Talk:The Forty Saṁskāras

By Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Swami

The word saṁskāra according to the Tarka-śāstra (science of logic) is “impression on memory”. But this is not how the word is generally understood. “Sam(s)” = well; “kāra” = making. Saṁskāra means making something good, refining or purifying it.

The Dharmaśāstras deal with such saṁskāras as purify a man to make him fit to be united with the Paramātman. From the Dharmaśāstras we know in detail the forty saṁskāras that are based on the Kalpa-sūtras and that are to be performed by a man during his life’s journey.