Notes for a Summer Diary (2006): satAbhishEkam- Part 2

[Guest guest]

Dear members/friends of the Tiruvenkatam Group,

 

One of the fundamental tenets of the Vedic faith is

that Man's journey through life is punctuated by a

series of defining moments: moments in which

soul-purificatory events take place and hence are to

be duly celebrated through solemn ritual.

 

Such defining moments in a man's life begin at his

conception in the maternal womb and end when he is

finally laid out to rest on a funeral pyre.

 

Such life-defining moments or events are called, in

the Vedic lexicon, "samskArA". Due performance of

Vedic 'samskAra', and carrying out faithfully the

various responsibilities in life it enjoins upon Man,

is what, it is believed, prepares Man for, and renders

his soul fully fit to undertake the greater journey of

life hereafter.

 

"vaideekaiihi: karmabhihi:

pUnnyair-nishEkAdhir-dvijanmanAm I

kAryah: shareera-samskArah: pAvanah:

prEtya chEha cha II"

 

(Manu-smriti II.2)

 

(meaning):

"With the sacred 'vaideeka' rites and rituals should

be performed the various 'samskArAs' of the body,

namely, 'nishEka' and all the rest too, of the

twice-born, which purify here and hereafter".

 

*****************

 

Many ancient Vedic texts -- especially the "smriti-s"

of YagnyavAlkya and Manu, as well as the

"grUhya-sUtrAs" of Apasthamba, Asvalayana etc. -- have

handed down to us a great many list of 'samskArAs'.

Most people who have some acquaintance with the Vedic

tradition might have heard of the all-too-familiar

expression: "40 samskArAs". But if anyone of us were

asked to enumerate the 40, few would pass the test.

That is because, in the course of centuries, Vedic

society has all but given up due performance of these

'samskArAs' and none of us know what the 'samskArAs'

really are other than that they numbered 40 once upon

a time in the ancient past.

 

The number "40" is of course a historical accident.

There is no Vedic text to name that actually

establishes the number of "samskArAs" to be exactly

40. The fact is that some 'smriti' texts name 10,

others 52 and the rest provide a range somewhere

between '10' and '52' with no definite order or

sequence to the various "samskArAs". The fact of the

matter is that the observance and performance of these

'samskArAs' too underwent change over the course of

the centuries. Some periods in history saw society

performing more number of 'samskArAs' while other

periods practised fewer.

 

In the present time in India, amongst the community of

the Vedic faithful, the most popular Vedic "samskArAs"

still very much in practice are only about 10 and they

are, as you all probably already know:

 

1. garbhadAna (conception)6. annaprAsana (first solid

morsel feed)

2. pumsavana (post-natal rite)7. choodAkarana (ritual

tonsuring)

3. seemanthonnayana (pre-natal rite)8. upanayana

(investiture of sacred thread)

4. jAtakarma 9. samAvartana (Vedic

convocation)

5. naamakarana (naming ceremony)10. vivAha (marriage

rites)

 

***************

 

It is because the above 10 'samskArAs' are greatly in

vogue today amongst common people that they seem to

have eclipsed somewhat a few other less well-known

"samskArAs" which however actually have a standing

and weight that is equal to any other in the Vedic

order.

 

For example, amongst SriVaishnavites, the

"pancha-samskAra" or the "samAshrayana" is a very

special "samskAra" whose importance in life cannot be

over-emphasized. Likewise, when a man completes 60

years of age, he and his spouse undergo the "samskAra"

called "shashti-abdapoorthi". All these special but

lesser-known 'samskArAs' serve to add very deep

spiritual meaning to the journey of life of Man.

 

The "sathAbhishEkam" or 80th birthday of a man is not,

in the popular view, known as conduct of strict Vedic

'samskArA'. Some people in fact do not accept it

strictly as 'samskAra' at all -- in the same sense as

say "upanayana" or "vivAha" is regarded as 'samskAra'.

IN fact, I have not myself come across a

"gruhya-sUtra" text where "sathAbhishEkam" is

specifically listed as an item in the list of Vedic

"samskArAs". I am also ignorant of any references to a

'sathAbhishEkam' ceremony being performed for any

personage or character anywhere in the Srimadh

Ramayana or Mahabharatha (the two principal

'ithihAsAs') wherein one otherwise easily finds

narrations about Rama undergoing "samskArAs" like

"upanayana" etc. or Rama performing Jatayu's last

rites ("prEta-samskArA" or "brahma-mEdham") etc.

 

It is because of the rather un-sure or un-clear status

of the "sathAbhishEkam" rite as a Vedic "samskArA"

that very often in modern Vedic community, it is not

performed with the same level of zest or fervor as

perhaps a "vivAha" or "upanayana" ceremony.

 

It is quite common to see this 'samskAra' being

performed in what is generally called "a low-key"

manner. Usually, the event will involve no more ritual

activity than a humble offering of food to a nearby

temple ("nitya-padi kainkaryam"); some others will

else go to a great temple like Tirumala and offer

there one of the several "aarjitha sevAs" to the

Deity; yet others will simply make a donation in cash

or kind to one of the public charities in their area

such as an orphanage or home-for-the-aged etc.

 

IN most cases, the person himself, for whose sake the

event is to be conducted, will be extremely reluctant

to undergo a ritual like the "sathAbhishEkam"

especially if it involves a bit of fanfare. There are

several reasons for their reluctance. Most eighty-year

olds these days back home in India live for most of

their aged lives quite alone, given that most of their

children or grand-children have all either immigrated

out of India or else taken jobs abroad for extended

periods of time. Most 80-year olds therefore live

alone in their homes and hence see little or no point

in celebrating their 'sathAbhishEkam'.

 

Another reason for reluctance on the past of many 80-

year olds to celebrate this "samskAra" is this : a man

of eighty who happens to have already lost his spouse

has really no enthusiasm whatsoever to celebrate an

event like his "sathAbhishEkam". In fact, it took a

great deal of persuasion on my own part and my

family's part to make my father finally accede to

participate in his "sathAbhishEkam" celebrations. We

all knew the extent of the despair he sank into when

in 2002, his wife, Sangita Kalanidhi Mani

Krishnaswami, passed away. He had never fully

recovered from that bereavement four years ago. And it

was the reason why the idea of performing his own

"sathAbhishEkam" never enthused him very much.

 

**************

 

Whatever may be the reasons of present-day custom or

practice that either urge or discourage the observance

of the 'samskAra' called "sathAbhishEkam", I strongly

hold that we must never doubt the fact that our

age-old Vedic ethos and value-system, in itself, does

affirm in no uncertain terms the practice of

venerating the aged and elderly in our families with

due observance of the relevant "samskArA". Here is why

I think so:

 

IN the Vedic scheme of things, as you all know, there

are 4 stages into which a man's life neatly falls.

They are called "AsramAs":

 

(1) "brahmachAri" (youthful student; age 5 to 21), (2)

"gruhasthA" (the socially active and working

householder age 25-65),

(3) "vAnaprasthA" (the socially detached member; aged

65-80) the respectable "retired" senior-citizen of the

community) and

(4) the "sannyAsin" (the renunciate; age 80+ who in

the evening of life is engaged in constant

contemplation of its meaning, its value and its many

blessings ("atma-vichAra")).

 

The theory of the "4 AsramAs" is not a sociological

relic of some distant past. Even in the 21st century a

man's life, if one examines it carefully, does indeed

more or less fit into this age-old Vedic pattern.

 

Now, we may say that of the 4 "aasramAs", 3 are

actually extensions of the "gruhasthAsramA". One leads

to it and the other 2 lead away from it, all quite in

natural and harmonious sequence. IN other words, the

stage of "brahmachArya", we might say, graduates to

that of the "grushastha"; and the stages of

"vAnaprashtA" and "sannyAsa" transcend it.

 

Of all the 4 stages of Man, it is the time he spends

as a "gruhasthA" which is said to be of central

importance. A good and successful "gruhastha" is said

to be the evolute of a good and successful

"brahmachArin"; and by the same token, a good and

successful "gruhasthA" is said to be the seed or

natural promise of a wise and good "vAnaprasthA" who

will eventually emerge in old age to grow into

becoming a most venerable "sannyAsin" towards the end

of his mortal days and from whom we can learn

invaluable lessons and truths of life.

 

The centrality of the "gruhasthAsrama" in society, and

the fact of it being the source of all human wisdom

and goodness as seen fully fructified in old age

amongst the elders of society i.e. "vAnaprasthAs" and

"sannyAsins" -- this fact is very well and movingly

underscored by Manu in his famous "smriti":

 

brahmachArI gruhasThascha

vAnaprasThO yatis-tathA I

EthEy gruhasTha-prabhavAsh-chathvArah:

pruThagAsramAh: II

(Manu-smriti VI 87)

 

"The student, the householder, the forest-dweller, the

ascetic --- these, the four separate orders or stages

in the life of man, are all but natural extensions of

the householder".

 

gruhasTasthU yadA pashyEdh

valeepalita-mAtmanah: I

apath-yasya tathA-pathyam

tadhAraNyam samAshrayEth II

(Manu-smriti VI.2)

 

"When the householder sees the wrinkles grow on his

skin, and his hair turn white, and has seen the son of

his son having grown too, then let him retire to the

forest".

 

vanEshu tu vihrt-yaivam

tritheeyam bhAgam-Ayushah: I

chathurTham-AyushO BhAgam

tyakthvA sanggAn parivrajEth II

(ibid VI.33)

 

"Having passed the third portion of life in the

forests, let him, having abandoned attachments, wander

(as an ascetic) during the fourth portion of his

life".

 

In the light of Manu's "smriti" above, it would be

reasonable to look upon the "sathAbhishEkam" of a man

as truly a glorious and final affirmation of the

validity of Vedic "chaturAsrama". It is the

celebration of a man's successful passage or

transition from the "gruhasthAsrama" to that of

"vanaprastha" and finally to "sannyAsa".

 

*****************

(continued in Part 3)

 

Regards,

dAsan,

Sudarshan

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sudarshan Madabushi

Chief Financial Officer & Vice-President

KGL Ports International

Plot A-21, Kuwait Free Trade Zone.

PO BOx 24565, Safat 13106,

Kuwait.

Ph: (965)- 4827804/5 Ext 212

Fax: 4827806

mob: 7063337

email: mksudarshan2002 (AT) (DOT) co.in

 

 

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