Our Samskaars (Sacraments)

Those rites that have to be performed by an individual from the birth to the death are known as Samskaars or Sacraments. Samskaar - Sam= good, kara=making means making something good, refining. These are explained in Smritis (a recession of Veda). They explain the importance, benefits and methods of performing these Samskaar. These start from the moment the copulation of husband and wife takes place to the end of the life. These are stated briefly in Vedas as Smritis. There are at least sixteen such Samskaars which have to be performed during the lifetime. They can be classified as 

1. Those which are to be performed by parents
2. Those that have to be performed by individual

Some Samskaar have to be done once in lifetime, some once a year and some daily. 

Five Yagnyas are stated as Pancha maha-yagnyas which have to be performed daily. They are Bramha yagnya, Deva yagnya, Pitru yagnya, Manushya yagnya and Bhuta yagnya. 

The sixteen samskaars to be performed in lifetime are – 

1. Garbhadhan – This is the prayer done by parents to beget a child for continuation of the race i.e. conception.

2. Punsavana – This is done during 3rd or 4th month of pregnancy for the protection of fetus.

3. Simantonayana – This is done in the 7th month of pregnancy for satisfying the cravings of the mother. At the same time, rituals are performed for healthy, physical and mental growth of the child

4. Jatakarma – Mantras are recited for well-being of child.

5. Naamkarana – This is the ceremony for giving the name to the child.

6. Nishkramana – This samskaar is performed in the 4th month of the child when it is taken out first time out of the house

7. Annaprashana – In 6th/7th/8th month, the child is given solid food.

8. Mundan – This is done in the 1st or 3rd year of the child

9. Karnaveda – This is the ceremony involving piercing of the ear. It is usually done 3rd or 5th year of the child.

10. Upanayana – Introduce the male child to the teacher which marks the entry of the child to bramhacharya.

11. Vedarambha – This is done at the time of Upanayana which involves the Gayatri upadesha.

12. Samavartana – Returning home from Gurukul is known as Samavartana.

13. Vivaha – Known as Marriage, is the introduction of individual to Grihasthashram. This is optional if the person decides to continue Brahmacharya

14. Vaanaprastha - this and next i.e. Sanyasashram are optional. 

15. Sanyasa

16. Antyeshti – This is the final samskaar which is performed after death.

All these are performed once during lifetime. 

Shradha ceremony for pitrus have to be performed once in a year. Besides they have to be performed when on a yatra to the holy places (punya tirtha or punya kshetra). Tarpan – this has to be performed during new moon days (amavasyas), during eclipse and during certain transition of the Sun.

Now we enumerate the daily samskaars. Besides the 5 maha yagnyas mentioned earlier, some more samskaars are to be done daily. They are – 

1. Taking Bath
2. Sandhya vandan
3. Japam and homa
4. Devata Pooja
5. Vaishvadevam

1. Taking Bath (Snana) – There are number of methods of performing samskaar. 

• Taking bath in a lake, pond or river. While taking bath in these, we have to dip inside the water and take bath. This method is considered to be the best (holiest). 
• Drawing water from a well and taking bath is considered as good but next only to earlier one.
• In case a person cannot have bath, bhasma snana is recommended.
• One should not take bath in sea daily but can be done on special occasions. In kshetra like Rameshwar, Gokarna Mahabaleshwar, we can take bath in a sea on any day.

2. Sandhya vandana – It has to be performed 3 times in a day, according to the rules laid down in the scriptures

3. Japam – There are 2 types of japas, names Sandhya Japa and Ishta Devata Japa. Ishta Devata japa is to be done only after Sandhya japa. Those who are not allowed to do Sandhya japa, can do Ishta devata japa first. Japa can be performed in 3 ways.

• Performing Japa loudly with open mouth. This is considered as the least sacred. It is not recommended
• Performing Japa by moving only the lips. This is slightly superior to the first.
• Performing Japa without moving the lips i.e. Manasa japa. This is considered to be the best of all.Counting the number of Japas with fingers is not considered sacred. Using garland made of beads is better than the earlier one. The best method is the one where we use the joints in the fingers while counting.

4. Devata Pooja – Generally it is advisable (or mandatory) to have five or six idols in daily worship. The five that are mentioned are – Lord Ganesha, Lord Shiva, Goddess Ambika (Parvati), Lord Vishnu and Lord Surya. This is known as Panchayatan worship (Pooja) introduced by His Holiness Aadi-Shankaracharya. Besides this in South India, it is customary to have Lord Subramanya also.

5. Vaishvadevam – After performing Pooja and before taking the food, we have to perform this samskaar. This is done in order to get rid of all the sins and for the welfare of all living beings i.e. placing food in different places of the house (chanting mantras) for animals, birds and for beggars etc. 

Thus we find in smriti they have mentioned the duties to be performed from morning till night. In order to understand the principles (tatva) and guidelines to perform these karmas, rules are mentioned in the Upanishads, smritis and vedas. It is mentioned that it is essential to be healthy in mind and body.