Transcript File - World Religions

Ritual:
• Birth
• A detailed series of life-cycle rituals (samskara, or refinements) mark major
transitions in the life of the individual.
• Especially orthodox Hindu families may invite Brahman priests to their homes to
officiate at these rituals, complete with sacred fire and recitations of mantras.
• Most of these rituals, however, do not occur in the presence of such priests, and
among many groups who do not revere the Vedas or respect Brahmans, there
may be other officiants or variations in the rites.
• Pregnancy, Birth, Infancy
Ceremonies may be performed during pregnancy to ensure the health of the
mother and growing child. The father may part the hair of the mother three
times upward from the front to the back, to assure the ripening of the embryo.
Charms may serve to ward off the evil eye and witches or demons.
• At birth, before the umbilical cord is severed, the father may touch the baby's
lips with a gold spoon or ring dipped in honey, curds, and ghee. The word vak
(speech) is whispered three times into the right ear, and mantras are chanted to
ensure a long life.
• A number of rituals for the infant include the first visit outside to a temple, the
first feeding with solid food (usually cooked rice), an ear-piercing ceremony, and
the first haircut (shaving the head) that often occurs at a temple or during a
festival when the hair is offered to a deity.
Ritual:
• Upanayana: The Thread Ceremony
• A crucial event in the life of the orthodox,
upper-caste Hindu male is an initiation
(upanayana) ceremony, which takes place for
some young males between the ages of six
and twelve to mark the transition to
awareness and adult religious responsibilities.
• At the ceremony itself, the family priest
invests the boy with a sacred thread to be
worn always over the left shoulder, and the
parents instruct him in pronouncing the
Gayatri Mantra. The initiation ceremony is
seen as a new birth; those groups entitled to
wear the sacred thread are called the twiceborn.
• Many individuals and groups who are only
hazily associated with the old "twice-born"
elites perform the upanayana ceremony and
claim the higher status it bestows.
• For young Hindu women in South India, a
different ritual and celebration occurs at the
first menses.
Ritual:
• Marriage
• The next important transition in life is marriage.
• For most people in India, the betrothal of the young couple and the exact date and time of the wedding are
matters decided by the parents in consultation with astrologers.
• At Hindu weddings, the bride and bridegroom represent the god and the goddess, although there is a
parallel tradition that sees the groom as a prince coming to wed his princess.
• The groom, decked in all his finery, often travels to the wedding site on a caparisoned white horse or in an
open limousine, accompanied by a procession of relatives, musicians, and bearers of ornate electrified
lamps.
• The actual ceremonies in many cases become extremely elaborate.
• In a crucial rite, the new couple takes seven steps northward from a sacred household fire, turn, and make
offerings into the flames.
• Independent traditions in regional languages and among different caste groups support wide variations in
ritual.
Ritual:
• Marriage
While various regional steps are followed by different sects of Hindus across India, the following 12 steps form
the core of a Vedic wedding ceremony:
1.
Vara Satkaarah - Reception of the bridegroom and his kinsmen at the entrance gate of the wedding hall
where the officiating priest chants a few mantras and the bride's mother blesses the groom with rice and
trefoil and applies tilak of vermilion and turmeric powder.
2.
Madhuparka Ceremony - Reception of the bridegroom at the altar and bestowing of presents by the
bride's father.
3.
Kanya Dan - The bride's father gives away his daughter to the groom amidst the chanting of sacred
mantras.
4.
Vivah-Homa - The sacred fire ceremony ascertaining that all auspicious undertakings are begun in an
atmosphere of purity and spirituality.
5.
Pani-Grahan - The groom takes the right hand of the bride in his left hand and accepts her as his
lawfully wedded wife.
6.
Pratigna-Karan - The couple walk round the fire, the bride leading, and take solemn vows of loyalty,
steadfast love and life-long fidelity to each other.
7.
Shila Arohan - The mother of the bride assists her to step onto a stone slab and counsels her to prepare
herself for a new life.
8.
Laja-Homah - Puffed rice offered as oblations into the sacred fire by the bride while keeping the palms of
her hands over those of the groom.
9.
Parikrama or Pradakshina or Mangal Fera - The couple circles the sacred fire seven times. This
aspect of the ceremony legalizes the marriage according to the Hindu Marriage Act as well custom.
10. Saptapadi - Marriage knot symbolized by tying one end of the groom's scarf with the bride's dress. Then
they take seven steps representing nourishment, strength, prosperity, happiness, progeny, long life and
harmony and understanding, respectively.
11. Abhishek - Sprinkling of water, meditating on the sun and the pole star.
12. Anna Praashan - The couple make food offerings into the fire then feed a morsel of food to each other
expressing mutual love and affection.
Ritual Rites of Passage
• Hindu rites of passage, according to the ancient sage Panini, are the ornaments
that decorate one's personality. They mark the important stages of one's life and
enable one to live a fulfilling life complete with happiness and contentment. They
pave the way for one's physical and spiritual journey through this life.
• It is believed that the various Hindu samskaras meticulously leads to a purification
of one's sins, vices, faults, and even correction of physical deformities.
• The Upanishads mention samskaras as a means to grow and prosper in all four
aspects of human pursuit - Dharma (righteousness), Artha (wealth), Karma and
Kama (work and pleasure), and Moksha (salvation).
• Samskaras bind an individual to the community that nurture the feeling of
brotherhood.
• Lack of samskaras give rise to indulging in individual physical pleasures and
fanning one's animal instincts.
• The inner demon is aroused that leads to the degeneration of oneself and the
society as a whole.
• When a person is not aware of his moorings in society he runs his own selfish race
against the world and the greed to pitch himself over others leads to destruction of
not only his self but the entire human community.
• The samskaras act as a moral code of conduct for the society.
Ritual Rites of Passage
• Hindu rites of passage, according to the ancient sage Panini, are the ornaments that decorate one's personality.
• They mark the important stages of one's life and enable one to live a fulfilling life complete with happiness and
contentment.
• It is believed that the various Hindu samskaras meticulously leads to a purification of one's sins, vices, faults, and
even correction of physical deformities.
• The Upanishads mention samskaras as a means to grow and prosper in all four aspects of human pursuit - Dharma
(righteousness), Artha (wealth), Karma and Kama (work and pleasure), and Moksha (salvation).
• Samskaras bind an individual to the community that nurture the feeling of brotherhood.
Ritual Rites of Passage
10 Benefits of Hindu Samskaras
1.
Samskaras provide sound mental and physical
health and the confidence to face life's challenges
2.
They are believed to purify blood and increase
blood circulation, sending more oxygen to every
organ
3.
Samskaras can energizes the body and revitalizes it
4.
They can increase physical strength and stamina to
work for longer period of time
5.
They rejuvenate the mind and enhance
concentration and intellectual capacity
6.
Samskaras give a sense of belonging, culture, and
refined sensibilities
7.
They direct energy to humanitarian causes thereby
building a strong character
8.
Samskaras kill vices, such as pride, ego,
selfishness, wrath, envy, covetousness, gluttony,
sloth, lechery, greed and fear
9.
They bestow moral and physical balance
throughout life
10. Samskaras give the confidence to face death
bravely owing to a contented and righteous life
Ritual:
16 samskaras that Rishi Veda Vyas propounded are considered the most important rites of
passage in a Hindu's life.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Garbhadhana is the conception ritual for having healthy
children. Lord Brahma or Prajapati is appeased by this ritual.
Punswana is the fertilization ritual performed on the third
month of pregnancy asking for life and safety of the fetus.
Once again Lord Brahma is prayed to in this ceremony.
Seemantonnayana ritual is observed in the penultimate
month of pregnancy for safe and assured delivery of the
baby. This is a prayer to the Hindu God Dhata.
Jatkarma is birth ceremony of the new-born baby. On this
occasion, a prayer is observed for goddess Savita.
Namkarana is the naming ceremony of the baby, which is
observed 11 days after its birth. This gives the new-born an
identity with which he or she will be associated all his life.
Niskramana is the act of taking the four-month-old child out
for the first time into the open to sunbathe. The Sun God
Surya is worshiped.
Annaprashana is the elaborate ceremony conducted when
the child is fed cereal for the first time at the age of six
months.
Chudakarma or Keshanta karma is the ceremonious
tonsuring of the head and Lord Brahma or Prajapati is
prayed and offerings made to him. The baby's head is
shaved off and the hair is ceremonially immersed in the river.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
Karnavedha is the ritual of having the ear pierced. These days it is
mostly girls who have their ears pierced.
Upanayana aka thread ceremony is the investiture ceremony of
the sacred thread where Brahmin boys are adorned with a sacred
thread hung from one shoulder and passed around their front and
back. This day, Lord Indra is invoked and offerings are made to
him.
Vedarambha or Vidyarambha is observed when the child is
initiated into study. In ancient times, boys were sent to live with
their gurus in a 'gurugriha' or hermitage to study. Devotees pray to
the Hindu God Apawaka on this occasion.
Samavartana is the convocation or the commencement to the
study of the Vedas.
Vivaha is the lavish nuptial ceremony. After marriage, the
individual enters the life of a 'grihastha' or conjugal life - the life of a
householder. Lord Brahma is the deity of the day in the wedding
ceremony.
Awasthyadhana or Vivahagni Parigraha is a ceremony where the
marrying couple encircles the sacred fire seven times. It is also
known as 'Saptapadi.'
Tretagnisangraha is the auspicious ritual that starts the couple on
their domestic life.
Antyeshti is the final rite of passage or Hindu funeral rites that is
performed after death.
Ritual:
• The 8 Rites of Passage or Ashtasamskara Essential Rites
• These are known as 'Ashtasamskaras', and they are as follows:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Namakarana - Naming ceremony
Anna Prasana - Beginning of solid food
Karnavedha - Ear piercing
Chudakarma or Chudakarana - Head Shaving
Vidyarambha - Beginning of Education
Upanayana - Sacred Thread Ceremony
Vivaha - Marriage
Antyeshti - Funeral or Last Rites
Ritual Death:
• After the death of a family member, the relatives become involved
in ceremonies for preparation of the body and a procession to the
burning or burial ground.
• For most Hindus, cremation is the ideal method for dealing with the
dead, although many groups practice burial instead; infants are
buried rather than cremated.
• At the funeral site, in the presence of the male mourners, the
closest relative of the deceased (usually the eldest son) takes
charge of the final rite and, if it is cremation, lights the funeral pyre.
• After a cremation, ashes and fragments of bone are collected and
eventually immersed in a holy river. After a funeral, everyone
undergoes a purifying bath. The immediate family remains in a
state of intense pollution for a set number of days (sometimes ten,
eleven, or thirteen).
• At the end of that period, close family members meet for a
ceremonial meal and often give gifts to the poor or to charities.
• A particular feature of the Hindu ritual is the preparation of rice
balls (pinda) offered to the spirit of the dead person during
memorial services.
• In part these ceremonies are seen as contributing to the merit of
the deceased, but they also pacify the soul so that it will not linger
in this world as a ghost but will pass through the realm of Yama,
the god of death.