Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices (The Library of Religious Beliefs and Practices)

by Julius Lipner

  We have made frequent mention of the texts in our description of the saṃskāras. Textual tradition in this context is important because it helps reveal historical development and the changing semantic parameters in terms of which this development can be explored and understood. In real life, of course, many modifications of what the texts prescribe take place (often with allowances made for this purpose by the texts themselves). In this way, tradition is modified and re-interpreted, according to need and circumstance. To give substance to this observation, we quote here from an interpretation of some pre-birth rituals practised by her community, made by a contemporary upper-caste Gujarati housewife:

  Hindus believe in reincarnation, so the conception and birth of a baby is very important ... Many of our rituals are carried out to ensure that the baby, with God's help, will have the best possible start in life, unhampered by the effects of the wrong actions of the past.

  Once the baby is felt to move in the mother's womb, at about the fifth month of pregnancy, we feel that life has really begun. The priest is asked to say special prayers in the temple for a healthy full-term baby and he gives one black thread to the husband's sister, or any unmarried female in the family, to tie around the mother's right wrist. This is as protection for the baby, to keep any evil away.

  Just before the seventh month a ceremony takes place at home. The priest comes and performs a puja, worship, in which he recites prayers in Sanskrit for the welfare of the child. It is very much a family occasion. Lots of relatives and friends come and it is time for a party ... [I]n eating the food that has been offered to God and saying the prayers at this time, we have the belief that we are taking in something of the soul that is to be born, and helping to get rid of any sin that may accompany him ... The husband's sister will tie another thread on the mother's wrist, and she, or another female relative or friend who has had healthy babies of her own, will also put some grain, coconut and money into the mother's sari. This is saying, ‘I have had the blessing of a healthy child, I pray for the same blessing for you’.

  (Varsha Pandya in G. Little 2001:91)

  We come now to the saṃskāras associated with the actual birth of the child. (iv) Jātakarma can be understood loosely as referring to the rites performed in connection with the imminent birth of the child. These rites are meant to prepare the mother and the household for the child's arrival, to ensure a smooth delivery, and to celebrate a successful birth. Strictly speaking, this saṃskāra should be performed just before the severing of the umbilical cord and includes rites seeking the mental and physical welfare of the child, such as growth of intelligence, long life and so on. The time of birth is important for the preparation of the infant's horoscope, which will have an important role to play later in life in guiding decisions about the avoidance of potential dangers and choosing a walk of life, marriage partner and so on. (v) The formal rite of ‘name-giving’ or nāmakaraṇa is popular in many circles. The texts give rules as to how and what a child is to be named (horoscopes come in useful for this purpose too), even sometimes to the point of how many syllables the name should contain. Whilst the practice of giving affectionate, if meaningless, nicknames and diminutives is widespread, proper Hindu first names tend to be meaningful words rather than just sounds, signifying some desirable quality or virtue, or recalling the power of some deity. There is no unanimity as to when this rite is to be completed;some authorities allow up to a year. (vi) Niṣkramaṇa refers to the first formal outing of the infant, its first exposure to the outside world; it is to be performed by a member of the family (father, mother, uncle, etc., depending on local custom), during the day (so that the life-giving sun can be seen), and within a period of about four months. (vii) Annaprāśana, or the rite of weaning the child, is fairly common in Hindu circles. The early texts variously recommend meat and/or non-meat items as suitable for the weaning of the child, though today milk, rice, honey and ghee (clarified butter) in one combination or other are the usual ingredients of the rite. The recommended time for this rite is generally the sixth or seventh month after birth, though this period may vary further. (viii) Cūḍākaraṇa or tonsuring, also called muṇḍana, was intended to prolong life. The body is likened to a tree or plant, and the rite was thought to have a ‘pruning’ and so hygienic and invigorating effect. It is still practised, often in the precincts of a temple, and should be performed by about the seventh year. (ix) Karṇavedha or the ceremonial piercing of the ear(s) is of late (viz. post-Gṛhya Sūtra) origin. It was originally intended, no doubt, to ratify the already popular practice, among both women and men, of boring the ear-lobe to attach an earring for ornamental purposes. Making an aperture in the body could be threatening to wellbeing – it might induce infection or allow the entry of an evil spirit – so the individual needed protection by a religious rite. There was no agreement as to when the karṇavedha was to be performed; the time recommended in the early texts ranges from a few days after birth up to considerably later in life, viz. the fifth year. Incidentally, earrings worn by men differed in style from those worn by women, and this difference was made use of in iconographic depictions of the deity, etc. Thus you will notice that the figure of Śiva in his famous pose as Lord of the Dance (see our discussion in Part II of Chapter 11) bears an earring in the male style in his right ear and an earring in the female style in the left. This symbolizes the reconciliation of all complementarities and divisions in the deity. Karṇavedha, as a religious rite, is not much used today, though it is interesting to note that the ears of males in some Brahmin jātis, in particular, are pierced as a ritual requirement for priestly ministry. The wearing of earrings, on the other hand, for ornamental purposes by girls and women is popular in all sections of Hindu society.

  On some of these practices, Varsha Pandya comments again:

  When the baby is born, we give the priest the details of the time and place. He can then read the child's horoscope. This may be used at any time; sometimes not until a marriage is being planned. Then it is compared to the one belonging to the prospective partner to make sure they will be compatible and therefore happy together. At the same time the priest will tell the parents the letters under that particular sign of the zodiac, and from those the initial letters of the child's name will be chosen. Not everyone nowadays does this, they just choose a name they like ... The choosing of the name may be done by the sister-in-law ... usually on the sixth day after the birth, in the evening ... Different traditions are followed by different families, but often relatives and friends come for a meal and bring gifts, such as a small bracelet, or an outfit for the baby. Cradle-songs may be sung, inserting the baby's name, and sometimes the baby will have its ears pierced. We also believe that on that night, the future fate of the child will be written by God. So special prayers are said for everything good for the child ...

  When the baby is about five weeks old, we take him out for the first time, not before, though in Britain this is not always observed ... We choose an auspicious day and time and take the baby to the temple ... Another important stage is reached when the baby is ready for its first solid food, at about 6 or 7 months. The event is marked by a ceremony in the home, performed by the priest and the baby receives some sweet semolina or rice and everyone gets lots of good food at a party.

  At 15 months, or later for some, the child has its hair shaved. We believe that, by doing this, the last of the sins brought by the soul from its previous life are destroyed. This may be done at home or at the hairdresser's. Traditions vary. In some families it is only the boys who have it done, in others both boys and girls, or even just the first child. Some parents choose to take the child to a sacred place for this special occasion. It is their choice.

  (op. cit. pp.92–3)

  (x) Vidyārambha, another late rite, marks the beginning (ārambha) of learning to read and write, viz. of the formal acquisition of knowledge (vidyā), and is still practised. It should take place in about the fifth year (sometimes it was combined with the tonsure), usual
ly with the priest in the role of teacher who helps the child trace various signs or letters of the alphabet on the ground. (xi) The upanayana ceremony is, as we have already indicated earlier in this book, a very important ceremony for various strata of the population, for it is the rite initiating into the second birth. It is the rite by which one becomes a dvija or ‘twice-born’ and so is granted direct access to Vedic wisdom and social privileges. As such, it is a ceremony that has particular religious and social implications. It has a very ancient pedigree: ‘In the Atharvaveda, the Vedic student is extolled in two hymns which give many details of the Upanayana Saṃskāra found in latter-day ceremonies’ (Pandey 1976:112). Today, this rite is usually combined with the tonsure ceremony and the investiture of the sacred thread or yajñopavīta, and is sometimes simply called by this name. It has become a greatly contracted and symbolic rite in contrast to the more lengthy performance of ancient times.

  On an auspicious day, determined by the family priest, the young boy, often after having had his head tonsured, which purifies him, is bathed and dressed in clean cloth (the style of which varies). An altar or vedi, or some other device, is prepared for the sacred domestic fire. Another vedi may be built for the navagraha, a group of nine (nava) heavenly bodies, which include some of the planets. The candidate, with family and well-wishers in attendance, sits on a mat in front of the fire(s), and Vedic mantras are recited enjoining him to live a chaste life devoted to Vedic study and to be obedient to his elders. He is sprinkled with Ganges water, which is a purifying agent. The navagraha and Gaṇeśa the elephant-headed deity, may be invoked for blessings and success in life. The sacred thread is then put on the youth – over the left shoulder and across, under the right arm – and various deities are asked to dwell in it to strengthen him, and the Gāyatrī mantra (see end of Chapter 3) is repeated in his right ear. This uttering of the Gāyatrī is thought by some to effect the second, ritual, birth of the ‘twice-born’. The youth may be given a staff, which is the sign of the mendicant and of the traveller on the road of spiritual wisdom. Then the initiate ceremonially begs from his relations so that what he receives may be offered to his ‘guru’, viz. the priest who has initiated him. A fee (dakṣiṇā) is also given to the priest. Moral advice on how to live a good life may then be imparted to him by the priest, and the ceremony is usually rounded off by a festive meal, or the offering of food to those present. I have given here only the gist of the rite.

  As a saṃskāra, (xii) Vedārambha, or the formal beginning of Vedic study, is of later origin than (xiii) keśānta, or the first shaving of the beard (usually at the age of about 16). Keśānta was meant to mark the end of puberty. (xiv) Samāvartana formally marked the end of brahmacārya or the state of celibate studentship under the teacher (ācārya, guru). It is also called snāna, after the ritual bath taken to complete this stage. Today, it tends to be incorporated into the upanayana ceremony, or sometimes into the next saṃskāra. (xv) This is marriage or vivāha, one of the most important saṃskāras for all castes. Tradition recognized eight kinds of marriage as valid, provided that prescribed rituals were duly carried out. Each kind of marriage is described from the point of view of the husband. As will become clear, to say that these forms of union could be recognized as valid, does not mean that they were all socially encouraged, or indeed, that some did not receive moral censure. In a number of cases, the way the unions were effected was roundly condemned both socially and morally (see, e.g. Manu 3.20–35), but these unions were accorded a validity in order to make the best of a bad job, in other words, so that a fait accompli could become the basis for granting some social status and recognition to those directly concerned, not least the vulnerable ‘wife’ and the offspring of the union. Thus, the (i) paiśāca or ‘fiendish’ and (ii) rākṣasa or ‘ogrish’ forms of marriage (mark the names of such ‘marriages’) validated sexual unions that had occurred as the result of deception or force in such circumstances as intoxication, mental instability, abduction, etc. The (iii) gāndharva, or ‘Cupid's’ form of marriage, arose from sexual intercourse or cohabitation that was based on mutual desire. Such a union could be ‘ratified’, but, as in the case of the preceding kinds of ‘marriage’, was not encouraged, for Hindu dharma traditionally favours pre-marital virginity and frowns on extra-marital sex, especially for women. The marital unions described so far were thought to undermine dharma proper and its translation into an ordered and stable society. The traditional view was that kāma, understood as sexual desire, should not be the prime motive for undertaking one's social obligation to marry;rather, the motive should be the dutiful procreation of children and the building of a contented and stable society established on recommended guidelines.

  Both of the forms of marriage called (iv) āsura (‘demonic’) and (v) prājāpatya (‘lordly’) have this in common, that they are based on effecting a mutual contract made between the marrying parties, except that in the āsura form of marriage, a dowry or bride-price of some kind was exacted by the groom's side as a necessary condition. Traditionally, āsura marriage was tolerated but not encouraged.

  Today, in spite of Government legislation to disallow it, the exacting of dowries is still widely practised at all levels of Hindu society. Sometimes dowries are not made over at a stroke, but continue to be paid even after the wedding has taken place. This can result in intolerable financial strain falling on the bride's side, and persecution, even to the point of murder of the bride, by disgruntled in-laws: āsuric or demonic indeed! The deity Prajāpati (‘Lord of creatures’) symbolizes a contract, so that prājāpatya marriage connoted a purely contractual form of union for the performance of marital dharma and the procreation of children, especially a male heir.

  The last three kinds of marriage were the most acceptable, in ascending order of approval. The (vi) ārṣa or ‘seer's’ form of marriage was undertaken with the groom in the role of patron of a sacrifice. To this end, he gave his prospective father-in-law a gift (usually two cows) as a bond or fee in exchange for the bride, so that the ‘sacrifice’ could be consummated. Later, by the beginning of the Common Era, this form of marriage was criticized in the Codes as being based on a kind of purchase of the bride. In the ‘godly’ or (vii) daiva form of marriage, the girl, as bride, was offered to a priest as the fee (dakṣiṇa) for a sacrifice of which her father was the patron – ancient India's equivalent of a Mass stipend. This was supposed to be a meritorious act, and could only have been practised by the twice-born.

  Finally, the ideal form of marriage was the (viii) brāhma or ‘Brahminic’, in which the girl (kanyā) was given as a free gift (kanyā-dāna) by the father to a suitable groom. ‘The Smṛtis regard it as the most honourable type of marriage as it was [supposedly] free from physical force, carnal appetite, imposition of conditions and lure of money’ (Pandey 1969:169). No one cares to mention whether the bride was content to be regarded as a free gift, or whether her views about the match were taken into account. (Many ancient authorities also mention the svayaṃvara as a form of marriage. Here, the woman, with her parents’ permission, freely chose the man she was to marry. In the story recounted in this chapter, Sāvitrī marries Satyavat in this way. Svayaṃvara was usually practised by royalty and the aristocracy.)

  We have noted elsewhere that, in ancient India, polygamy was authorized, but not the taking of more than one husband (the case of Draupadī and the Pāṇḍavas being something of an exception; see Chapter 11). The senior wife, the wife who ‘completed’ the man in the context of the performance of sacred ritual, was called the patnī; she was his saha-dharmiṇī or ‘partner’ in dharma (see the description of her duties in Chapter 6). The practice of taking more than one wife by Hindus persisted until not so long ago;it has been a popular theme of novels and of social reform pertaining to the nineteenth century. In India today, however, it is against the law for Hindus to have more than one wife.

  In contemporary times, many traditional ideas about marriage remain unchanged among village people and t
hose dwelling in cities, though emphases, beliefs and practices between the two groups may vary. ‘Love-marriages’, viz. marriages based on prior mutual attraction and courting, are still generally regarded as something to be avoided, though, among various circles of the middle-classes, discreet forms of such unions may well be tolerated within certain caste-parameters, on the one hand, and without endorsement of pre-marital sex, on the other. In general, however, most marriages are arranged by parents and/or elders of the families concerned, with an eye to the expectations of local caste practice and family aspiration. There is a common saying in India that marriages bind together for life not only the bride and groom but their extended families as well. Association of individuals and families through marriage is a powerful social reality, which carries many obligations of mutual hospitality and other forms of interaction.