Talk:Saṁskāras Performed By Parents
By Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Swami
The saṃskāras begin with garbhādhāna—that is, from the moment of conception [or, more correctly, impregnation]. The śarīra-piṇḍa must be formed to the chanting of mantras. People mistakenly think that rites like puṃsavana and sīmantonnayana are meant for the mother. Actually, they are for the life taking shape in her womb—the foetus—and are meant to purify it. The elders have a responsibility in this matter. One may not do the rites meant for oneself, but it is sinful to be negligent about those meant for another life. Nowadays people omit to perform garbhādhāna, sīmantonnayana, etc., since they think that such rites are not fashionable.
Where there should be some delicacy in man-woman relationship, people act without any sense of shame after the fashion in the West. But, when it comes to performing Vedic rites in which the well-being of the new life created is involved, they feel a sense of awkwardness. Such an attitude is not right.
Garbhādhāna, puṃsavana and sīmantonnayana are performed before the child is born. The sexual union of man and wife must be sanctified by the mantras. Instead of being an act of animal passion, it is raised to the level of a saṃskāra with the chanting of mantras: the purpose is the well-being of the life to be formed. It is madness to give up such rituals without realising the high principles inspiring them, and, instead, thinking them to be "uncivilised". If there is any feeling of delicacy on your part about the garbhādhāna (ṛtusaṃti) ceremony, you do not have to invite a crowd. But the rite itself must be gone through within the four walls of the home. It is no longer the custom to have a four-day wedding with the couple doing daily aupāsana. Nor is the rite of śeṣahoma conducted following the day of wedding. The couple has sexual intercourse on the same day as the marriage without any ceremony and the chanting of mantras. This is an evil practice and sinful. Since the intercourse takes place in an animal manner, the children born too will be likewise. Puṃsavana must be performed in the third month of pregnancy and sīmantonnayana in the sixth or eighth.
Nowadays both rites are gone through together anyhow.
On the birth of a child, its jātakarma must be performed. Gifts must be given away. Nāmakaraṇa is on the eleventh day. Even this—the naming ceremony—has a purificatory purpose according to the śāstras. There are rules regarding the name to be chosen for the child in accordance with the nakṣatra or asterism under which it is born. It must be one from the many names of the Lord, and to call the child by such a name is itself a saṃskāra since it has a cleansing effect. We do not have the custom of “christening” our children as “Longfellow” or “Stone”. But nowadays even in this land similar names are given to children. Also, when the child’s name is that of the Lord, it is corrupted or twisted clumsily. The name given to a child during a Vedic ritual must be treated with some respect.
When the child is six months old it is time for its annaprāśana. The saṃskāras from the garbhādhāna to nāmakaraṇa are performed by the parents on behalf of the child. In annaprāśana, even though the father chants the mantras, it is [obviously] the child that takes anna or food.
If the mother takes medicine, the baby is nourished, is it not? In the same way, the inner thoughts and feelings of the parents will affect the foetus, and its character will be shaped accordingly. There is a difference between what you write when your mind is calm and what you write when you are in an angry mood: the first will be good to read while the second will not be so pleasant. The body too is subject to good and bad influences. The sexual union must take place when the couple is imbued with good thoughts: it will then lead to the creation of a blob of life (piṇḍa) that will have the potential to develop into a noble character. This is the reason why the marriage is consummated with the intonation of mantras.
There are people who have not altogether ceased to observe such rites, but sometimes they go through two or three rites together. There is a right time for every saṃskāra and there are mantras as well as dravyas (materials) appropriate to them.
Cūḍākaraṇa (caula) comes after annaprāśana. It is meant for the śikhā, which is essential to the conduct of all good rites. The sannyāsin has no śikhā and is shaven-headed; in fact, the śikhā has to be removed with the recitation of mantras at the time one receives initiation into sannyāsa. It is worn in the caula ceremony with the chanting of mantras and with a vow made to Parameśvara (as part of the saṅkalpa). So it is wrong to remove it as we like in violation of this vow. Is it proper to remove this lock of hair as if it were just a handful of leafy vegetables? People install the śivaliṅga or śāligrāma for worship. Would it be right on their part to discard them as they like? It would be a different matter if they were stolen or lost accidentally. Similarly, to wear a śikhā ceremonially and then remove it, as and when we like, and wear a crop is not proper.
The chanting of the Vedas, the performance of Vedic rituals and the dharma practised by the householder with his wife strengthen both body and mind (the latter through the vibrations in the nāḍīs produced by the mantras). The śikhā on the brahmarandhra is a protection and a means of obtaining such strength. It is like the tiles on the roof of a house. Only when you cease to perform Vedic rites is it not needed—that is, when you are no longer a householder and become an ascetic. Today, even as student-bachelors or as householders, we have ceased to chant the Vedas and practise Vedic rites. So, naturally, we do not wear the śikhā also.
Upanayana comes after caula. It is the first saṃskāra that a boy performs, chanting the mantras himself. Those conduced until this ceremony are meant to protect the child from the evil influences arising from the sins committed by its parents. These are either garbhika or bījika (belonging to the womb or to the seed or sperm). The saṃskāras performed by the parents are to remove the ills caused to the child by these harmful influences.
Any saṃskāra must be performed at the right time, and by doing so we are absolved of our sins. To wash away the pāpa earned by us in the past we have to go through saṃskāras in which our body, mind and speech are applied.
We think evil with our mind, tell lies with our mouth, and sin with our body also. Indeed, we practise all kinds of deception. The wrongs committed by mind, speech and body must be wiped away by applying mind, speech and body to virtuous purposes. With the mind, Parameśvara must be meditated upon; with the faculty of speech, mantras must be chanted; and with the body, noble deeds must be performed. It is from the time of upanayana that one becomes mature enough to perform saṃskāras that bring together mind, speech and body.
I must speak about another matter. Apart from the saṃskāras that a father performs specifically for the sake of his child (from garbhādhāna to caula), those (including other types of rites) he conducts otherwise also benefit the children. This is according to the saying, "The good done by mother and father goes to protect the children". Until recently the children of Vaidika Brāhmaṇas were particularly bright, the reason being the impetus they received from the saṃskāras performed by their forefathers. What our ancestors did by way of good works served as the foundation of our moral and intellectual uplift for two or three generations. Children born afterwards have been so much embroiled in worldly affairs as to have become degraded.
Our fathers did not perform any saṃskāras. So we may feel sorry that we have been deprived of the benefits that would otherwise have come to us. Let us not give room for our children to make the same complaint about us. Let us perform saṃskāras for our sake and theirs.