SAMSKARAS

The Samskaras are the purificatory rites to be performed by a person to consecrate his body, sthula and sukshma, the gross and the subtle, in order to enable him gradually to move forward step by step in his mundane as well as spiritual life. They are the steps in the ladder of life to climb higher and higher, both worldly and spiritual. The Samskaras come under the domestic rites and they vary in number, from twelve to eighteen but sixteen among them are more popular. In the Gautama-dharma-sutra this number is swollen to forty by adding some more samskaras and bringing the Pancamahayajnas and the yajna-samsthas under this category.

The ceremony begins with garbhadhana, concept in the womb of mother and the Samskaras are spread over one's whole life and beyond, that is, they cover even the funeral rites which last twelve days. During this interim period the departed soul in his astral body loaded with all the vasanas hanging on him, waits for direction to his next destination. All these Samskaras, it may be noted, are the exercises for sanctifying a person's whole personality and making him fit for his long forward journey towards the goal of self realization:-

"Samskaraih samskrtah purvair uttarair anu-samskrtah nityam asta-gunair yukto brahmano brahma-laukikah/brahmam padam avapnoti yasman na cyavate punah.

Upanayana

Among the Samskaras many have become extinct today, and even the names of some of them have long been forgotten. But of all these Samskaras the Upanayana was the most important Samskara of great significance since only after undergoing the Upanayana, the initiation ceremony, a boy is admitted into the Aryan society as a member sworn to preserve the Sampradaya that had come down through the Parampara of the sages of Vedic and pre-Vedic age and he becomes eligible to enter the second stage in his life i.e. vivaha and other samskaras. On completion of this ceremony which actually means leading near 'for initiation' a boy is admitted into Gurukula as a Brahmachari, a regular student. A Gurukula in olden times was located at the confluence of rivers, always regarded sacred, or in the valleys of mountains covered by thick forest called Tapovana, a forest retreat for penance and meditation. The Ashramas, located in the tapovanas were the resorts frequented by emperors, Rajarshis, humble Brahmacharis, neophytes as well as by those who had reached the unscalable heights in their spiritual sadhana, seeking guidance on abstruse philosophical problems, all seekers of Truth, the ultimate Reality, but in different traditions. India's great heritage which Bhagavan Shri Krishna calls eternal yoga, was first preached by Vivasvan, the Sungod himself, to Manu and then it passed on through generations of Prajapatis to posterity. That ancient tradition, which has come down through the lineage of divinities and great adepts is rightly called Raja Yoga, for this was once the secret preserve of Rajarshis, the great royal sages. There is another lineage, but of Brahma-Rishis, the live magnetic line of ancient immortal wisdom which has been recorded in the Brahmanas and other ancient texts.

This lineage of Rishis originated from Brahma himself, who at the beginning of each Kalpa, passes on the great Vedic tradition through the sages, the giants of wisdom of the past, to generations of disciples. The Ashramas located in Tapovanas were the actual confluence of these two parallel streams, the streams of Mandakini. the celestial Ganga, and Brahml, the abstract goddess of learning, that came down from the height ot the Himalayas, the resort of the Mahatmas of Hindu tradition. The thatched huts of the sages were the great centres of learning, where the Vedas and Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Upanishads and the scriptures were composed and studied in ancient times. Our culture, our philosophy, our traditions originated in these humble hermitages located at the confluence of rivers in the heart of forest retreats, the Tapovanas.

The Upanayana, according to the rules, is to be performed when a boy reaches the age of eight and before he crosses his sixteenth year. If it is not performed between this period, a boy becomes unfit, not eligible, for Brahmopadesha. It is said in the Dharma-Shastra that if the 'Upanayana is not performed before the age of sixteen a boy becomes Savitri-patita, fallen from the Brahmanic tradition, and unfit for admission into the society of Aryas. Such persons who were not initiated at the proper time are called vratyas, fallen from the age old Vedic tradition. In such cases a prayaschitta is performed by the boy and his father and then the investiture ceremony, a meaningless ritual is gone through.

The Upanyana ceremony is called vrata-bandha by some, saivitri-vachana by others, but is normally known as mounjibandhana or brahmopadesha. It may be noted in this connection that Brahma-(n) is a Vedic word meaning a mantra and in the present context it stands for the great Gayatri mantra. I t is the father or Acharya who teaches a boy this mantra, initiates him into the secrets of Brahmavidya, and none else. It may be amusing to know that Brahma-Upadesha has been wrongly interpreted by some as the Upadesha, the initiations given by god Brahma himself!

It must be pointed out again that the great mantra popularly known as Gayatri, after the metre in which it is composed is really called Savitri since it is dedicated to Savita, the sun-god. This mantra is found in the third Mandala (III. 62. 10), of the Rigveda.

In olden times only a student desirous of higher study was led by his father or relatives to an Acharya, a reputed scholar known for purity of life, a person of very high moral calibre and deep learning, for being initiated and to be admitted into his Gurukula. After an oral test he admitted into the Ashrama, where he would live with the family of the Acharya till he completed his education. The course of study for each shakha of a Veda was of the duration of twelve years.

Initiation is mainly meant to enable a person, man or woman, to acquire the means by which he can develop his inner personality to the full extent and to the right direction. With study of scriptures, strict observance of discipline and daily practice of yoga a Brahmachari fortifies his inner personality against the formidable evil forces, the eternal enemy of a sadhaka and gradually eliminates the tendencies that would provoke the qualities of rajas and tamas lying dormant within. Living in the serene atmosphere replete with the vibrations of meditation and echoes and re-echoes of Vedic recitations, a Brahmachari widens his knowledge of Brahmavidya by the intensive study of scriptures under the guidance of his guru and by discussion and deliberatin with his Sabrahmacharis, classmates. Thus a favourable condition is generated for the growth of the sattva quality in a sadhaka when he reaches that stage of spiritual development in which sattva predominates. He then gradually rises higher and higher on the spiritual plane by constant prctice of tapasya, penance and meditation, strict observance of physical and mental discipline, and leading a pure and detached life. Ultimately he transcends all three gunas, loosenig the bondage of his dehin. He now qualifies himself for promotion, for admission into the fold of sadhakas of higher fold. This most coveted stage in one's life could still remain a dream yet to be realised for many because of the heavy burden of acumulated vasanas of their past births. Every time they attempt to rise higher and higher in the spiritual realm the formidable Skandhas will not let them off. They will drag them down again and again.

The Upanayana is the first step on this long journey towards the goal of self-realization. This Samskara, it may be noted, is not by any means confined to man alone. A Hindu woman was deprived of this Vedic samskara by the degenerated society, not realising that it would consequently cause set-back to the progress of sadhana of a man. The entire community of dvijas have since been born of women deprived of this basic samskara, which was a firm foundation for all other samskaras. The free flow of spiritual Mandakini was obstructed and the progress retarded by this act of visionless orthodoxy of Hindu society.

Yajnopavita - the Sacred Thread

In olden times the Yajnopavita was worn, as the word would indicate, on the occasion of performance of sacrifice by a yajamana. It was a kind of uttariya worn over the left shoulder and under the right arm. Uttariya actually means an upper garment worn at the time of religious ceremonies covering the upper body. Later, however Yajnopavita implied a slightly different meaning. Today it stands for the sacred thread worn by the upper castes. It has unfortunately lost its original significance and has been reduced to a simple caste mark.

The yajnopavita hanging from the left shoulder and passing under the right arm, constantly reminds a man that he is a bonded worker for an indefinite period and that he can free himself of this bondage made up of three gunas by discharging his duties to his ancestors, to the Rishis, and ultimately to the Gods. The yajnopavita consists of three cords and each cord is formed by twisting three threads into one. Actually it is made up of one single cord only. At the one end of the cord of required length a loop will be formed through which the other end of the cord is pulled three times to form three lines of equal length and at the same time the cord is also passed round the loop to ultimately form a knot at the centre. This knot is known as Brahma-granthi, Brahma-knot, indeed a very significant name. The yajnopavita hanging on our shoulder reminds us constantly of our duties which we have to discharge. These three cords of yajnopavita represent the three duties a person is obliged to discharge and the three threads twisted in the formation of each cord represent the three innate gunas with which a dehin i.e. an atman encased in the astral body is firmly tied. Now the three threads in each cord represent the gunas that prevail in different ratios in each individual and each cord collectively stands for one guna each. Thus the three cords symbolize the three gunas, viz. sattva, rajas and tamas in a person, man or woman. A person who has been initiated by his father or Acharya has to transcend these three gunas which are nature-born in him, and free himself of the painful bondage of gunas, the chain of deaths and births so that he could qualify himself to enter the long path that would finally lead him to Para shanti, the Eternal Peace. Again these cords of yajnopavita reminds you of your indebtedness to the Rishis, who passed the eternal knowledge to posterity, to the pitris, who transmitted the knowledge to you through your father, and finally to the Gods collectively representing the Supreme Spirit.

This in brief is the significance of the yajnopavita. The Upanayana comes under the purview of the domestic rites. Nevertheless it has a direct bearing on the Vedic rites. Moreover it is the basic common ceremony for all rituals, shrauta as well as domestic. I have, therefore, focussed on this samskara alone in my present essay.