Significance Of Rituals And Ceremonies

Understand Sanatan Dharma -Significance Of Rituals And Ceremonies 

"Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevayah"

In Hinduism, the important events in a persons life are regarded as religious ceremeonies. Cremation of the dead body is treated as the last holy sacrifice (yajna),the dead man conducts. Since the body is dead, the son conducts this yajna on the behalf of the deceased.

The woman is regarded as the sacred fire (agni) in which the gods are invoked to offer the seed and out of that offering the human being is born (Accordint to Brhadaranyak 5.2.13. The nuptial is called ‘garbha-daana-yagna’.) Brhadaranyak 5.4.20 gives the mantra to be uttered – “He embraces her saying, “I am the prana, you are the speech; you are speech, and I am prana. I am the sama veda and you are the rg.veda. I am heaven, and you are the earth’ This mantra is meant to engender harmony in the relationship of the husband and wife. The sexual union of the husband and wife is undertaken as a sacred act for producing good children. It is called vaajapeya yagya. In the mantra connected with it, the husband invokes Hiranyagarbha to enter him, In what is called sthanadaanamantra, when the husbands hands over the baby to be suckled by the mother, he implores Saraswati, the goddess of learning to enter the mother and feed the child.

In what is called the naamakararana cermony, the father gives the child a secret name and that name is ‘Veda’. Here, the word, ‘veda’ means caitanyam, The father says ‘ You are caitanyam’, i.e., ‘you are none other than brahman’. So, as soon as the child is born, ‘Tattvamasi’ is injected into the child, hoping that when he grows up, he will understand ‘ ahambrahmasmi’.

In the karma-japa ceremony, the father utters the word, ‘vaak’ three times in the child’s right ear. Vak (power of speech ) represents veda . Three times to say ‘let rg.veda enter the child and purify it’ ‘let yajur veda enter the child and purify it’ and ‘let sama veda enter the child and purify it’.
In the annapaasana ceremony, the child is fed curd, honey and ghee and the father says, when he feeds curd, ‘I am giving you bhoo-loka’, when he feeds honey, he says’ I am giving you bhuvarloka’ and when he feeds ghee, he says’ I am giving you svarloka” ; It is an expression of good wishes form the child to possess everything in life.

At the time of delivery, the father does prokshana’ (sprinkles water) praying to prana-devata, so that praasootika vaayu would effect easy delivery – “O, Indra – referring to prana devata – from the mother who is the ocean bring out the child like the waves without destroying the mother ". A homa (sacrificial fire ceremony) is done even before the umbilical cord is cut; the father keeps the baby on his lap and prays to various devatas for the longevity, healthy life, prosperity and continuity of the cultural and spiritual tradition. In Brhadaranyaka mantra 6.4.28, the father glorifies the child, ‘You have out-shone your father and your grand-father. You have reached the extreme limit of attainment through your splendour, fame and brahmachryas (brahaamanical power). The husband also thanks the wife, “ You have done a great job. You have given us a child’.

Eating food is called prsaana-agnihotra’ and bits of cooked rice are put in the mouth as offering to the five aspects of prana - prana, apana, vyana, udana ,samana – and the eating is regarded as offering to vaisvanara devata, the presiding deity of digestion.

Compiled by : Rahul Pandav:

"Shri Hari Om Tat Sat"