The Samskaras

[chamakuzhi subramanian]

Dears,
A Paper on The Samskaras is given below:

The Samskaras :By Prof. Manilal N. Dvivedi, for the American Section
T. S.
THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY -- AMERICAN SECTION -- Oriental Department. No.
10.-- FEBRUARY, 1892.

INTRODUCTION
In order to gain an insight into the inner life of India it is
essential that one should be well acquainted with the religious aspect
of the question. The term religion is not here used in the sense of
that vague something which as an imaginary object of love or worship
is supposed to satisfy the emotional nature of man. Philosophy, as
apart from religion, is not known in India. The ideal of religion is
derived more from reason than emotion. In short, religion here
consists of a closely reasoned-out theory of the aim of existence.
This theory serves as a basis of society, ethics, politics, and every
similar human institution. That this religion must largely consist of
the metaphysical is clear enough, but that it does not ignore physics
or other useful material sciences, at least in so far as they can
assist in explaining the phenomena of life, will be plain to any
careful investigator. Though India teems with an innumerable variety
of religions, comprising all shades of belief, the central idea of all
creeds, however divergent in exoteric forms, is none other than this
closely reasoned-out ideal of this aim of existence. This is not the
place to animadvert at any length on this point, but it is enough to
state that this ideal is fully represented in the adwaita theory of
the distinctionless absolute Atman as the soul of all. This
explanation will show to what extent everything Indian is saturated
with the idea of religion, and derives life or strength from it.
CASTE
The very foundation of Indian society is religion. Even the modern
institution of caste is an outcome of that idea. Before we turn to the
Samskaras it is important to understand the exoteric constitution of
Indian society. Let me premise at the beginning that individuality is
not the spirit of the social fabric here. And every institution,
however insignificant, is conceived with a view, and marked in a
manner, to suppress individuality and foster altruism. This sentiment
is a result of the philosophy of religion which demonstrates the
utility of an ideal of pure altruism as the aim of existence.
The unit, therefore, of ancient Aryan society is not the individual
but the family; and even the sovereign, though apparently a despotic
monarch, is no less the father of a family, a partner in the deeds of
his subjects, physical, mental, moral. The whole society is one
family, and the different classes are but members of a corporate body,
each fulfilling to its utmost that which may be assigned to it on the
principle of the division of labor. In very ancient times, it would
appear that the whole people were divided into two broad divisions:
the men of (white) color (varna), [Called Aryan. The word "arya" is
derived from the root "re", to go, and it means one fit to be gone to:
hence respectable, civilized, learned. The derivation of the word from
"ar", to till, has no authority in Indian literature, though it suits
well with those who would make primitive agriculturalists of the
ancient Aryans. There are two opinions on the question of the aryas,
they being either foreign immigrants, or natives of the country; but
the point cannot be discussed here.] and the (black) aborigines
referred to as the nishadas in the Veda. The varna was divided again
into two classes: dwijas, twice-born, and Sudras. The dwijas were
those who by the purity of their physique and mind were held eligible
for initiation to certain mystic rites. This initiation constitutes
the second birth. The Sudras had no such privilege, and it would
appear that that class was created to serve the purpose of an order
preparatory to admission into the community of dwijas. The dwijas were
divided into three classes: Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, which with
the fourth, Sudras, constitute the four varnas. The Brahmins, knowers
of Brahma, were ministers of spiritual and temporal welfare, the
keepers of secret and secular learning, the advisers alike of kings
and peasants, as also the teachers of occult and other branches of
learning to all. The Kshatriyas had to look to the general well-being,
and welfare of the commonwealth; the Vaisyas being the general
purveyers to the whole as traders, cultivators, etc., and the Sudras
the artizans and laborers engaged in inferior and mental service.
Intercourse between all these classes was as free as could be, and
intermarriages, with the restriction that no woman should choose from
any varna inferior to her own, were most common. Nor was it a rare
occurrence to see a man losing his varna, or rising to a higher one,
according to his deserts. Intermarriages, change of class, free
intercourse, were all rendered possible by that purity of blood which
was most religiously preserved. The ancients set the greatest value on
this consideration, and punished adultery, especially if the male
defaulter were of a varna inferior to that of his co-partner in crime,
with nothing short of death. The pollution of the Kshetra (woman), and
through it of the whole future generation, was not a crime
compoundable by civil damages; it could be atoned for only by self-
sacrifice and death. Early marriages were unknown, the status of woman
was nobly superior and longevity with strength of mind and body was
more the rule than the exception. This state of things, however,
speedily altered, and external influences led to promiscuous
intercourse. Purity of blood being thus destroyed, the constitution of
the varnas was convulsed to its very foundation. New classes, of the
issues of such intercourse, were formed, and they began to be known
not by their occupation and position (ashrama), not by their color
(varna) but simply by the incident of their birth (Jati). The varnas
closed up their ranks against each other, as also these Jatis of
impure blood, which, following the example of their superiors, became,
in their turn, mutually exclusive. Different Jatis appropriated
different occupations to themselves, and formed communes or
associations like the modern guilds and unions. The liberal principle
of the varna having given place to the exclusive narrowness of the
Jati; individualism, in some form, displaced altruism at the basis of
Indian society, which henceforth began to degenerate. Jati is the
basis of the modern caste-system. Though several pure varnas exist to
the present day, the evil genius of narrowness and individualism,
which governs all, and which perhaps is being daily fostered, though
in another form, by the purely individualistic influences of the West,
eats at the very core of society and drags it perceptibly down the
abyss of degeneration and decay.
THE ASHRAMAS
A subject intimately connected with the above is that of the ashramas.
As the varna was the direct outcome of the religious idea, so the
distribution of the work of a life-time over certain kinds and periods
of activity was also a prominent result of the same conception. Each
of these kinds of activity is called an ashramas. I purposely refrain
from calling it a period of particular activity, because ancient
writers do not appear in favor of necessarily restricting any ashrama
to a fixed number of years; nay, they do not seem to insist even on
their regular sequence. The ashramas are four in number; the first
being Brahmacharya, a period of strict studentship and celibacy
extending over from nine to thirty-six years, or even the whole life,
if so chosen. The next is Grihasthashrama, the state of a family-man;
and it is followed optionally by Vanaprastha (forest-life) and
Sannyasa (entire renunciation). The Vanaprastha ashrama begins with a
family-man's retiring, either alone or with his family, into the
solitude of a forest, there to prepare himself for Sannyasa, entire
renunciation of self, the merging in the Absolute. The first three
varnas have a right to all these ashramas, and the Sudras only to the
second. Some, however, maintain that all four are for Brahmins alone,
except Sannyasa for Kshatriyas and Vaishyas. But there are a few who
hold that, as regards realizing the Absolute (atma jnana and
sannayasa), all ought to have an equal right. Some appear to believe
that Sudras and females cannot receive the rites of initiation, but so
far as the latter are concerned, names like Gargi, Maitreyi, Savitri,
and others do not entirely bear this out in practice. As to the former
it is doubtful whether of the names of a few of the Rishis we cannot
trace some relation even with Sudra-hood.
THE SAMSKARAS
Samskara means impression, hence purification. There are certain rites
accompanying each ashrama, and without a due performance of these no
one can be said to belong to any particular ashrama, and, therefore,
to any particular varna. The first three varnas alone are entitled to
receive the Samskaras, Sudras being either entirely excluded, or
allowed to receive them without the recital of Vedic matras which
accompany every ceremony. All customs, and all religious observances,
governing even modern Hindu society, are derived from these Samskaras,
and so great is the hold of religion on the Hindu mind that numerous
political revolutions and the absolute sway of foreign nations,
extending over centuries, have made but little alteration in the
original forms. The Samskaras are generally taken to be sixteen in
number, but there are authorities which fix the number at twenty-five.
I shall adopt the latter view, inasmuch as it will then be convenient
to dispose of the whole subject of ritual worship in a connected form.
It will be convenient to follow the division adopted by the
Smritikaras, and classify the Samskaras as the occasional, the
necessary, and the optional. The occasional Samskaras are those that
are performed on occasions such as conception, birth, initiation,
marriage, etc. These are sixteen in number. The necessary ones are
those incumbent on all after attaining spiritual majority, so to
speak. They are five in all. The four optional ones are connected with
certain general ceremonies connected with rites for the dead, and may
be performed or not according to the wish and ability of the
performers. I begin with the occasional Samskaras.
I. Garbhadhana (The conception).
The wife goes to her husband's house after attaining puberty. The
husband offers oblations to certain deities in order to seek their
blessing for the prosperity of the union, and cohabitation is with the
particular aim that the wife may conceive. The ceremony is performed
only at the first physical manifestation of puberty, for its object is
the purification of the Kshetra (woman, properly the womb). * * * This
Samskara is at the present time neither generally nor carefully
attended to.
II. Pumsavana (The purification).
When it is known that the wife has conceived, the husband, in the
third month after conception, performs certain religious ceremonies
for the purification of the Kshetra, with a view to the strength,
goodness, and greatness of the future child. Instructions as to diet,
general enjoyments, associations, etc., are included in the ordinances
on his head, and they vary according to the nature and character of
the issue desired. This ceremony is, at present, not attended to.
III. Simantonnayana (The parting of the hair of the head).
This ceremony consists of prayers to certain deities, and the offering
of oblations with a view to purify the Kshetra and protect the garbha
(foetus). It is performed generally in the eighth month after
conception. It derives its name from the circumstance of the husband's
making a number of passes with Kusha-grass over the head of his wife,
and in the act, parting the hair into two equal divisions by an
imaginary line (called Simanta) parallel to the tip of the nose.
IV. Bali (The offering).
It consists of the offering of oblations with the special purpose of
prohibiting certain elementals likely to be obnoxious to the wife at
the moment of delivery, from being attracted to the spot by the
impurity of the instant. This ceremony is generally performed with the
preceding, but in many cases it is postponed to any length, and
performed, at some holy place, on the occasion of any such difficulty
as is hinted at above. This and the preceding ceremony are observed to
the present day, though in Samskara No. 3 much has been added by
popular taste and fancy, of which costly dinner parties, which in some
form or other are expected to accompany every Samskara, form not the
least feature.
V. Jatakarma (The birth).
The father of the child, if it be a male, washes it himself, on its
birth, and puts in its mouth, before the cutting of the umbilical
cord, after repeating certain mantras, some clarified butter and honey
which have been fused together with a piece of gold on a slab of
stone. The object of the ceremony is transparent, and it is observed
to this day in one form or another. On the birth of a child, as on the
death of a relation, the Hindus regard themselves as defiled and
impure, and therefore abstain from performing religious rites or
touching others not so defiled, for a number of days. The subject has
been minutely defined and discussed in a number of treatises, and the
custom is observed in all its minuteness to the present day, but it is
sufficient merely to hint at it in this place.
VI. Namakarana (The naming).
This practice, one observed to this day, consists in giving a name,
after certain ceremonies, to the child on or about the eleventh day
after birth. What sort of name should be chosen for a male and what
for a female child, and what would best suit what varna, is a subject
which has been discussed with some minuteness, but this is no place
for a description of it.
VII. Nishkramana (The going out of doors).
The child is, as it were, entrusted to the care of certain family gods
by proper invocations and offerings, in the fourth month after birth,
when it is allowed to go out of doors and walk and crawl about.
Usually the child is shown the disk of the sun, after due ceremony,
and left free to move about. This ceremony is not generally attended
to.
VIII. Annaprasana (The eating).
Even the time and manner of beginning to give the child some
nourishment other than the milk of its mother, are regulated by
religious injunctions. This ceremony is performed in the sixth month
after birth, and is not generally attended to in the prescribed form.
IX. Chaul (The shaving).
It is a ceremony performed at the time of the first shaving of the
child's head. This takes place only in the case of male children. The
ceremony is regulated more by family custom than by word of Law, and
is, as well as all the fore-going ones, is performed along with
Upanayana. The time for this Samskara is the third or fourth year
after birth.
X.-XIV. Upanayana and Mahavrata (The initiation and the four great
pledges).
This is an important ceremony, for with it begins an important epoch
in the life of an Arya. The age at which it is performed in the case
of a Brahmin varies from five to eight, and in very exceptional
circumstances it is allowable to postpone it even to the age of
sixteen. In the case of a Kshatriya and Vaisya, it should be performed
at the eleventh and twelfth year respectively, twenty and twenty-four
being the respective exceptional limits. Females have nothing to do
with this Samskara, inasmuch as in this case it consists of marriage
or being engaged for marriage.
The boy's head is shaved clean, on an auspicious day appointed for the
purpose, and he is clad, if a Brahmin, in the skin of a black deer,
and given the initiatory mark (yajnopavita) consisting of three lines,
each of a thrice-twisted thread of cotton which he always wears in a
circular form, above the left shoulder and under the right arm. He is
also given a stick (danda) of the Patasa-tree, and a waist-band
consisting of a string of the grass called Munja. These accompaniments
vary according to the varna of the boy; and it may interest the reader
to know that the yajnopavita of a Kshatriya is made of flax and that
of a Vaisya of sheep's wool, with corresponding variations in the
other accompaniments. To the boy wearing these marks of a
Brahmacharin, [Brahma means the Veda, and a Brahmacharin is one who,
so to speak, walks in the Veda -- that is to say, a student.] and
therefore ready for initiation, the father imparts the sacred gayatri
mantra, which he is thenceforth required to mentally repeat at least
three hundred times every morning after washing himself and performing
the Sandhyavandana (worship at the twilight). He is expected to
worship the sun at noon and in the evening as well. The family guru
then steps in and initiates the boy into his order, and takes him away
to his abode, there to teach him befitting learning and arts, for a
period varying from nine to thirty-six years. But before he does this
he requires his pupil to take four distinct pledges which he is most
religiously required to keep and observe. The pupil solemnly pledges
himself in this wise: (1) I shall observe the strictest celibacy. (2)
I shall always tell the truth. (3) I shall regularly say the twilight
and noon prayers, repeat the gayatri, and beg my food. (4) I shall
devote myself entirely to my teacher, and the study he points out.
These vows of poverty and celibacy relate to the years of studentship.
The Brahmin learns the Veda, and the various angas, together with the
secret of occult learning. The Kshatriya learns the ways of war, and
the science of government, together with the use of arms; and the
Vaisya the methods of agriculture, economy, and commerce. This
ceremony is at present observed only in name. The mock initiations,
accompanied with an equally ludicrous mockery of the pledges, does
take place at the appointed time when the yajnopavita is given. The
Vaisyas do not observe the ceremony at all. And what crowns the whole
is the short space of an hour or two within which a ceremony is
disposed of which ought to extend over at least a dozen years.
XV. Samavartana (The return).
It is a moment of no small joy to the father when his son returns home
from a pupilage of about twelve years generally full of learning, and
desirous of beginning the world, by taking some eligible girl to wife,
and keeping a family. The pupil makes a fitting reward to the guru,
from his own purse, or begs it of some king or wealthy man who gladly
gives what assistance he can. He then begins life with his teachers'
permission. This ceremony used to be performed with great eclat, but
at present it exists in the form of a pompous procession following an
innocent boy, of eight, and meant to crown the two hours' initiation,
ceremony described above. With this Samskara ends the first Ashrama-
Brahmacharya.
XVI. Vivaha (Marriage).
This is a very important Samskara, as with it begins the
Grihasthashrama, and the married man is able to perform all rites and
ceremonies necessary for his spiritual welfare. The meaning and aim of
this institution should be clearly defined. The Grihasthashrama is the
life of all other ashramas, inasmuch as through and in it is obtained
that training of the heart, which complements that of the head already
acquired, and leads to that suppression of self which results in the
absolute realization of all being one self. Moreover, it is the
Grihastha alone who, by acts of charity, can help members of the other
ashramas who possess nothing of their own. And nothing can conduce to
this end better than an education of the heart resulting from the
union of two harmonious souls. And indeed well say Manu, and
Yajnavalkya, and almost all Smritikaras, "the female is the light of
the family", "the fountain of love, joy, and happiness"; and they
fitly conclude -- "where females are worshipped and respected all
happiness attends; where they are ill-treated and despised calamities
are imminent." Marriage, according to the Aryan law is not, then, a
contract for enjoyment, protection, service, or progeny. It is a union
of hearts having nothing but education of the heart as its sole end,
with a view to the realization of that condition of being wherein self
is merged in the All. Indeed it is well said "on the wife depends
one's own as well as the Pitris' heaven", the former by this
education, the latter by the continuance of the line through the birth
of a son. That marriage, in this sense, should be one and indissoluble
goes without saying. The sacred texts regard it as one in the sense of
one for a lifetime; but they appear to make an exception in the case
of males. And this not because there is any idea of inferiority or
superiority of the one or the other sex, to influence the judgment.
The rationale of the distinction, as implied in the Shastras, is at
any rate, interesting. The male is regarded as the embodiment of the
active principle in nature, and the female of the passive. Religious
merit is a something to be acquired by active labor and work, and
marriage has no other aim than the accumulation of such merit. The
female being naturally of a passive temperament, remains dependent on
her male companion; and both strengthen and sweeten the union by
mutual exchange of services, those of the one tending to the education
of the heart, and those of the other to the preservation of the body.
The female as the incarnate ideal of love has simply to devote herself
to her husband, and thereby to share in the results of all he
acquires, temporally or spiritually. The wife has no separate
religious rites to perform for her individual welfare. It should thus
follow that, even after the death of her husband, the wife will
continue to acquire religious merit, and become fit to realize the aim
of existence, by simply continuing and intensifying the devotion and
love she bore to her husband. Comfort, protection, enjoyment being no
elements in the Aryan idea of marriage, any the least thought of
another will be a deadly sin. But the case is different with the
husband bereaved of a partner. He has, unless he at once goes into the
Vanaprastha -- or the Sannyasa -- ashrama, yet to finish his education
in love, and he is still responsible for his as well as his deceased
wife's spiritual welfare. He can perform no religious rites without a
wife, and he must needs take some suitable unmarried girl to wife.
This is the sense in which the Shastras understand the words "one and
indissoluble" as applied to marriage. The Aryas have tried their best
to realize, with due regard to the religious ideal of the aim of
existence, the greatest practical good that can be derived from the
systematic union of two loving beings. This institution is still
observed, in this form, among some of the higher families of those
classes of Hindu society who claim descent from any of the pure
varnas, and do not belong to a Jati (caste).
The greatest care has been enjoined in the selection of the principal
parties to a marriage. Though courting and love-making in the modern
sense are unknown, the parents or guardians of the pair are required
to pay the greatest attention to the birth, relations, physique, age,
qualifications, education, nature, and substance of either. The care
of parents exercised with due circumspection rarely brings about
unions terminating in misery or failure. All the present misery
incidental to unhappy matches is a direct result of the institution of
caste, which has narrowed the field of selection. The male is not
allowed to marry before Samavartana, and the female is to remain
unmarried till the first physical manifestation of puberty. Under all
circumstances the pair should not belong to the same family, or even
different lines of the same family. The general usage of the Shastra
appears to allow the engagement of a girl for marriage at about eight,
and the performance of the ceremony of marriage at about eleven. The
completion of the marriage takes place any day immediately after the
event mentioned above. Engagement is meant as a period of probation
and love-making, and is allowed to be broken off under necessity. The
girl may receive such education as her father could give, but she is
expected to complete it under her husband who is her "Guru".
The forms of marriage recognized in ancient times are eight in number.
(1) Giving away the bride with suitable dowry to a properly-educated
young man, without his proposing, is called Brahma marriage. (2)
Giving away the bride, in a similar manner, to an officiating priest,
or any other Brahmin, is the second, called (3) To give the bride for
a couple of cows to a suitable husband is called Arsha marriage. (4)
The Prajapatya form of marriage is that wherein the bride is given
away, with suitable dowry, to a husband for the express purpose of
acquiring spiritual merit by the union. (5) To exchange the bride for
some money consideration is called Asura marriage. (6) The Gandharva
is that marriage which is brought about by mutual love and consent.
(7) The carrying away the bride by main force is the Rakshasa form of
marriage. (8) The carrying away a woman asleep or intoxicated for the
purpose, is the last called Pishacha. Of these the first four and the
sixth are supposed to be the best; though different forms are
prescribed for different varnas, the eighth being prescribed to none.
The forms at present in vogue are the fourth and fifth, and very
rarely the sixth.
Before the sacrificial fire, and in presence of the god invoked, the
wife and husband exchange a few pledges in accord with the meaning and
object of marriage. The whole ceremony is generally divided into six
parts. The first consists of certain rites of hospitality on the
arrival of the bridegroom. From the ancient texts it would appear that
a bull or goat was killed on this occasion, but now simple curds mixed
with honey serves the purpose. This is called the Madhuparka. The next
stage is giving away the bride. The father of the bride joins the
hands of the pair at an auspicious moment, till the arrival whereof
the bride or bridegroom, though sitting very near each other, are not
allowed, by a thin screen of cloth held between, to look into the face
of each other. The giving a bride in marriage is in itself considered
an act of great charity, and therefore of supreme spiritual merit, in
obedience to which idea the parents or other near relative of the
bride do not accept of anything, not even food or water, from the
bridegroom, both before and even after marriage. The whole act is
praised and accepted by the pair as arising out of pure love. The
third step consists in the married couple worshipping the family gods
and indulging themselves in such innocent play as befits the occasion.
Each of the pair ties a piece of red tape, to which a dry fruit called
Madaufala (the fruit of love) is attached, around the right wrist of
the other -- the act being symbolic of the tying of hearts with the
knot of love. The fourth step commences with offering ablations to
fire, and the taking of pledges of mutual fidelity and indissoluble
love, in the presence of all the gods invoked, the Brahmins
officiating and the relatives standing as witness. This is followed by
the fifth part of the ceremony ashma-rohana (the mounting the stone),
being suggestive of the fast that the pair should be as firm in love
and virtue as the stone. The last act in the ceremony is the well-
known saptapadi (going seven steps in company) meant as a pledge of
eternal friendship, for, says the law, "the good become friends only
by walking together seven steps". The pair go round the sacrificial
fire seven times, in company. The bride and bridegroom then put a few
mouthfuls each in the mouth of the other, of some sweetmeats cooked in
the sacred fire at the spot, and complete the pledge of love. They
retire from the spot after devoutly looking at the polestar and
wishing it to impart, magnetically, some of its firmness to their
union. The marriage is completed when it is time for the Samskara
described as Garbhadhana. (No. 1.)
The fire present at this ceremony is, even now in very exceptional
circumstances, preserved as an object of worship in the family, and
kept alive and worshipped regularly three times a day by the married
couple. When either or both of them die, this very fire is used to set
fire to the burning-pyre. The Grihastha generally passes over the
worship of this fire to his son, and becomes with his wife, if still
alive, a Vanaprastha, one residing in a forest and studying to be free
from the world and its attractions, with a view to take up the last
Ashrama, sannyasa, entire renunciation, the complete realization of
the distinctionless Absolute.
XVII-XXI. The Mahayajnas (the five great sacrifices.)
The man who renounces life after Grihasthashrama has no religious
rites of any description to perform, and the subject of occasional
Samskaras is, in a sense, rightly held to be finished with Vivaha. But
the Grihastha while he is a family-man is bound to conform to certain
unavoidable daily rites, the non-performance of which involves dire
sin, and is capable of degrading him to any, even the lowest, varna.
These are the five Mahayajnas, great sacrifices, great because of
their potency for good. Every family-man is supposed to be under three
important obligations. He is indebted to the Rishis, in that he has
aquired learning from them; to the pitris, in that they are his
prototypes in heaven, and the givers of all good; and lastly to the
Devas, the elementals, who confer favors on him. He must discharge
these debts, and at the same time guard himself against the evil
influence of various spirits, as also do his duty by all men in
earnest charity. These five objects are served severally by the five
great sacrifices. The writers of sacred texts say that in every family
there are involuntarily killed a number of Jivas, in acts of beating
grain with the pestle, cooking, grinding, sweeping, and fetching
water, and the five sacrifices have also the indirect object of
atoning for all such involuntary sins. Hence they maintain that though
the non-performance of these involves sin, their careful performance
confers no special merit.
The first is called Brahmayajna, meaning, the sacrifice relating to
Brahma, the Veda, or whatever branch of learning the Grihastha has
learned. He should rise before twilight, wash himself, say his
Sandhyavandana, repeat his Gayatri, and then address himself to
revising, what be has learned. The Brahmayajna consists in this
revising, as also in imparting the same, without any renumeration, to
pupils ready to receive. A distinction is here to be made. To teach
and be taught, to give and receive, to worship and assist others to
worship, are six things permitted to Brahmins alone; the other varnas
cannot teach, receive, or assist at worship. Thus then is daily paid
the debt one owes his teachers.
This is followed by giving a few handfuls of water mixed with seasamum
seeds, and purified with kusha-grass, to the pitris, with proper
invocations. This finishes the debt he must daily pay to the pitris;
but more properly, the Grihastha is relieved from his anxiety only
when a son is born to him to continue the ceremony after him. This is
pitriyajna.
The third devayajna consists in offering oblations, meant for the
Devas, in the marriage-fire preserved in the house. This relieves the
family-man of the daily quota of his due to the gods.
Bhuta-yajna is offering oblations of a certain kind to the Bhutas,
with proper incantations; and the fifth Nriyajna consists in the
Grihastha going out in search of an Atithi (a guest who turns up at
any unappointed time) whom he should bring home with due ceremony, and
feed before himself, if a Brahmin, and with him, if of any other
varna.
These five are not very carefully observed in these days; but it is
not at all rare to come across several pious families of Brahmins
where they are religiously observed. The Shastras allow the co-
mingling of the second, third, and fourth sacrifices in one act called
the Vaishvadeva, which all true Brahmins perform every day.

XXII-XXV. Agrayana, Ashtaka, Upakarma, Utsarga (the worship of
Agrayana, the Shraddha -- called Ashtaka, the giving up, and the
taking up of study).
The subject of necessary Samskaras is finished with the five Yajnas.
The four here described are simply optional, and may be performed by
the Grihastha according to his ability and desire.
The fifthteenth day of the bright half of the month of Ashvia
(October) is called Agrayana, and all family men are expected to
worship the gods and pitris on that day, with the new corn that is
brought in. This worship corresponds to the Greek worship of Ceres,
the god of corn.
Before speaking of the Shraddha called ashtaka, it is necessary to
know what Shraddha, in itself, is. Shraddha is an act done through
Shraddha, faith; that is to say, faith in the existence and power of
the pitris; for these ceremonies have the satisfaction of the pitris
as their end. The pitris could be satisfied only by vasana, mental
desire, which cannot be communicated to them unless shown in acts
under complete magnetic rapport, established through faith. The
subject of Shradda is a very long and complicated one. Considered
briefly, however, they are of four kinds: Akoddishta (that in which
only one pinda [Literally the word means any individual body, and is
here used to mean a ball of cooked rice or of rice-flour, meant as a
symbol of the body of the pitri.] is given), Sapindana (the unifying
the pinda), Sarvana (Shraddha performed on any parva i.e. every
fifteenth day of the month, as well as any auspicious day of the
year), and Nandi (the Shraddha of joy). Let us take the last first. It
has for its object the conveying of a message of congratulations and
thanks to the pitris at the birth of a son; that is to say, of one who
is expected to continue to feast them, or on the occasion of other
auspicious ceremonies such as marriage, Simantonnayana, or Upanayana,
with the same object, only in an indirect manner. The other three
Shraddhas are for the dead. The soul of a dead man is supposed to
become a preta (that which has passed out of the body), and to hover
between this earth and the abode of the pitris (the moon), or of the
gods (the sun). In order that the preta should not be prevailed upon
by earthly tendencies to become an earth-bound spirit (bhuta), these
ceremonies are undertaken. The first akoddishta is, again, of three
kinds, [Nava, navamishra, and purana. The first performed every day
from the day of death to the tenth after death; the second includes
all performed on the anniversary day, though in the mode of its
performance there is a variety of opinions.] and has for its object
the relief of the preta from the influence of the earth. Almost all
things that the dead man liked while living are given away in gifts to
Brahmins, all kinds of food, including fruits, sweets, etc., are given
to deserving persons; -- all with a view to disentangle the Kama
(desire) of the preta from such things. The next, Sapindana, is meant
to unify the preta with the pitris. In all ceremonies relating to
Shraddhas, balls of cooked rice or rice-flour are worshipped with
kusha-grass, flowers, sandal-wood ointment, and water mixed with
Seasamum seeds, -- the whole act being accompanied by the repetition
of proper mantras. The balls represent the preta and the pitris; and
at the Sapindana the ball representing the preta is cut up into parts,
which are carefully unified with the balls representing his immediate
pitris. The object of the ceremony is obvious: The Parvana is a
ceremony whose meaning is plain enough. The Ashtaka is a kind of
Parvana Shraddha performed every eighth day of the dark half of the
months from Margashirsha to Falguna (December to March). It includes
the Shraddha on the day preceding (called purvedyu) and that on the
succeeding (called anvashtaka). Special stress is laid upon this one
rite on account of the great auspiciousness of the time enjoined for
it.
Upakarma is a ceremony connected with the commencing the study or
revision of the Veda. It is performed at the time of the budding forth
of all herbs in the month of Shravana (August), when the Yajnopavita
also is changed for a new one. This study continues for about four
months; and in Pausha (January) the ceremony called Utsarga is
performed, with a view to suspend the study for a time. Having taken
rest for a fortnight or a day, the study may be resumed, in the order
of the Vedas in the bright, and the angas in the dark, half of every
month, up to the day of Upakarma.
All these ceremonies are generally observed to this day by those who
profess to be orthodox Brahmins.
The writers of sacred texts thus define the religious duties of the
different varnas and ashramas, and even specify the various callings
which each should follow, -- all with a view to enable every one to,
in the end, realize the religious ideal of the aim of existence. But
they have taken care to add a distinct chapter on the subject of
"duties under calamity", wherein it is laid down that under very great
calamities, in sickness, or under other inconvenient circumstances,
any man might infringe the law with immunity. But this immunity is
allowed in very trifling cases, for a prayaschitta (atonement) is
always enjoined for any and every default not wilfully done, for acts
wilfully done in defiance of law are beyond atonement. But this opens
up another subject of great complexity and one which is foreign to the
present paper.

Hope u had a good reading.
Yrs,
Chamakuzhi Subramanian