Eternal India Encyclopedia

RELIGIONS

Eternal India

encyclopedia

the growth of non-Vedic studies. The

Vedaarambha samskaara

thus

came into existence.

The

Keshaanta

is connected with the first shaving of the student’s

beard when he is about 16 years of age.

Keshaanta

was also called

godana

(gift of a cow) because at the end of the ceremony the student

offered cow to the teacher.

Samavartana

is the ceremony performed when the student

returns from the house of the preceptor after completing the stud-

ies. The period of

brahmacharya

being regarded as a great

sacrifice a ritual bath is taken as is customary on the completion of

all sacrifices. This is a momentous occasion in the student’s life

because he is either prepared to marry and become a householder or

dedicate himself to lifelong studentship and continue as a

brachma-

charin.

In the later case he remains in the preceptor’s house.

Of all the Hindu ceremonies

vivaaha

(marriage) is the most

central because classical Hinduism does not encourage retirement

or ascetism. It emphasises the life of a householder.

A marriage sacrament consists of items pertaining to the pre-

marital stage, marital and post-marital stages. The most important

of these are:

Vagdhana

(betrothal)

Vara- Varana

(formal acceptance of the bridegroom)

Kanya-dana

(gift of bride to the bridegroom by the legitimate

guardian)

Vivaha-homa

(marriage offerings)

Panigrahana

(clasping of the hand)

Hridaya-sparsha

(touching the heart)

Saptapadi

(seven steps symbolic of prosperity and happiness)

Ahmarohana

(mounting the stone, symbol of stability)

Suryavalokana

(looking at the Sun, as a witness to the Sacrament)

10.

Dhruva-darshana

(looking at the pole star, a symbol of constancy)

11.

Triratra-vrata

(three nights continence)

12.

Caturthi-Karma

(fourth day ceremony or the formal unification of

the couple.)

The last ceremony in the life of a Hindu is the

antyeshti.

special oblong frame is prepared to remove the body the place of

evemation. The body is carried by the nearest relatives and friends

of the deceased. The funeral pyre is lit by the eldest son. Then all

the mourners return home where they take a purificatory bath. On

the third day after the cremation the charred bones of the dead are

gathered and thrown into a river. For ten days after the cremation

libations of water are poured for the dead and offerings of rice balls

(pinda)

and vessels of milk are made for him. At the end of the

period of mourning on the 13th day, when the

shraddha

ceremony is

performed there is a' round of prayers, offerings to the soul of the

deceased and food to the relatives and friends who have come to

attend the ceremony.

There are four distinct stages in a man's life according to Indian

tradition. They are the four ashramas :

Brahmacharya

(celibacy),

Grahasta

(household),

Vanaprastha

(recluse)

and

Sanyasa

(mendicancy).

Bramacharyashrama

is the early period of life when the young

Brahmin boy is initiated into the study of the scriptures. The

religious teacher

{guru)

takes him as a full-time disciple and personally

imparts the sacred knowledge in the

Vedas

to him. The

brahniachari

(celibate) observes the vow of celibacy. The initiation is usually done

between the age of five and eight years.

The

brahmachari

goes through the ceremony called the

upanay-

ana

which means introduction to knowledge, for, by it a Brahmin

acquires the right to study. The parents of the boy conduct this

ceremony in their home. The hair on the boy's head is shaven off

leaving a small tuft at the back. The sacred thread, consisting of three

white cotton strands, each strand formed by nine threads, is put around

his neck (left shoulder) and waist (right hip) like a cross belt. The three

strands stand for the body, speech and mind. It symbolises the control

of each and means that the person who wears the thread has gained

control overbody, speech and mind. The

Kshatriyas,

those belonging

to the ruling class and

Vaisyas

(those belonging to the mercantile class)

also observe the

upanayana

ceremony and wear the triple thread.

The verse from a hymn of the Rig Veda called

Gayatri Mantra

whispered in the boy's ear. The

upanayana

literally means bringing

near

(upa

= near;

nayanam

= bringing). The ceremony is meant to bring

the disciple near the master both physically and spiritually. The

shaving of the head indicates the removal of material and sensual

desires, the tuft left behind indicating spiritual desires.

The second stage of life is that of the

grahastahrama

when the

grahasti

(householder) lives with his wife and children performing his

obligatory duties.

In the third stage, called

vanaprasthashrama,

the married man

continues his companionship with his family members but develops

mental detachment. The

vanaprasthi

(recluse) practises the art of

living in a spirit of dispossession amidst his possessions. With the

coming of age of his sons he even renounces worldy possessions and

family life and seeks solitude for contemplation and meditation.

The last stage of life is the

sanyasashrama.

The

sanyasi

(mendi-

cant) has renounced the world. He wears an ochre-coloured robe.

Ochre is the colour of fire. His ochre robes are meant to indicate that

his body is burnt away and that he wants nothing from the world.

All those who are bom Brahmins, Kshatriyas or Vaisyas go through

the first stage, Brahmacharya and the upanayana ceremony. But

everybody need not go through the other three stages. Some who have

no marital tendencies may skip the second stage and only a minuscule

percentage of Hindus become sanyasis.

Most Hindu marriages are arranged marriages, that is the parents

meet and arrange the marriage of their children. But before this is

finalised the horoscopes of the two children are studied by astrologers

to find out whether they match. If they do not the marriage may not be

arranged. If the horoscopes match a suitably auspicious date is fixed.

The marriage ceremony is performed by the

purohit

or priest. The

birdegroom fastens the

tali

round the neck of the bride. The

tali,

a little

gold ornament which all married women wear round their necks, is

strung on a cord which is dyed yellow with saffron water. The bridal

couple walk round the sacred fire seven times. The ceremony

concludes with the throwing of coloured rice over the couple by way of

blessing them.

Hindu worship (

puja

) is an act of homage and entertainment of the

God that is being worshipped. The God is worshipped in the form of

an icon which has been sanctified by special rites after which it is

believed that the divinity has in some sense taken up his abode in it.

Congregational worship of the Christian or Islamic type is not known

in Hinduism. The worshipper goes to the temple either alone or in a

family group, makes his offerings and departs.