Samskara, The Hindu Rites of Passage

Samskaras, or Hindu rites of passage, according to the ancient sage Panini, are the ornaments that decorate one's personality. They mark the important stages of one's life and enable one to live a fulfilling life complete with happiness and contentment. They pave the way for one's physical and spiritual journey through this life. It is believed that the various Hindu samskaras meticulously leads to a purification of one's sins, vices, faults, and even correction of physical deformities. The Upanishads mention samskaras as a means to grow and prosper in all four aspects of human pursuit -Dharma (righteousness), Artha (wealth), Karma and Kama (work and pleasure), and Moksha (salvation).

How Many Samskaras do Hindus have?

The detailed explanation about samskaras is found in the ancient Hindu scriptures - the Smritis and Grihasutras. However, all the different Grihasutras differ on both the names and numbers of samskaras. While the sage Aswalayana lays down 11 customs, Bauddhayana, Paraskar, and Varaha explain 13. Sage Vaikhana has 18 and Maharishi Gautam talks of 40 samskaras and 8 self qualities. However, the 16 samskaras that Rishi Veda Vyas propounded are considered the most important rites of passage in a Hindu's life.

What are the 16 Major Hindu Samskaras?

1. Garbhadhana is the conception ritual for having healthy children. Lord Brahma or Prajapati is appeased by this ritual.

2. Punswana is the fertilization ritual performed on the third month of pregnancy asking for life and safety of the fetus. Once again Lord Brahma is prayed to in this ceremony.

3. Seemantonnayana ritual is observed in the penultimate month of pregnancy for safe and assured delivery of the baby. This is a prayer to the Hindu God Dhata.

4. Jatkarma is birth ceremony of the new-born baby. On this occasion, a prayer is observed for goddess Savita.

5. Namkarana is the naming ceremony of the baby, which is observed 11 days after its birth. This gives the new-born an identity with which he or she will be associated all his life.

6. Niskramana is the act of taking the four-month-old child out for the first time into the open to sunbathe. The Sun God Surya is worshiped.

7. Annaprashana is the elaborate ceremony conducted when the child is fed cereal for the first time at the age of six months.

8. Chudakarma or Keshanta karma is the ceremonious tonsuring of the head and Lord Brahma or Prajapati is prayed and offerings made to him. The baby's head is shaved off and the hair is ceremonially immersed in the river.

9. Karnavedha is the ritual of having the ear pierced. These days it is mostly girls who have their ears pierced.

10. Upanayana aka thread ceremony is the investiture ceremony of the sacred thread where Brahmin boys are adorned with a sacred thread hung from one shoulder and passed around their front and back. This day, Lord Indra is invoked and offerings are made to him.

11. Vedarambha or Vidyarambha is observed when the child is initiated into study. In ancient times, boys were sent to live with their gurus in a 'gurugriha' or hermitage to study. Devotees pray to the Hindu God Apawaka on this occasion.

12. Samavartana is the convocation or the commencement to the study of the Vedas.

13. Vivaha is the lavish nuptial ceremony. After marriage, the individual enters the life of a 'grihastha' or conjugal life - the life of a householder. Lord Brahma is the deity of the day in the wedding ceremony.

14. Awasthyadhana or Vivahagni Parigraha is a ceremony where the marrying couple encircles the sacred fire seven times. It is also known as 'Saptapadi.'

15. Tretagnisangraha is the auspicious ritual that starts the couple on their domestic life.

16. Antyeshti is the final rite of passage or Hindu funeral rites that is performed after death.

The 8 Rites of Passage or Ashtasamskara

Most of the above 16 samskaras, which originated thousands of years ago, are practiced by most Hindus even to this day. However, there are eight rites that are considered essential. These are known as 'Ashtasamskaras', and they are as follows:

1. Namakarana - Naming ceremony

2. Anna Prasana - Beginning of solid food

3. Karnavedha - Ear piercing

4. Chudakarma or Chudakarana - Head Shaving

5. Vidyarambha - Beginning of Education

6. Upanayana - Sacred Thread Ceremony

7. Vivaha - Marriage

8. Antyeshti - Funeral or Last Rites

The Importance of Samskaras in Life

These samskaras bind an individual to the community that nurture the feeling of brotherhood. A person whose actions are connected to the others around him would definitely think twice before committing a sin. Lack of samskaras give rise to indulging in individual physical pleasures and fanning one's animal instincts. The inner demon is aroused that leads to the degeneration of oneself and the society as a whole. When a person is not aware of his moorings in society he runs his own selfish race against the world and the greed to pitch himself over others leads to destruction of not only his self but the entire human community. So, the samskaras act as a moral code of conduct for the society.

10 Benefits of Hindu Samskaras

1. Samskaras provide sound mental and physical health and the confidence to face life's challenges

2. They are believed to purify blood and increase blood circulation, sending more oxygen to every organ

3. Samskaras can energizes the body and revitalizes it

4. They can increase physical strength and stamina to work for longer period of time

5. They rejuvenate the mind and enhance concentration and intellectual capacity

6. Samskaras give a sense of belonging, culture, and refined sensibilities

7. They direct energy to humanitarian causes thereby building a strong character

8. Samskaras kill vices, such as pride, ego, selfishness, wrath, envy, covetousness, gluttony, sloth, lechery, greed and fear

9. They bestow moral and physical balance throughout life

10. Samskaras give the confidence to face death bravely owing to a contented and righteous life

What are Samskaras? - Subhamoy Dass

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Scientists Unveil Missing Link In Evolution

Scientists have unveiled a 47-million-year-old fossilised skeleton of a monkey hailed as the missing link in human evolution. The search for a direct connection between humans and the rest of the animal kingdom has taken 200 years - but it was presented to the world today at a special news conference in New York. The discovery of the 95%-complete 'lemur monkey' - dubbed Ida - is described by experts as the "eighth wonder of the world". They say its impact on the world of palaeontology will be "somewhat like an asteroid falling down to Earth".

Researchers say proof of this transitional species finally confirms Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, and the then radical, outlandish ideas he came up with during his time aboard the Beagle. Sir David Attenborough said Darwin "would have been thrilled" to have seen the fossil - and says it tells us who we are and where we came from. "This little creature is going to show us our connection with the rest of the mammals. This is the one that connects us directly with them," he said.

"Now people can say 'okay we are primates, show us the link'. The link they would have said up to now is missing - well it's no longer missing."

A team of the world's leading fossil experts, led by Professor Jorn Hurum, of Norway's National History Museum, have been secretly researching the 1ft 9in-tall young female monkey for the past two years. And now it has been transported to New York under high security, and unveiled to the world during the bicentenary of Darwin's birth. Later this month, it will be exhibited for one day only at the Natural History Museum in London before being returned to Oslo.

Alex Watts - Sky News Online

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Too Beautiful Not To Share

There was a blind girl who hated herself because she was blind. She hated everyone, except her loving boyfriend. He was always there for her. She told her boyfriend, "If I could only see the world, I will marry you."

One day, someone donated a pair of eyes to her. When the bandages came off, she was able to see everything, including her boyfriend.

He asked her, "Now that you can see the world, will you marry me?" The girl looked at her boyfriend and saw that he was blind. The sight of his closed eyelids shocked her. She hadn't expected that. The thought of looking at them the rest of her life led her to refuse to marry him.

Her boyfriend left in tears and days later wrote a note to her saying: "Take good care of your eyes, my dear, for before they were yours, they were mine."

'This is how the human brain often works when our status changes . Only a very few remember what life was like before, and who was always by their side in the most painful situations.'

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Cannibalism: A Part From Some

Theodore de Bry copper engravings of J. de Léry Le Voyage au Brézil de Jean de Léry 1556-1558 (La Rochelle, 1578)

Image I: Indian Cannibalism

During this battle, a number of the Tipiniki Indians were captured and killed. On the way back to their settlement at Ubatúba, the Tupinambá camped near the mountains of Taquarussu. There they killed, cut up, roasted and ate some of their enemy. The chief offered some flesh to Staden who refused it, saying ‘even animals don’t eat their own kind’, to which the chief replied: ‘I am a jaguar, it tastes good’.

Image II: Further Indian Cannibalism

While Staden was still in captivity, he witnessed more cannibalism. On of their captives who fell ill was killed. Because the Tupinamba Indians said he was too ugly, they cut off the head and threw it away. They also threw away his intestines because they thought it might have been infected, but the rest was distributed among the village huts before being roasted and enthusiastically eaten.

Image III: Cutting up the Corpse

After the prisoner’s body had been cleaned and prepared for eating, it was painted white, then skinned. First the legs were cut off above the knees, then the arms. Each limb was detached and given to a different woman who had previously decorated herself with paint. Then, with the limbs, they would chase each other round the huts, which caused great amusement. Finally, the body was cut open down the spine and shared out, with the women taking the intestines.

Image IV: A Broth is Made From the Intestines

The women make a thick soup from the intestines and the head, then they shared it out among themselves and their children. After killing the prisoner, the chief gave himself a new name and scratched the top of his arm with an animal’s tooth so as to leave an honoured scar. Then he rested all day so that his arm did not loose its strength from dealing the deadly blow.

Image V: How the Tupi Indians Roasted Their Meat
The Indians set up a grill, consisting of four posts set in the ground. They were as thick as a man’s arm and had a fork at the top, across which sticks were laid to form a platform. The meat was then placed on this platform and a slow-burning fire lit underneath. It was not salted but left to roast for a day and a night, so it would not go bad. They often used the meat of a wild animal, common in the Brazilian forest, called a tapir.

Image VI: Cannibalistic Rituals of the Tupi

Here a prisoner of the Tupinambá Indians is shown, decorated with feathers, before being beaten to death. After execution the corpse was washed, cooked, cut up and eaten. Elaborate rituals were performed from the moment of capture until the last ounce of flesh, blood and bone was finally disposed of, all in the name of similar atrocities committed by rival tribes against the Tupinambá.

English 165CL - Caribeean Literature (Winter 2002)

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