I have been told that there are 16 sanskaar (sacraments of life) described in the great texts of Hinduism.
I am aware of naamkaran (naming ceremony), janeu or yagnopavit (sacred thread), vivah (marriage) and antim sanskar (cremation). Please explain in brief what are all the 16 sanskars and how does one accomplish each of these rites of passages?
The 16 samskaras are:
1. Garbhadhana (Conception)
This samskara is performed by parents and consists of fervent prayer for a child in order to fulfil the obligation to continue the human race.
2. Punsavana (Fetus protection)
This samskara is performed during the third or fourth month of pregnancy. A priest recites Vedic hymns to invoke divine qualities in the child.
3. Simantonnayana (Satisfying the cravings of the pregnant mother)
This samskara is similar to a baby shower, and is, performed during the seventh month of pregnancy when prayers are offered to God for the healthy physical and mental growth of the child.
4. Jatakarma (Child birth)
Mantras are recited for a healthy and long life of the child at his birth.
5. Namakaran (Naming the child)
The name for the baby is selected such that its meaning can inspire the child to follow the path of righteousness.
6. Nishkramana (Taking the child outdoors for the first time)
This samskara is performed in the fourth month after birth when the child is moved outside the house.
7. Annaprasana (Giving solid food)
In the sixth, seventh or eighth month child is given solid food.
8. Mundan (Hair cutting)
This is performed during the first or third year of age when the child's hair is removed by shaving.
9. Karnavedha (Ear piercing)
This samskara is performed in the third or fifth year.
10. Upanayana (Sacred thread ceremony)
This introduces the male child to a teacher in order to receive education and marking the entry of the child to Brahmacharya.
11. Vedarambha (Study of Vedas)
This samskara is performed at the time of Upanayana or within one year. The Guru teaches the Gayatri Mantra.
12. Samavartana (Returning home after completion of education)
This samskara is performed at the age of about 25 years.
13. Vivaha (Marriage)
14. Vanaprastha (Preparation for renunciation)
This samskara is performed at the age of 50 to celebrate the departure from the householder stage to the Vanaprastha stage when the person begins to engage in spiritual activities.
15. Sannyasa (Renunciation)
This samskara is performed after Vanaprastha.
16. Antyesthi (Cremation)
This is the final samskara performed after death by his or her descendents.
Hindus believe that every aspect of life is sacred. That is why each significant stage, from conception to cremation, is celebrated as a reminder that life is a gift from God which should be duly respected and lived according to His wishes. The nearest English word for samskara is sacrament, related to the phrase 'rite of passage'.
Although the number of samskaras prescribed by various scriptures vary, there are sixteen that are a consensus among scholars. These 16 samskaras are:
Pre-natal Samskaras
(1) Garbhadan (Conception)
'Garbha' means womb. 'Dan' means donation. In this sacrament the man places his seed in a woman.
The Gruhyasutras and Smrutis advocate special conditions and observances for this, to ensure healthy and intelligent progeny. Procreation of children was regarded as necessary for paying off debts to the forefathers.
Another reason for having progeny is given in the Taittiriya Upanishad. When the student ends his Vedic studies, he requests permission to leave from his teacher (see Samskara 14). The teacher then blesses him with some advice which he should imbibe for life. One of the commands is:
"Prajaatantu ma vyavyachchhetseehi..."
(Shikshavalli, Anuvak 11.11)"Do not terminate one's lineage - let it continue (by having children)."
(2) Pumsavana (Engendering a male issue)
Pumsavana and Simantonayana (the third samskara) are only performed during the woman's first issue. Pumsavana is performed in the third or fourth month of pregnancy when the moon is in a male constellation, particularly the Tishya-nakshatra. This symbolises a male child. Therefore the term pumsavana literally means 'male procreation'. Sushrut, the ancient rishi of Ayurveda, has described the procedure in his Sushruta Samhita:
"Having pounded milk with any of these herbs - Sulakshmana, Batasurga, Sahadevi and Vishwadeva - one should instil three or four drops of juice in the right nostril of the pregnant woman. She should not spit out the juice."
(3) Simantonayana (Hair-parting)
In Gujarati this is known as Khodo bharavo. In this, the husband parts the wife's hair.
The religious significance of this samskara is to bring prosperity to the mother and long life to the unborn child. It also wards off evil influence. The physiological significance is interesting and advanced.
Sushrut (Sharirsthan, Ch.33) believed that the foetus's mind formed in the fifth month of pregnancy. Hence the mother is required to take the utmost care for delivering a healthy child. Stipulating the details, Sushrut enjoined the pregnant mother to avoid exertion of all kinds: refrain from sleeping during the day and keeping awake at night, and also avoid fear, purgatives, phlebotomy (blood letting by slicing veins) and postponing natural excretions. (Sharirsthan, Ch.21).
Childhood Samskaras
(4) Jatakarma (Birth rituals) These rituals are performed at the birth of the child. It is believed that the moon has a special effect on the newly born. In addition, the constellation of the planets - nakshatras - also determine the degree of auspiciousness. If birth occurs during an inauspicious arrangement, the jatakarmas are performed to ward off their detrimental effects on the child. The father would also request the Brahmanishtha Satpurush for blessings.
(5) Namkaran (Name-giving) Based on the arrangement of the constellations at birth, the child is named on a day fixed by caste tradition. In the Hindu Dharma, the child is frequently named after an avatar, deity, sacred place or river, saint, etc., as a constant reminder of the sacred values for which that name represents.
(6) Nishkrama (First outing)
In the third month the child is allowed agni (fire) and chandra (moon) darshan. In the fourth month he is taken out of the house for the first time, by the father or maternal uncle, to the mandir for the Lord's darshan.
(7) Annaprashan (First feeding)
Feeding the child with solid food is the next important samskara. For a son this is done in even months - the 6th, 8th, 10th or 12th months. For a daughter this is done in odd months - 5th, 7th or 9th months. The food offered is cooked rice with ghee. Some sutras advocate honey to be mixed with this. By advocating this samskara, the wise sages accomplished two important considerations. First, the child is weaned away from the mother at a proper time. Second, it warns the mother to stop breast feeding the child. For, an uninformed mother, many out of love, continue breast feeding the child, without realising that she was not doing much good to herself or the child.
(8) Chudakarma (Chaul) (Shaving of head)
This samskara involves shaving the head (of a son) in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 5th year, or when initiating him with the janoi (Upanayan). According to Sushrut, the significance of this, together with nail cutting, is to give delight, lightness, prosperity, courage and happiness (Chikitsasthan. Ch. 24-72). Charak also voiced a similar opinion.
A tuft of hair (shikha, chotli) is left in place at the top of the head for longevity. Sushrut points out its significance,
"Inside the head, near the top, is the joint of a shira (artery) and a sandhi (critical juncture). There, in the eddy of hairs, is a vital spot called the adhipati (overlord). Any injury to this part causessudden death" (Sharirsthan Ch. VI, 83).
In the course of time, the shikha was regarded as a symbol of the Hindu Dharma and its removal came to be regarded as a grave sin (Laghu Harita IV).
(9) Karnavedh (Piercing the earlobes)
The child's ear lobes are pierced either on the 12th or 16th day; or 6th, 7th or 8th month; or 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th or 9th year.
Sushrut reasoned,
"The ears of a child should be pierced for protection (from diseases such as hydrocoele and hernia) and decoration" (Sharirasthan Ch.16.1, Chikitsasthan Ch.19.21).
One sutra says that a goldsmith should pierce the ears while Sushrut advocates a surgeon. For a boy, the right earlobe is pierced first and for a girl, the left. For boys today, this samskara is only prevalent in some states of India. In girls, this samskara has lost its religious significance and is only performed to enable them to wear earrings.
Educational Samskaras
(10) Vidyarambh (Learning the alphabet)
This samskara is also known as Akshararambha, Aksharlekhan, Aksharavikaran and Aksharavishkaran.
It is performed at the age of five and is necessary before commencing Vedic study - Vedarambh.
After bathing, the child sits facing west, while the acharya (teacher) sits facing east. Saffron and rice are scattered on a silver plank. With a gold or silver pen the child is made to write letters on the rice. The following phrases are written: "Salutation to Ganesh, salutation to Sarasvati (goddess of knowledge), salutation to family deities and salutation to Narayan and Lakshmi." The child then writes, "Aum Namah Siddham". He then presents gifts to the acharya, such as a pagh and safo (head adornment of cloth). The acharya then blesses the child.
(11) Upanayan (Yagnopavit) (Sacred thread initiation) At the age of eight the son is initiated by the acharya with the sacred thread, known as janoi or yagnopavit. Amongst all the foregoing samskaras this is regarded as supreme. It is the dawn of a new life, hence dvija - twice born. The child enters studentship and a life of perfect discipline which involves brahmacharya (celibacy). He leaves the guardianship of his parents to be looked after by the acharya. This samskara is performed by Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas, for both boys and girls. Therefore, both the boy and girl received training in discipline, truthful living and physical service. During the course of time this samskara ceased to be given to girls, who thus failed to be formally educated. Today, the tradition of education underlying this samskara has died out.
(12) Vedarambh (Beginning Vedic study)
This samskara was not mentioned in the earliest lists of the Dharma Sutras, which instead listed the four Vedic vows - Ved Vrats. It seemed that though upanayan marked the beginning of education, it did not coincide with Vedic study. Therefore a separate samskara was felt necessary to initiate Vedic study. In this samskara, each student, according to his lineage, masters his own branch of the Vedas.
(13) Keshant (Godaan) (Shaving the beard)
This samskara is included as one of the four Ved Vrats. When the other three faded, keshant itself became a separate samskara. 'Kesh' means hair and 'ant' means end. This samskara involves the first shaving of the beard by the student at the age of sixteen. It is also called Godaan because it involves gifting a cow to the acharya and gifts to the barber.
Since the student now enters manhood he is required to be more vigilant over his impulses of youth. To remind him of his vow of brahmacharya, he is required to take the vow anew; to live in strict continence and austere discipline for one year.
(14) Samavartan (End of Studentship)
This samskara is performed at the end of the brahmacharya phase - the end of studentship. 'Sama vartan' meant 'returning home from the house of the acharya.' This involves a ritual sacrificial bath known as Awabhruth Snan. It is sacrificial because it marks the end of the long observance of brahmacharya. It is a ritual bath because it symbolises the crossing of the ocean of learning by the student - hence Vidyasnaatak - one who has crossed the ocean of learning. In Sanskrit literature, learning is compared to an ocean.
Before the bath, the student has to obtain permission from the acharya to end his studentship and give him guru-dakshina - tuition fees. Permission is necessary because it certifies the student as a person fit in learning, habit and character for a married life. Obviously the student is not in a position to pay fees. One Sutra describes the debt of the teacher as unpayable, "Even the earth containing the seven continents is not sufficient for the guru-dakshina."
Those students who wished to remain as lifelong students observing brahmacharya would remain with the acharya. Today, this means accepting a spiritual guru - an Ekantik Satpurush and becoming a sadhu. The student thus bypasses the next two ashrams, to enter sannyas.
(15) Vivaha
This is the most important of all the Hindu Samskaras. The Smrutis laud the gruhastha (householder) ashram as the highest, for it is the central support of the other three ashrams.
Manu enjoins, "Having spent the first quarter of one's life in the guru's house, the second quarter in one's own house with the wife, and the third quarter in the forest, one should take sannyas in the fourth, casting away every worldly tie." (Manu Smruti IV.1).
By marriage an individual is able to achieve the four purusharths (endeavors) of life: dharma (righteousness), artha (wealth), kama (desire) and moksha (salvation). He is also able to pay off ancestral debt by having children.
Procreation for children is also a primary purpose of marriage.
(16) Antyesthi (Death rites)
Antyeshti is the final samskara in a Hindu's life. Yajur Veda regards vivaha as the sixteenth samskara while Rig Veda considers antyeshti. Though performed after the death of a person by his relatives, it is of importance because the value of the next world is higher than that of the present. The final rituals are performed with meticulous care with the help of Brahmin priests.
The first ritual after death is to place a few tulsi leaves and a few drops of water in the mouth of the dead person. It is then laid on the floor which has been purified by applying the sacred cowdung. The old clothes are removed and the body is bathed with sanctified water. The body is then covered with one piece of a new, unbleached, uncut cloth (kafan). It is then laid on a bier (nanami) made of bamboo canes tied with jute strings. The underlying message in removing the old clothes can be gleaned from a Sanskrit verse:
"Dhanãni bhumau pashavashcha goshthe,
Nãri gruhadware sakhã smashãne,
Dehashchitãyãm paraloka mãrge,
Dharmãnugo gachhati jiva ekaha."
"Wealth will remain buried, cattle will remain in the pen, (his) wife will accompany (him) to the doorway, friends will accompany him to the crematorium, the body will come till the funeral pyre, but on the path to the next world, the jiva goes alone (with his karmas)."
Source: Hindu Rites and Rituals: Sentiments, Sacraments and Symbols by Sadhu Mukundcharandas
