What is the aim of performing Sanskaras ?

1. The aim of performing 16 sanskaras

According to the Bhartiya tradition all actions of a person must stem from a good sanskara.. There are 16 main sanskaras to be performed on a person from pre-birth to marriage. The aim of performing these sanskaras is as follows:

1. To minimize defects at its point of origin.

2. To minimize defects during pregnancy.

3. To minimize the effectiveness of curses; these might have been given by ancestors or Deities, in previous births. To free ourselves from the liabilities towards the ancestors and Deities. To please the family Deity, favourite Deity, Deity of Motherhood, Prajapati, Sri Vishnu, Deity Indra, Deity of the Air (Vayu), Ashtadwarpal (Deity guarding eight doors), Deity Sun, Agni (Fire) Deity and to obtain their blessings.

4. To beget a healthy, strong children with long life.

5. To beget an intelligent and righteous child with good moral values.

6. For children to progress spiritually through correct and righteous behaviour and thus an ability to emancipate the twelve past and the twelve future generations of the family.

7. To be able to evolve spiritually and attain Brahmalok or Moksha (Final liberation).

8. Every action and every sanskara is performed with the aim of pleasing God, as only with the God’s blessings we can achieve our aim.

These sanskaras have to be performed by parents and teachers of a child.

2. Ayurvedic sanskara on liquid article

Sanskar is the action which is performed on an article so as to transform its attributes, to minimize its undesirable qualities and unpleasant actions and increase its desirable properties or pleasant actions.

Meaning: Sanskar means purity, sacredness, cleanliness. Owing to the Agni (fire) sanskara on food, we can digest it.

Nutmeg is a digestive medicine. Its botanical name is ‘croton polyandrum’. It can cause gripes in abdomen while digestion. But if it is mixed with lemon juice, it will not give any pain. This (mixing of lemon juice with the nutmeg) is called as sanskara.

3. Sanskar on gross articles

While sculpting an idol out of a rock, the sculptor has to first chisel out the unnecessary parts of a rock and then work with fine tools to carve out an idol. Only after undergoing such arduous process the rock is transformed into an idol of Deity and becomes sacred. Similarly, although every human being has to pass through many births, he has to be re-educated and new sanskars are imparted to him.

If a person dwells in a jungle right from time of birth and never comes in contact with human beings, he will never be able to speak human language. A child learns to speak by listening to other people around him and understanding the emotions expressed through the language. He may be familiar with different languages in previous birth. Hence he takes his own time to be able to master a new language. Even if it is the same language as in the previous birth, the dialects keep on changing. There is a great difference between the Marathi language spoken 600 years ago and that of today.

An individual expresses his thoughts through his intellect and physical actions and hence his concepts and skillfulness are reflected thus to a maximum extent.

There has been a revolution in the techniques, equipment and facilities in the field of science during the last century. If a man who died 600 years ago, is re-born today, he might feel as if he is in heaven when he will witness the technological marvels such as television, aircraft, computers etc. He will have to be educated in order to be familiar with the working of these gadgets.

Spirituality is a complete science it itself and has remained unchanged. But to comprehend spiritual science the technological inventions will be very useful. Also while studying spirituality; examples will have to be set up from modern times rather than those from ancient times. As with body, the mind also needs to be trained to act accordingly. If the family members where a child is born, use filthy language while communicating with one another, the child will also learn to speak the same language. On the other hand if the culture of family is better due to chanting, singing of hymns, etc. the child will carry finer impressions.

The sanskars and education inculcated in previous birth helps l in this birth as well. If a man was a master musician in the previous birth, he will be able to make rapid progress in music in the present birth. If the person has been spiritually evolved being in his previous birth, he will be naturally inclined to spirituality in this birth. Adi Shankaracharya was teaching Vedas from the age of eight and explain their meaning.

Sri Krushna has says in the ‘Srīmadbhagwadgitā’:

The spiritual aspirants, who are unable to reach their goal of self-realization in present birth, take re-birth in a sattvik (With spiritual background) or wealthy family. Majority of Saints are born in families with a strong spiritual background.

A soul addicted to cigarettes and alcohol in previous birth will take present birth in a family where family members are addicted to alcohol or cigarettes. An evolved soul in last birth takes re-birth in families where the atmosphere is sattvik. Hence if we want our children to be good, we must maintain sattvik habits and be sattvik in our thinking and behaviour.