Samskara means
"perfecting" in Sanskrit.
In Hindu civilization, a collective term for the many
life-cycle rites.
Although one's birth determines one's social rank in India,
this alone is insufficient to make one a full and completed individual.
The raw material provided by nature must be polished via the
process of culture, or the activity of samskaras, in the development of a
person.
The three prenatal samskaras begin the change process before
birth, and the antyeshthi samskaras continue it until death.
Samskaras transform persons in one of two ways: by
eliminating latent or residual impurities, such as the infancy chudakarana
samskara, or by producing new capabilities and entitlements, such as the
upanayana (initiation) and vivaha (marriage) samskaras.
Although various authors in the dhar ma literature vary on
the number of samskaras, sixteen are considered customary.
Three prenatal samskaras were performed: one to assure
conception (Garbhadhana), one to ensure a boy's birth (Pumsavana), and one to
ensure a smooth delivery and a healthy kid (Pumsavana) (Siman tonnayana).
Six samskaras have been linked to childhood: ceremonial
activities performed shortly after birth (Jatakarma), name-giving (Namakarana),
first outing (Nishkra mana), first solid eating (Anna prashana), head-shaving
(Chudakarana), and ear piercing (Karnavedha).
The commencement of learning (Vidyarambha), adolescent
religious initiation (Upanayana), the beginning of Veda study (Vedarambha), the
first shave (Keshanta), and the return home at the end of studies were all
associated with life as a celibate student (brahmacharin) (Sama vartana).
Marriage and last rites for the deceased were the last two
samskaras (antyeshthi samskara).
These sixteen samskaras were the ceremonies for a twice-born
man, who was regarded as the default person in this literature.
A twice-born man was a man born into one of the three
"twice-born" varnas—brahmin, kshatriya, or vaishya—who were ritually
qualified for the "sec ond birth" teenage religious initiation.
Women in the twice-born groups would go through all of the
rituals up to and including the childhood rites, but no additional rites would
be performed until marriage, which was deemed equivalent to all other samskaras for them.
Outside of the twice-born groups—namely, shudras and
untouchables—few, if any, of these ceremonies would be performed.
Individual development is driven and governed by these life
cycle ceremonies.
Many of these samskaras are still conducted in current
times, but mostly by brahmins who, due to their historic roles as priests and
academics, preserve this practice to help maintain their traditional
reputation.
Pandurang Vaman Kane's A History of Dharma sastra was
published in 1968, while Raj Bali Pandey's Hindu Samskaras was published in
1969.
Despite their antiquity, the former is encyclopedic and the
latter is more approachable; they remain the greatest sources on traditional
Hindu customs.
