ending in samavartana (graduation). The
Asvalayana, and Baudhayana have sections dealing with it. The number of
samskaras in the Grihyasutras fluctuate between twelve and eighteen.
In course of time sixteen became the classical number comprising the
following:
Garbhadhana (conception),
Pumsavana (engendering a male issue),
Simantonnayana (parting the hair),
Jatakarman (natal rites),
Namakarana (naming),
Nishkramana (first outing),
Annaprasana (first feeding with boiled rice),
Chudakarana (tonsure),
Karnavedha (piercing the ear lobes),
10. Vidyarambha or akshararambha (learning the alphabet),
11. Upanayana (holy thread ceremony),
12. Vedarambha (first study of the Vedas),
13. Kesanta (cutting the hair),
14. Samavartana (graduation),
15. Vivaha (marriage), and
16. Antyesti (funeral).
Purpose of Samskaras
The samskaras are first of all based on the simple unquestioned faith of the
unsophisticated mind; and so they have a popular import. The Hindus of early
times believed that they were surrounded by superhuman influences, good or
evil; and they sought to remove the evil influences by the various means they
devised for the purpose, and they invoked the beneficial ones for affording
them timely help. Among the means adopted for the removal of evil
influences, the first was propitiation. When the unfavourable power was
propitiated, it turned away without injuring the person purified by the
samskara. The second means was deception. The evil influences were
diverted either by hiding the person exposed to them or by offering his
substitute. The third means was to resort to threat and direct attack—when