Talk:Sīmantonnayanaṃ

By Jammalamadaka Srinivas & Jammalamadaka Suryanarayana

Sometimes transliterated as: Seemantonnayanam, Simantonnayanam, Seemantonnayana, Simantonnayana

The word Sīmatonnaynaṃ literally means parting of the hair of a woman upwards.The etymology for the term Sīmantaṃ is 'Sīmānaṃ aṃtati badhnāti'. Traditionally there is a unique style of dressing a woman's hair. The whole process literally involves the entire process of making hair accordingly. The total hair is divided into two from its roots using a comb. The karma/anuṣṭānaṃ where a husband ties his wife's hair accordingly is called as sīmantōnnayanaṃ. It is also called as Sīmantaḥ, Sīmantakaraṇaṃ and Phalasnapanaṃ. Here Sīmā means parting of the hair on the head while antaṃ means the end. The main ritual of the saṃskāra is that the husband takes a porcupine thorn bound with fig fruits by darbha/Halfa grass and touches the wife with that from the navel till the end of the parting of the hair on the head. This is called as sīmantōnnayanaṃ.

Sīmanta unnīyatē yasmin karmaṇi tat sīmantōnnayanaṃ iti karma nāmadhēyaṃ

Process of Sīmatonnaynaṃ

The Āśvalāyana Gṛhyasūtras describe the process of Sīmantonnayanaṃ in 9 sutras. Sīmantonnayanaṃ should be performed in the fourth month of pregnancy. It is advised to be performed in the śukla pakṣa i.e. the fourteen days before full moon. That too when the moon is in conjunction with nakṣatra that is considered as male or the name of nakṣatra which is of masculine gender. After performing the prescribed homas the husband then parts the hair of wife three times upwards (beginning from the front of till middle of head with a bunch of an even number of unripe fruits with a porcupine quill that has three white spots and with three bunches of kuśa grass. The apt time for this saṃskāra is from the fourth month of pregnancy until the delivery of the child. If due to any unknown or accidental reasons, the premature delivery of the child occurs, it is instructed to perform the saṃskāra having the child in the lap.

Strī yadā akṛtasīmantā prasūyēta kathaṃchana| gṛhītaputrā vidhivatpunassamskāramarhati||

Siginificance of Sīmantōnnayanaṃ

Sīmantōnnayanaṃ has religious and festive characters . The first part of homa and oblations with mantras is religious in nature. But this rite is mainly of a social and festive nature intended to keep the pregnant woman in good cheer. At the time pregnancy, woman is very fragile and tends to attract some evil forces. These negative energies are considered to create unnecessary obstacles at the time of delivery. To tackle them effectively, this third samskāra, Sīmantonnayanaṃ, is to be performed when the wife is pregnant. The parting of hair by husband with the quill, bunch of unripe fruit and kuśa grass etc. indicate its festive nature.