sec 4: 14-16)

s y ECzeTpu]o me xuKlo j;yet

Ú

vedmnub[uvItÚ svRm;yuiry;iditÚ

=Ir;wdn’ p;ciyTv; sipR-mNtmXnIy;t;mß ERXvr;w jniytvw .

(He who wishes “a son of fair complexion, to be versed in one veda having the full span of life”, “should eat rice cooked in milk mixed with ghee, along with his wife.” (Then they) would be able to give birth (to such a son)

aq y ECzeTpu]o me kipl” ip³lo j;yetÚ

»;w ved;vnub[uvItÚ svRm;yuiry;iditÚ

d?yodn’ p;ciyTv; sipR-mNtmXnIy;t;mß ERXvr;w jniytvw .

(And, he who desires a son of tawny or brown complexion, to be versed in two vedas and having the full span of life, should eat rice cooked in curd mixed with ghee, with his wife. (Then they) would be able to give birth (to such a son).

aq y ECzeTpu]o me Xy;mo loiht;=o j;yet

Ú

]INved;nnub[uvItÚ svRm;yuiry;iditÚ

¯d;wdn’ p;ciyTv; sipR-mNtmXnIy;t;mß

ERXvr;w jniytvw .

(And, he who desires a son of dark complexion with red eyes, to be versed in three vedas and having the full span of life, should eat rice boiled in water, mixed with ghee, with his wife. (Then they) would be able to give birth (to such a son).

aq y ECzedßduiht; me pi<@t; j;yet

Ú

svRm;yuiry;iditÚ itl;wdn’ p;ciyTv; sipR-mNtmXnIy;t;mßë ERXvr;w jniytvw .

(And he who desires a daughter with learning, to live a full term of life, should eat rice cooked in sesame seeds, mixed with ghee, with his wife. (Then they) would be able to give birth (to such a girl)

l After conception, throughout the course of pregnancy, there was the awareness that the physical and mental conditions of the child are influenced by the environment and a spiritual environment was desired.

4.1.2 pumsavanam - ceremony for getting a male off-spring:

The second pre-natal samskAra is pumsavanam. The term pu'sß (pums) means “male” and the term svnmß (savanam) refers to the birth. Hence, the birth of a male child is pumsavanam. For the sake of the propagation of one’s paramparA, it has been the desire, from the beginning. So the ritual is known as:

pum;nß p[sUyte yen kmR,; ttß pu’svnmß.

and so the mind should be fit for sAstra-vicAra, Atma-jnAna and so, the samskAra is performed right at the time of formation of this faculty.

It is also a symbolic ritual where the husband makes a boundary in the head of the wife by parting the hair. sIm; - boundary; aNt” - end and so, the limiting line is called seemanta:. ¯Nnynmß - making or parting (of the hair in the head). The purpose of this ritual can be seen from various angles:

l the mind is formed at this time and can be influenced by the subtle forces around -especially negative forces - like yakshas, rAkshasas etc. The prayers recited during the ritual act as an armor.

l These prayers invoke mahAlakshmI in the seemanta: line (so kumkum is applied there) l The husband asks mahAlakshmI to ward off all evils and make the child pure, and give prosperity.

l Certain warnings were also given to the pregnant mother - do’s and don’ts - for a careful conduct of life; movements are restricted; noble and pious thoughts are imparted.

l Husband also takes the responsibility and offers to do everything for her, including dressing her hair (symbolically to show that he will do whatever she needs)

With this, the discussion on the three pre-natal samskaras is concluded. We will continue with the post-natal samskaras from the next article of this series.

Source Material:

1. Hindu Samskaras, Rajbali Pandey, Motilal Banarasidass, Delhi, 1998.

2. The Book of Samskaras, Prema Rasa Dasa, Bhakti Vedanta Book Trust International, 1977.

3. Lectures by Swami Paramarthananda, Madras.

child is given birth.

According to the sAstras, the rite is supposed to be performed in the third month after conception. Sushruta, the Ay urveda expert says that the formation of the child takes place only in the third month. According to him, the development of the child happens as follows:

Month Development

1 still in liquid form; no formation 2 a vague solidified mass

3 sense organs and veins are formed 4 head, hands and legs are formed 5 bones, fingers, hair, and the mind

are formed 6 intellect

7 prANa and nervous system

8 &9 capacity to experience pleasure/ pain

Based on the sAstras, a time is chosen when the moon is in a male constellation and prayers are offered for the birth of a healthy, fully developed male child. There is also a ritual where the husband pours a drop of the juice from the sprout of the banyan tree and milk, in the right nostril of the wife. This ritual is meant to give birth to a healthy male child. 4.1.3 seemantam or seemantonnayanam -parting of the hair of the wife.

The third pre-natal saskAra is seemanta: which is performed at the 5th or 6th month of pregnancy. The mind and intellect (essentially, the subtle personality) of the baby is supposed to develop around this time. Our sAstras clearly acknowledged the fact that,

l a person’s superiority is not based on the physical body, but by the viveka-Sakti. l moksha has to be attained by the mind alone

Om, Sri Gurubhyo Namaha

Vaidika Samskaras (contd..,)

Dr. S. Yegnasubramanian

(Sections and sub-sections are numbered in continuation from the previous article)

x Then a special rite is prescribed for com-fortable delivery called, sOshyantI karma, derived from the root sU – prasavE.

Then, following the child birth, the ritual performed by the father is jAta karma.

MWHVLWLN>\PuNP5MWNP5

OR

MWuSX@u¡¯LN>\PuNP5

x Generally, the time for performance of this ritual has two options:

a) Immeidately after the birth

b) For any reason if it could not be done, can be done on the 11th _{day along with} naama karaNam.

This is essentially a purificatory rite. The father has sewn the seed in the kshetram - the womb. The child that comes is not in the pure form and so has to undergo jAta karma to remove the natural dOsha’s. These are of two kinds: a) Those related to garbha -

JL 5N-GR:PÁ

b) Those related to the seed - E,MPÁ

Generally the following rites are involved: x nAndI srAddham – to propitiate and seek

the blessings of the pitrus. The karma is very important during the birth since, it is believed, that all pitrus come to that house during that time. Why? It is a happy affair for the continuation of the paramparA, since a male child is required for pinDa-udaka- kriyA (essentially food-offereing to the pitrus)

x Then the father keeps the child on the lap and prays for the welfare:

In the previous article in Volume 4 No. 2 of Paramaartha Tattvam, we discussed the three pre-natal samskaras, namely, garbhAdAnam, pumsavanam and seemantam. All these are meant for the health and complete growth (physical, psychological and spiritual) of the child, in the womb of the mother. We will now continue the discussion with the post-natal samskaras. 4.2 Post-natal samskAras

There are four post-natal samskAras before the Educational samskAras:

1. jaata karma – the birth ceremony 2. naama karaNa – the naming ceremony 3. anna-prASana – Feeding of solid food 4. cUDA karma OR caulam – tonsure

ceremony

4.2.1 jaata karma – the birth ceremony The fourth samskAra is the birth ceremony. Before the actual birth of the child, several details are mentioned:

x Around the time of delivery, the pregnant lady should be taken to a sUtikA bhavanam (birthing room) with its door opening in the east or northern side.

x The room should be able to influence postive thoughts in the mother.

x The time of entry into the room is chosen astrologically. The lady should enter into the room with vedic chanting, or music on the glory of the Lord .

x Well experienced ladies in child birth should be asked to assist in the birthing process, as it is a very painful process.

DuJGuJWÁVu YLV

e

G\GLM\VH D7PYZSX@QPLVVM,Y[UG;[WPÁ

D;P YSU[X 5YLKU\uD6W2Wu Y

DuJGuJWÁVu YLV- O child, you have come out of the essence of every limb of mine!

e

G\WÁDLM\VH- You are born out of my heart-felt desire; so you are D7PYZSX@QPLV - none other than myself reborn as the child!

VM,Y[UG;[WPÁ - You live long; the father will breath in the nostril of the baby as if he is giving his prANa to the child!

D;P Y - Be strong like the stone

SU[X 5Y - Be sharp like an axe to destroy all your internal and external enemies.

LKU\uD6W2Wu Y - May you shine as pure gold!

There are prayers for the intellect, good

sense, fame, long life, health etc.

-PHuS>

B

u\[wD\XwDUR*\uF PHuWHGHY6VLYWPHuGHY,VU6YW, PHuWHDL;YQZGHYY7WuSXNUV>M 7YL\PHu7YL\S>Mu7Y<\L*Q6WHMRGWX 7YL\PHu7YL\S>Mu7Y\,1G>(L1G>\uGWX 7YL\PHu7YL\S>Mu7YL\V8\R5 >MRGWX

Then the child is fed with a combination of ghee, honey and curd with a golden spoon ( or a golden ring inside the cup). Such a combination is believed to have lot of health effects. Along with the feeding, praNava, vyAhruti and gAyatri are recited so that the Vedic thought may be introduced to the child. Then the father utters in the ears of the child - YHGDLV (you are veda itself). Then the child is fed at the right breast of the mother with the following mantra:

D\uNXPUwMUu\WXG,C5P\X \6PZ7Yu6WQS>3\\D\XY5F5w\[REOPÁ There are mantras to invoke Devi Saraswati’s breast on the breast of the mother

so that the milk will become jnAna pUtam – with the jnAnam of Saraswati. The child is given a secret name based on the star of the child – for example, if the star is aSvinI , the name could be aSvinIkumAra etc. – known only to the parents. Several other rituals and recitations are done for the welfare of the child and parents. It is said:

¦

uDL6PQÁV1Q\LWDP2W7YuFJ&]LW

LSWSX@6\MW6\S;\HWÁFHWÁM,YWRPXPÁ which means,

MW6\SX@6\M,YWwFHWÁPXPÁ- if the father looks at the face of the new born baby,

DP2W7YuFJ&]LW- he gets immortality (figuritive immortality i.e he lives in the form of his son) Then only, the umbilical chord is broken. The reason is, that the father gets the D[ZFPÁ (unclean) the moment the chord is cut, as the child is supposed to be completely born only when the chord is cut. If done before, the father will have D[ZFPÁand so he will not be able to perform the jAta karma ritual at that time. Then it can be done only on the 11th _{day. Also, if the} delivery is complicated for any reason, then the ritual is performed on the 11th _{day. Then the} parents pray to Mother Earth : “O mother, this child is going to walk on you, fall on you etc. – but don’t hurt the child and make the child cry”

QP\LWQ|GLW\@Y\uYGPLV\@F DL P2[PLV

Then there is prAyascittam for twins etc, and some more prayers.

4.2.2 nAma karaNam (naming ceremony) The fifth samskAra is the naming ceremony. As was mentioned earlier, a secret name is already given to the child based on the star of the child. Two more names are given at this time as follows:

a) For divine purpose - GHY

Ø

9\YKUT5PÁ - there are rules governing the choice of the name. For example, male child will have even letters and female child will have odd letters. There are rules for suffixes etc. The name can be chosen based on several considerations: x based on the month of birth –

SrAvaNkumAr

x based on forefather’s name

x based on the kula devatA – family deity x based on Rishis

x based on what the parent’s desire: for ex-ample, sundaram, kubEra, meenAkshi This name is not used casually but only dur-ing important spiritual occasions such as upanayanam, vivAham etc., and when the boy recites the pravaram.

b) For social / worldly purpose - ORN

Ø

9\YKUT5PÁ - popular name.

x According to one’s varNa, proper suffix is chosen for the name; for example,

o Brahmin – SarmA – stands for Ananda o Kshatriya–varmA – an armor to society o Vaisya – guptA – one who protects wealth

or deals with secrets o Sudra – dAsa – one who serves.

x Later, other suffixes are given, such as dIxitah: (one who takes dIkshA for conduct-ing yajna; sAstrI – one who has studied the sAstras etc.

Before the conduct of the next (6th_{) samskAra,} another ritual is prformed by some people, called, nishkramaNam – first outing. This is generally done during the 3rd _{month. The child} is taken out with Vedic chanting etc. for the first time on an auspicious day. The child is shown the Sun and the Moon – sUrya-candra-darSanam – sitting in a decorated place, by the father. Mrutyunjaya mantra is recited for long life.

4.2.3 anna prASanam – First feeding of solid food

This ritual is generally conducted af-ter six months (boy) or seven months (for girls), when the teeth also slowly get formed. The child is fed a combination of ghee, honey, curd and rice mixed with salt and chilli, along with praNava and vyAhruti. A special prayer to all the plants (Oshadhi) and water is recited, es-sentially to impart respect to nature and for their help and nourishment of the child. At this time, it is believed that the vAsanas get developed for the child and the aptitude of the child can be found – painting, arts, music, tools (motor skills). Even though this ritual is done so early, it is again conducted during upnayanam in a different style (kumAra bhojanam).

4.2.4 cUDA karma – Tonsuring ceremony The seventh samskAra is FZOPÁor F8#

Ø

NP5 -shaving off the hair keeping the tuft or SikhA. It is generally performed during the third year. x Symbolically hair is considered to repre-sent our rAga-dvEshAs – passion and ha-tred. The reason for using hair and not other organs as a symbol, is because it is countless, and so does our sins, accumu-lated over several cycles of births. Shav-ing of the hair symbolizes the removal of sins.

x The whole body is considered a chariot; the chariot requires a roof, symbolized by the tuft.

x According to Sushruta (Ayurveda expert), within the head, on the top portion, there is a junction of the blood vessels and the vital part (marma sthAnam) and just below that, the life is stored. If that is damaged, death takes place immediately. And, the SikhA acts like a helmet!

x From the Sastra point of view, the SikhA is required for many rituals:

L[ULKWuNP5LQIOPÁ

There are two contexts in which the signifi-cance of SikhA is understood:

a) As part of a japa or pujA, anganyAsa, karanyAsa are performed which includes the application of SikhAyai vashaT.

b) After the daily snAnam, the water in the SikhA is called SikhOdakam which is sup-posed to be offered to the pitrus. The scrip-tures say:

OW

Ø

Y2 H:XJX/PH:XYW51WHLSWURPP- my ancestors are in various places – the creepers, trees etc. WH:uD

!

\\QT51WX- for their welfare, growth (Gu D6WXL[RGNPÁ- let this SikhOdakam be an of-fering.

x Also, during cUDA karma, the pitrus are supposed to come as in the case of jaata karma since they will receive SikhOdakam then onwards!

x Similary, vastrOdakam also should be of-fered. That is why our scriptures say that, at least, minimum clothing should be on the body during bath. Naked bath is not allowed - LYYVQwQ6Q\WÁ. The scriptures say,

$NHW6PWÁNXOHMWDSX@JR@MP2W WHJ2

l

1WXP\G7WuY6@LQS,#QRGNPÁ

Y6@ LQS,#QRGNPÁ - when I ring the cloth, let the water be offered to the ancestors.

x The SikhA is not supposed to be removed under any circumstances. If to be removed for any reason (due to disease etc.) should be substituted with kuSa grass on the ears. x Even though this is to be done in the 3rd

year, it is also done during upanayanam.

x This can be removed for a sannyAsi through another ritual – ashta- SrAddhas are per-formed, the ancestors are propitiated; the guru initiates chanting mantras and then the tuft is removed.

x There are other details mentioned, such as prayers to the barber, to the knife etc. Also, the order in which the sides should be shaven are given – first, the front, then right side, left side etc – with chanting of appropriate mantras –including the disposal of the hair!

x Then, the hot and cold water are mixed for the bath. The procedure is to mix the hot water with the cold water, for long life of the child.

x Along with the hair, they cut the kusa grass, keeping a porcupine quill along with the knife (to symbnolize sharpness)

x For each side shaving, there are special mantras; East: health; south – fame; west – logevity; north – intelligence.

x Then the cut hair is mixed with cow dung and buried under a udumbara tree or thrown far away.

x Then snAnam is performed!

The next major samskAra is the upanayana samskAra. There are a few incidental rituals, practiced by some before the upanayanam. One is called karNa-vedha. Vidh – to pierce. In this ritual, the ears are pierced and an ear orna-ment is put.

From the Ayurvedic angle (Sushruta), it is be-lieved that sun’s rays give good health, when they pass through the holes of the ear. When a metal like gold is used, it removes diseases like hernia etc. Also, there are special nerve centers (such as between eyebrows, temple etc.) in various parts and they get activated.

Another ritual is vidyArambha or akshara-abhyAsa, where the child is initiated to alpha-bets. The tradition is to use rice or wheat and practice the child to write on it with a golden pen! After prayers to the various deities, the rice is cooked and offered to them and the prasAdam is given to the child. This ritual is done also on an auspicious day when the plan-ets are in favourable position, and the child will seek the blessings of the elders, the devatas etc.

Source Material:

1. Hindu Samskaras, Rajbali Pandey, Motilal Banarasidass, Delhi, 1998.

2. The Book of Samskaras, Prema Rasa Dasa, Bhakti Vedanta Book Trust International, 1977.

3. Lectures by Swami Paramarthananda, Madras

Om, Sri Gurubhyo Namaha

Vaidika Samskaras (contd..,)

Dr. S. Yegnasubramanian

(Sections and sub-sections are numbered in continuation from the previous article)

l For kshatriyas, the eleventh year is sug-gested including pregnancy (garbha-EkAdaSa). The suggested season is Sum-mer – grIshma Ritu. Their function is not to protect the Sastras, but to know as much to follow their dharma . Their vedic edu-cation was also limited to that extent, since they had a larger responsibility of protect-ing the entire country, and the other three varNas. They had additional education such as, dhanur vidya, (archery and war-fare), artha Sastra (economics) etc. Sum-mer is a hot season and as such, the kshatriyas were actively engaged in battles etc. to protect the country, and to punish the wicked to uphold dharma.

l For vaiSyas, the twelfth year including pregnancy is suggested and the preferred season is Autumn – Sarad Ritu. Their func-tion was essentially commerce to assure a sound economic basis for the country and so, their vedic education was limited to that much extent to know their dharma adequately. They also had additional edu-cation in commerce etc. The autumnal seaon – just after the rains – stands for prosperity, and was considered the pre-ferred season for the upanayana samskAra for the vaiSyas.

In addition, platenary positions and other as-pects were also considered for the conduct of this ritual by all the varNas.

4.3.1 Purpose of upanayanam

upanayanam marks the entry into a sec-ond life and after the performance of this cer-emony, the boy becomes a dvija:. (dve janmanI yasya sa: dvija: - one who has got two janmas. All the three varNas are known as dvijas. In the previous article in Volume 4 No.

3&4 of Paramaartha Tattvam, we discussed the four post-natal samskaras, namely, jAtakarma, nAmakaraNa, annaprASana and cUDA karma. We will now continue the discussion with the educational samskAras, starting from upanayanam.

4.3 Upanayanam (thread ceremony) Among the educational samskaaras, the foremost is upanayanam. Scriptural (vedic) edu-cation starts only after this samskaara is peformed and, as such, can be viewed as a pre-educational samskaara also.

Upanayana samskAra is to be performed for all three varNas – the brAhmaNas, the kshatriyas, and the vaiSyas. Why is this samskAra performed only for the three varNas? According to scriptures, those who are not ini-tiated, or those who do not perform the vaidika samskAras even after initiation, are geneally considered sUdras! (one should not confuse this with the caste system).

Scriptures also suggest the time in which this samskaara can be performed, which var-ies with the varNa.

l For brahmaNas, the 8th year (including pregnancy) is suggested. The Spring sea-son is considered ideal. The very function of a brAhmaNa was only veda paThanam (learning of vedas) and veda pAThanam (teaching of vedas). A lot of study of the entire SAstras was involved, such as, the vedas, the vedAngas, the upAngas etc. Spring– vasanta Ritu - is a mild season, and as such the brAhmaNas were supposed to be mild and not involved in aggressive or violent activities.

What is meant by a second life?

Till upanayanam, only the physical per-sonality alone was taken care of, and not the inner personality. The life was similar to that of animal only until this time with little devel-opment of individuality, intellect, mind, awareness of family, community etc. When the child reaches the age of 7 or 8, the mind, in-tellect etc. develop from that stage to a hu-man stage with self-awareness etc. It is neces-sary and critical to regulate and orient the per-sonality in the right direction, at this time. upanayanam is a samskAra which is meant to mould the personality to become a responsible human being – with several considerations such as:

– Proper emotional personality; imbibing of values - satyam vada (speak the truth); dharmam cara (abide by dharma) etc. even if the child does not understand and fol-low for some time, he will realize the val-ues later and grow with the right attitude and emotion.

– Development of the intellect with the right type of knowledge –viveka (dis-crimination); vairAgya (dispassion) etc. and development of a spiritual person-ality.

– Physical discipline – getting up early, cleanliness, etc.

– Knowledge of varNa dharma and ASrama dharma – and the duties; re-spect for others etc.

– Knowledge of the responsibility to the society, to oneself, to the family etc. So, the society and the individual are con-sidered together in the building up of a right personality of the child during growth. Entry into such a life style is indicated by the upanayana samskAra.

The ideal setting for this education was the gurukula setting where the child can learn without the emotional considerations,

pampering etc. of the parents, and will also be able to learn through interaction with other children.

The syllabus for this education is based on the scritptures (vedas), which talk not only of the purushArthas of the individual but also the social well-being, duties to family, to soci-ety etc.

Since the child leads a life based on the learnings from the vedas, this life is called, brahmacaryam – a way of life, devised by brahma – the vedas. One who leads such a life is called a brahmacArI.

There is also another meaning for this term – Brahma refers to Para Brahman, and so, brahmacaryam is a life style directed to-wards brahmaNi carati or brahma vishaye or brahma nimittam carati.

In summary, brahmacaryam has two meanings:

1. a life style as prescribed in the vedas 2. a life style meant to reach brahmatvam 4.3.2 The word upanayanam

The word upanayanam has been de-scribed in many ways. For example,

– the term upa means ‘near’ and nayanam means ‘leading’. The word upanayanam means ‘leading near’. It is a samskAra by which a person is purified and made fit to learn the vedas – OR vedam upanayanam – to study vedas, the child goes to a guru and

so it can be described as gurum upanayanam – Or, through this samskAra, the child is coming closer to parabrahma and so can be described as parabrahama-upanayanam – Or, since the teacher utters the mantra – aham upanaye – (I take the boy near my-self), it is called upanayanam

Since the child learns the vedas from the teacher, an ideal human being is born, and for this birth, the Veda is the mother and the teacher is the father.

m;tu" ag[e ai/ jnnmß. i»tIy' m;w©IbN/n;tß . t];Sy m;t; g;y]I ipt;tu a;c;yR ¯Cyte.. m;tu" ag[e ai/ jnnmß. First a non-refined indi-vidual is born with human anatomy

i»tIy’ m;w­jIbN/n;tß the second birth takes place in upanayanam referred by mounjI-bandhanam t];Sy m;t; g;y]I (For the second birth – dvitIya janmani), the mother is gAyatrI – refers to the entire veda itself; so gAyatrI is taught first. ipt;tu a;c;yR ¯Cyte the teacher is the father. In summary, the purpose of the upanayanam is two-fold:

1. It symbolizes entry in to gurukulam 2. It purifies the child to enter the

gurukulam to learn the gAyatrI mantra and the vedas.

4.3.3 The upanayanam ritual

Generally the biological father does the gAyatrI mantra upadeSam to the child, before sending to the gurukulam and hence, plays the role of the AcArya. Because of this, lot of dis-cipline is prescribed to the father since the mantra upadeSa will have more effect only when the upadeSa kartA has more merit! If the father has not been performing the sandhyAvandanam etc. rituals regularly, at least a few weeks before the ritual, he should re-cite 1008 gAyatrIs every day along with the sandhyAvandanam.

There are so many preparatory rituals prescribed such as nAndI SrAddham (to propi-tiate the ancestors), udakaSAnti, puNyAhavAcanam (purificatory rites) etc. Also, till now, the samskAras for the boy were done by the father (jAtakarma, nAmakaraNa, etc.), but now on, the child becomes responsible to do all the rituals and so has to be purified.

Since this is considered a second birth, in olden days, the child was asked to remain silent in a separate room, symbolic of garbhavAsa.

Since the AcArya is going to teach the child, he keeps the child in his garbha, as it were - for three nights - tam rAtrI: tisra: udare bibharti ; and when the new brahmacArI is born, all the devatas will come and be happy -tam jA-tam drushTum abhisamyanti devA: | 4.3.3.1 yajnopavIta dhAraNam – wearing of the sacred thread

After these preparatory rites, the actual ritual begins. The first ritual is yajnopavIta dhAraNam – wearing of the sacred thread.

UpavItam – is the one that is worn For what purpose? yajnAya - for the sake of performing yajnas – sandhyAvandanam, devayajnam, pitruyajnam, etc. – or dedicating all actions as yajna.

The following samkalpam is made when the yajnopavItam is worn

À;;wtSm;tR iviht sd;c;r inTykm;RnuÎ;nyoGyt;

is?yqRmß b[„;tej” ai&vO?yqR’

Who has initiated this?

y_opvIt’ prm’ piv]’ p[j;pte” yTshj’

purSt;tß a;yu-ymg[ßy’ p[itmu¨ xu&[‘

y_opvIt’ blmStu tej”

This yajnopavItam worn by (born with) Brahmaji Himself first – sahajam –indicates bondage and the boy will now on be bound by the veda niyamas.

4.3.3.2 kumAra bhojanam – Joint meal There is then another ritual known as kumAra bhojanam – joint meal with other brahmacArIs, friends etc. Then, vapanam (shaving the head leaving the tuft) is conducted which symbolizes the removal of all sins (hair is symbolic of sins) followed by snAnam (bath-ing). If the child has undergone the cUDA karma earlier, this is only symbolic here.

4.3.3.2 samidh AdhAnam - Offering of samidh to agni

Then a simple ceremony known as samidh AdhAnam; the child dips a samidh in ghee and offers to agni, praying him to be his parent – pitA iva tvam raksha and also to give him Ayushyam, Arogyam ca – long life, health etc. – to fullfill his mission of doing vedic learn-ing – veda adhyayanam.

4.3.3.3 asmArohaNam - climbing on stone Then asmArohaNam – standing on the stone - ceremony is performed. The teacher asks the boy to stand on a stone and recites the following mantra – “be firm and strong like this stone”

a;itÎem’ aXm;n’ aXm; Ev Tv’ iSqro &v

Stone stands for strength and withstands any-thing. The ritual is symbolic of not being af-fected by the problems of life and to win over all internal enemies.

4.3.3.4 vastra dhAraNam – wearing of new clothes

Prayers are offered to several devatAs – to protect the physical body and the subtle body (the mind) - such as, the deity respon-sible for cotton; the deities for weaving etc., starting from the deity RevatI.

There are mantras recited during wear-ing the cloth. All these are done while stand-ing on the stone. Prayers are offered to give the ability to protect others and oneself, for long life, prosperity, and to share the earnings with others etc. The cloth should be tied prop-erly – the navel should not be exposed. The dress can be up to the knee only or sometimes, up to the ankle.

4.3.3.5 brahmacarya lingAni – symbols of the brahmacArI

There are several symbols to designate the brahmacarya Asrama.

– MounjI mekhalA dhAraNam – wearing of the girldle made of munjA grass around the waist. Three strands of munjA grass are braided and tied around the waist three times clockwise.

– MekahlA is addressed as sister-deity and mantra prays for protection of the body (SarIra rakshA), for prANa-apAna balam (no breathing problems etc.); saubhAgya prApti: (for obtaining all auspiciousness); tapas Sakti: (for ability to perform pen-ance); freedom from enemies (internal and external); freedom from selfishness etc. – KrishNa-ajina-dhAraNam – wearing of

black deer-skin; mantras are recited and a piece of deer-skin is tied to the thread (though not supposed to be tied) – worn while standing on the stone, with prayer for tejas (brilliance), kIrti (fame), pushTi: (nourishment) etc.

4.3.3.6 Purification of the child – anjali-tIrtha-prokshaNam

In this ritual, the AcArya pours a handful of water in to the hands of the student with the recitation of mantras. When the water is poured, it will fall down and the student will sprinkle that water on himself. When the AcArya holds the water, he invokes all his mantra Sakti, tapas Sakti etc. and when it is poured, he transfers all these Saktis to the student, which wash off all the sins of the student and render him pure.

During sprinkling, another mantra is re-cited praying for a) the ability to observe brahmacarya dharma in the gurukulam; b) no misunderstanding between the teacher and the student; c) healthy and happy life till the stu-dent reaches the grihastASrama; d) for long life, health etc. e) and most importantly – amrutatvam asya – for immortality – the goal of life. The teacher faces east and the student faces the teacher.

With these rituals, the student becomes eligible to go ‘near’ the teacher and to receive the initiation.

4.3.3.7 AcArya varaNam – choosing the teacher:

First the deities, Surya, Agni, Soma are invoked as the teachers. The AcArya holds the hand of the child and recites mantras to leave the child in the care of these deities. The Sun god is supposed to say to the teacher to take charge of the student in the name of these deities. Now, the AcArya, as commanded by the deities, will take the child near him.

devSyTv; sivtu” p[sve ¯pnye

devasya tvA savitu: prasave upa naye

Since the AcArya uses the expression upanaye – the ritual came to be known as upanayanam.

Having taken charge of the student, the teacher prays for his welfare: “O, student, you should come up very well, with good health, brilliance, powerful and strong and should have good children when you become a grihastha”.

Then, a dialog happens between the teacher and the student:

S: brahmacaryam agAm … Now I have taken brahmacaryam; I am willing to follow all disci-plines, meant for studying the Vedas, as com-manded by the Sun god.

T: kO nAmAsi? What is your name?

T: kasya brahmacArI asi? You belong to whom? S: prANasya brahmacArI asmi – I belong to the paramAtman

Then the teacher says, “I am ready to take you - May you not have “apamrutyu (untimely death)”, etc.

The teacher prays to the Sun god to guide the student.

4.3.3.8 upanayana homam, meant for prayers to various deities, and the teacher asks for various boons from each of these deities for the student – for life, nourishment, strength, health, digestion, motherly care, intellect etc. Only after the student is prepared by these ritu-als, he can be given the brahmopadeSam. 4.3.3.8 BrahmopadeSam

The term brahma refers to Vedas.

– Before starting veda adhyayanam, one sym-bolic mantra is taught which is the gAyatrI mantra

– The gAyatrI mantra derives its name be-cause it is set in the gayatrI meter – which has 8 syllables per line (pAda) and has three pAdas

– It is also called sAvitrI mantra, after the Sun god – the savitr devatA

Holding the feet of the AcArya, the student asks – sAvitrIm anubrUhi – please teach me the sAvitrI mantra.

Then the brahmopadeSam ritual is con-ducted, with the mantra recited in the right ear of the child – (gangA is supposed to be present in the right ear); also the teacher, the student and the parents are enclosed so that this cannot be overheard. Since the upanayana samskAra is considered as the second birth, the enclosure also symbolizes garbhavAsam. The teaching is done through a set procedure. Then there are several other rituals like, danDa dhAraNam (holding of the stick from Palasa tree) – symbolic of the discipline that the brahmacArI is supposed to follow; the child prays for power of listening (since Vedas are taught orally only) and is taught the mantras in a particular format. He is asked to observe things like a crow (kaaka-drushTi:); with at-tention of a crane (baka-dhyAnam); never to have deep sleep, like a dog (SvanidrA); meager food (alpa AhAram); simple dress (jeerNa vastram); These are called the characteristics of the student (etat vidyArthi lakshaNam)

performed as one brief ritual, just before the marriage!

4.5 Conclusion of gurukula education and returning back home – samAvartanam

The conclusion ceremony of the gurukula edu-cation and the returning back to home, is marked by a ritual known as avabhruta snAnam – a bathing ritual, with special prayers, prAyascittam etc. This is also coupled with a few non-vaidika rituals like, shaving, trimming nails etc. Several of the disciplines imposed during brahmacaryam are also relaxed – for example, the daNDa (stick), mekhala (belt made of kuSa grass) are removed and certain luxu-ries are allowed – like use of slippers, mirror, perfumes, etc!!

One who has done the samAvartana ritual is called snAtaka:. If he has done vedavratam and avabhruta snAnam, he is called, veda-vrata-snAtaka:.

Once he comes out of the brahmacarya ASrama, he will enter in to the next ASrama, known as grihasthASrama. He takes permission from the teacher, does samAvartana snAnam, and marries.

gu™,; anumt” Sn;Tv; sm;vOÆ;o yq;ivi/

¯»ehTi»jo &;y;R’ sv,;R’ l=,;iNvt;mß..

One should not be without an ASrama at any time; if so, prAyascittam has to be done; the Sastras say,

an;À;mI n itÎeTtu =,’ Akmip i»j”

a;À;me, ivn; itÎnß p[;yiÁÆ;Iyte nrw”..

Since it is not practical to get married immedi-ately after the samAvartana snAnam ritual (a suitable girl has to be found; other logistics have to be worked out etc.), this ritual was kept pending. Once the marriage is fixed, then this ritual was performed, mostly on the day of marriage itself!!

This concludes one of the most important samskAras, the upanayana samskAra and the following educational samskAras. We will con-tinue the discussion with the marriage ritual – vivAha samskAra - in the next article. Since this ritual marks a transformation

from a rAga-dvesha based life to a sAstra based life, the brahmacAri is allowed to understand the gravity of this change by observing cer-tain behaviors such as, silence for three days, eating less, sleeping on the ground etc. On the fourth day, a small pujA is performed praying for :

– SraddhA in Vedas, and

– MedhA Sakti – to study the Vedas by heart – grahaNa-dhAraNa paThitvam – to absorb and retain.

Then on, study of Vedas/SAstras is taken up in the gurukulam.

4.4 Educational samskAras – catvAri vedavratAni – Four vratas

To study the Vedas, the duration prescribed is as follows:

1. All four Vedas – 48 years 2. Three Vedas – 36 years 3. Two Vedas – 24 years 4. One Veda – 12 years

Vedavratam is a worship to be done to the pre-siding deity of the Vedas;

– For each veda, this may vary

– Let us take the example of yajurveda o Has seven kANDas –sections

o Each section has a presiding Rishi, known as kANDa Rishi:, and the sections are named after them; they are:

1. prAjApatya kANDam 2. soumya kANDam 3. Agneya kANDam 4. vaiSvadeva kANDam

Before the beginning of the study of each of these kANDas, and at the conclusion, a ritual is performed to worship the presiding deity of the respective kANDas. Since 8 worships are involved – two per kANDa (at the beginning and at the end), these rituals are also known as ashTavratAni. After the performance of these rituals, the study in the gurukulam is supposed to be complete. Today, this practice is not fol-lowed at all! They are all merged together and

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