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The samskaras helped in the refinement and purification of human life, facilitated the development of personality, imparted sanctity and importance to human body, blessed all material and spiritual aspirations of man and ultimately prepared him for an easy and happy exit from this world of...

Life has been a great mystery to man. Its origin, growth, decadence and disappearance have always exercised his thoughts and emotions. The Hindu Samskaras were just an attempt to fathom and to facilitate the flow of this mystery. Through observations and experiences and through faltering and...

The next special rite is that of a Garbhini or a pregnant woman who dies in her pregnancy. Baudhayana says that she should be carried to the cremation ground. After saving the child she should be burnt properly with the additional gift of an Astakadhenu, a Tiladhenu and a Bhumidhenu. The...

The Paddhatis on the funeral ceremonies have fully developed this part of the ceremonies. They prescribed for every day after the cremation up to the twelfth, a particular kind of offering for a particular purpose. According to them, on the first day, should be offered a rice ball, a jar of...

19) Santi-Karma The next ceremony to be noticed is called santi-Karma or the pacificatory rites for the well-being of the living. The formulas uttered during it have regard to life and adverting of death. Effective measures are taken toward off evil and to return to ordinary way of life. The...

17) Impurity Now the period of Asaucha, pollution or defilement, begins. The death of a person entails a condition which can be adequately expressed by the Polynesian word, "taboo" which means "setting apart a thing or a person as shunned for a religious or a semi-religious reasons." A corpse...

13) Cremation a Sacrifice When the preliminaries are finished, the cremation begins, which is regarded as an offering into the Sacred Fire, conducting the corpse to heaven as a sacrificial gift. When the pile is ready to be lighted, a fire is applied to it with the prayer, "Agni, consume not...

10) The Anustarani A most important member of the funeral procession in ancient times, was an animal called Anustarani or Rajagavi. For this purpose a cow of a particular description (which might be substituted by a goat) was chosen. The animal was brought with the following verse: "Protector...

Later Additions and Omissions The mediaeval and modern Paddhatis and Prayogas generally draw upon these sources, adding new features and omitting obsolete items of the Samskara. Besides tradition plays a great part in these ceremonies. The chronological differences will be noticed in their due...

There can be no doubt that the foregoing verses refer to the burial of a dead person and not to his ashes or bones after cremation. But it must be admitted that even during the Vedic period this custom was becoming optional and falling into disuse. When the cult of sacrifice was fully...

The above inference is based upon a Rigvedic verse, which indicates that the possessions of the old father were divided among his sons in his life-time. But even if we suppose that they were landed property, provisions had to be first made for his and his wife’s maintenance. The passages in the...

Introductory The last sacrament in the life of a Hindu is the Antyesti or the Funeral with which he closes the concluding chapter of his worldly career. While living, a Hindu consecrates his worldly life by performing various rites and ceremonies at the different stages of his progress. At his...

(iii) Pre-marital Stage Now we have to consider the evolution of marriage in ancient periods of Indian history, though the marriage ceremonies of the Hindus presuppose a monogamous union. The Rgvedic society emerges with a well established home which could not have been possible in the...

(i) The Importance of Marriage The Vivaha is the most important of all the Hindu Samskaras. The Grhyasutras generally begin with it, because it is the origin and centre of all domestic sacrifices. They presuppose that every man, in his normal conditions, is expected to marry and run a home...

Names, Meaning and Purpose of the Samskara When the mind of the child was prepared to receive education, the Vidyarambha Samskara was performed to mark its beginning, and alphabets were taught. The Samskara is variously named. It is called vidyarambha, akshararambha, Aksharasvikarana and...

Ayusya The next item of the Jatakarma ceremonies was the Ayusya or the rite for ensuring a long life for the child. Near the naval or the right ear of the babe the father murmured, "Agni is long-lived; through the tree is is long-lived. By that long life I make thee long-lived. Some is...

Origin The birth of a child was a very impressing scene for the early man. Owing to its wonderfulness, he attributed this event to some superhuman agency. He also apprehended many dangers on this occasions, for the avoidance of which various taboos and observances arose. The helplessness of the...

Whether a Garbha or a Ksetra Samskara The mediaeval treatises also discuss the question whether the Garbhadhana was a Garbha Samskara or Ksetra Samskara. There were two schools of opinion on this point. The first school held that it was the Samskara of Garbha or embryo and based its arguments...

The Time of Performance The first question that was raised in connection with the Garbhadhana ceremony was about the time of its performance. The Dharmasutras are unanimous at the point that it should be performed when the wife was physically prepared to conceive, that is, in her Rtu. The...

1. The Meaning The rite through which a man placed his seed in a woman was called Garbhadhana. Saunaka gives the similar definition though in slightly different words; "The rite by the performance of which a woman receives semen scattered (by her husband) is call Garbhalambhanam or...