Samskaras

Saṃskāra is the Sanskrit term mostly used for Brahmanical-Sanskritic life-cycle rituals that are mainly widespread between Hindu and other (Buddhist, Jaina) communities. They belong to a category of Sanskritic domestic rituals (karman, kriyā) that generally includes vedic sacrifices (homa, yajña, iṣṭi, bali) and mantras, but sometimes also forms of religious services ( pūjā, upacāra, sevā), oaths ( vrata ), or pilgrimages (tīrthayātrā). The Hindu tradition knows up to 40 saṃskāras, of which 16 have achieved an almost canonical status (see below) and of which at least three (initiation, marriage, death ritual) are obligatory for the twice-born, that is, the initiated Hindu. The saṃskāras present a linear idea of life and are rarely linked in the concerned texts to the cyclical notion of reincarnation ( saṃsāra ).
The term saṃskāra is formed from the same verbal root as “Sanskrit,” literally “the totally and (correctly) formed [speech].” It is usually translated as “transition rite,” “rite of passage,” or “sacrament,” but these terms can only partially grasp its significance. As B.K. Smith (1989) has emphasized, with the saṃskāras someone or something is made either suitable, appropriate, or equivalent (yogya) for a holy purpose – for example, as a sacrificial offering. The gods accept only what is appropriate for them, that is, something correctly composed and perfect. Similarly J. Gonda defined saṃskāra (1980, 364) as “composing, making perfect, preparing properly and correctly with a view to a definite purpose.” The locus classicus for the indigenous view on saṃskāras is, for example, Manusmṛti:
"The fire offerings for the foetus, the birth rites, the first haircut and the tying of the muñja grass belt, wipe away from the twice-born the guilt of the seed and the guilt of the womb. By the study of the Veda, vows, offerings into the fire, study of the triple Veda, sacrifices, sons, the (five) great sacrifices and the (other) sacrifices, the body is made fit for the Veda (or the brahman, ultimate reality)" (MaSm. 2.27–28).
From a traditional perspective, a saṃskāra is not a divine punctuation, or an esoteric mysterium as the Greek mysterion, literally “secret,” or the Latin sacramentum, originally “oath of allegiance.” Nor is it just the celebration of a phase of life. It is rather a ritual identification with the absolute or substitution of the Veda. In the initiation, for instance, the son is equated with the father, the Veda, the sacrifice, the fire, and only because of such an identification can he achieve immortality. If this substitution is perfect (saṃskṛta), then the rite works ex opere operato, through the action itself and the power of the ritual equivalence, independent of the mental state of the adept.
The sources for the saṃskāras are mostly texts on domestic rites (Gṛhyasūtras) and law books (Dharmaśāstras) as well as the medieval handbooks (Nibandhas). The authors of these texts often refer to local customs and variations. Life-cycle rituals of South Asia have mostly been studied by Indologists on the basis of such texts (major studies include Hillebrandt, 1897; Kane, 1968ff.; Pandey, 1969; Gonda, 1980; Kapani, 1992; Olivelle, 1993; and Michaels, 2004). What is lacking are comprehensive studies of the practice of saṃskāras (e.g. Stevenson, 1920). N. Gutschow & A. Michaels (2005, 2008) aim at including the actual practice of all life-cycle rituals combining texts and contexts in a specific region (Bhaktapur, Nepal).

History of Saṃskāras

Saṃskāras have been shaped in the period starting from around 500 BCE, when the higher classes of the Aryans began to separate from other population groups in South Asia, especially in the Gangetic Plain. In the early vedic phase, the initiation was a consecration (dīkṣā) into secret priestly knowledge and a privilege for those who wanted to learn the Veda, mostly for the sons of priests, although vedic texts also give evidence of the consecration of sons of other classes and even women: Gārgī, who bested the seer Yājñavalkya in debate, wore the sacred hip cord, the sign of such a consecration. Later, however, the consecration turned into a life-cycle rite that demarcated the social and ritual borders between different social groups.
Various factors may have been responsible for this development: acculturation problems vis-à-vis the indigenous population due to the transition from a seminomadic to a settled life; the emergence of states and kingdoms; the defense of sinecures, prerogatives, and privileges; and the rise of superior technologies. Times of distress (famine, epidemics), when the social order was shaken, must also be taken into account. Many legal texts mention such instances of collective and individual distress (āpad). Mingling with the resident population and their doctrines and religions also had to be regulated. Who was admitted for the rituals, mainly the fire sacrifice? Who could marry whom? As acculturation between the Indo-Aryans and the other population groups developed, the more clearly did specific classes need an externally visible demarcation. The sacred thread (yajñopavīta) that any twice-born received during initiation was to be their symbol of this boundary.
Those not initiated were equated with outsiders, marginal groups, and enemies (e.g. the vrātyas). Therefore, through birth everyone was a Śūdra, and only by celebrating upanayana, that is, birth in the Veda, did one become a twice-born. The region without initiated classes was regarded as – in a ritual sense – the land of the barbarians (Mlecchadeśa). The non-initiated from these regions were not allowed to take part in the Brahmanic rituals, could not maintain the important domestic fire, could not partake food with close relatives, and were allowed only limited participation in social life. Most importantly, however, they were made unavailable as marriage partners. To the leading circles that employed Brahmanic priests, the uninitiated was a social outcast.
By linking consecration with marriage, the Hindu caste society was almost established. The ritual and normative ramifications are, by and large, only the consequence of this henceforth indissoluble and tense connection between individual salvation on the one hand and descent and matrimony on the other. Even in their negation, asceticism ( tapas ), this connection is still felt. Initiation now meant acceptance into patriarchal society and instruction in the study of the Veda – the literal meaning of upanayana is “leading” (to the teacher) or more precisely “leading” (of the student by the teacher to his self) – along with initiation into his ritual sacrifice practice derived from that; and all this also meant the ability to marry. Through initiation, the youth becomes a member of a caste, an apprentice, entitled to perform sacrifice, and a candidate for marriage all at once. What was originally a consecration rite became a life-cycle rite of passage and a socioritualistic transformation in the system of norms of the specific extended families. Thus, this rite takes priority over all other rites of passage. For the formation of Hindu identity, initiation is perhaps even more significant than the wedding, for no son can be married without being initiated. All male Hindus who employ Brahman priests are initiated, but not all get married. Initiation is also indispensable for the right to perform death and ancestor rites. However, reform movements such as the Arya Samaj have criticized or simplified the traditional saṃskāras.

The Structure of Saṃskāras

The basic structure of a saṃskāra includes the following elements:
Any ritual starts with a more or less extended preparatory phase (pūrvāṅga) that includes fixing the auspicious moment, purifying the specialists and family members involved, purifying the house (gṛhaśāntipūjā), and arranging the sacred place by drawing diagrams ( yantra , maṇḍala ) on the ground and decorating the sacred arena. Among the preparatory rites are also the worship of the clan deities and ancestors. An important part consists of the ritual commitments made by the priest and ritual specialists: the ritual bath (abhiṣeka) with water from a certain pot (arghyapātra), mental commitment (nyāsa), and the ritual decision (saṃkalpa).
The saṃkalpa (Michaels, 2005) is a formal, usually spoken decision, which is required to carry out the ritual and is similar to an oath, vow, or ritual declaration. Almost any life-cycle ritual and most subrites will have no efficacy without such a saṃkalpa. C. Humphrey & J. Laidlaw (1994, 120) insist that ritual acts are “non-intentional” (even if not “unintentional”). But only the ritual decision makes an everyday or customary act into a ritual act. It singles out certain segments of acts, evokes awareness of the change. Therefore, a change on the level of language also usually takes place. In the ritual, water becomes ritual water, rice becomes ritual rice, and a stone becomes the seat of the gods. All this is usually distinguished through language. Thus, water is referred to by its Sanskrit term jala instead of the everyday Nepali pāni, Nepali mīṭhai (sweets) becomes naivedya, Nepali phūl (flowers) becomes puṣpa, Nepali bati (light) becomes dīpa, or Nepali camal (rice) becomes akṣata.
Among the preliminary rites, there are also often elaborate rites such as the worship of the ancestors (nāndīśrāddha or vṛddhiśrāddha) and the fire sacrifice (homa, yajña).
The main ritual act is mostly carried out by both the priest and the concerned individual(s). It consists of various rites of salutation and worship, reciting mantras, and purifying acts. An essential part of the rituals is the constant use of light (dīpa). This is mostly provided in the form of oil lamps accompanied by reciting mantras (e.g. VājSa. 22.1). Also common is the sprinkling of purifying water, the use of flowers and fragrant materials, as well as the application of a tikā (mark on forhead) made of sandalwood (candana) or vermilion paste given to the deities and participants. A regular part of worshipping deities and persons is the use of husked, uncooked, and unbroken rice (akṣata). Also quite frequent is a change of the dress or the presentation of new clothes to the priest or participants.
The main parts of the ritual, such as the initiation or the marriage rites, are characterized by some special features or by core events, which are related to age, function, and social group of the participants. These are the specific elements to this particular ritual, whereas all other parts may well be recurrent ritual elements that may also be observed in the practices of other rituals.
The concluding rites generally include obligatory offerings of rice and money (dakṣiṇā) to the Brahman priest who at the end often grants the blessing (āśīrvāda) to the participants. In the final rites, the sacred vases and other holy items are removed (visarjana), and a tikā or mark on forhead is given to the participants. Finally, the witness deities such as the sun or Viṣṇu are released, and a share of the pūjā material is sent to nearby deities. The very last part is mostly a joint meal (bhojana).

The Sixteen Traditional Hindu Rites of Passage

The most common enumeration of the traditional Hindu life-cycle rituals is a list of 16 bodily (śarīra)saṃskāras that are generally grouped according to the life stage into prenatal, birth, childhood, adolescence, marriage, death, and ancestor rituals. A number of these rituals were probably only rarely practiced. The most common rituals that are still performed are the name-giving ceremony (nāmakaraṇa), the first rice feeding (annaprāśana), tonsure (cūḍākaraṇa), initiation (upanayana), marriage (vivāha), and the funeral (antyeṣṭi). There are many additional life-cycle rituals with a great number of local variations (see below) that are still performed in South Asia.

The Prenatal Saṃskāras

The prenatal life-cycle rituals are mainly concerned with the promotion of the fertility of the woman and health of the fetus and mother. Hindu theologians discuss whether they more concern the fetus or semen (garbha), or the mother and the womb (kṣetra).
(1) Procreation, insemination (garbhadāna, niṣeka). In the saṃskāra system, conception – or, more precisely, the act through which the man places his semen in the womb – is regarded as a ritual and spiritual act. It had to be performed between the 4th and 16th day after the beginning of the menstruation, together with prayers and purifications. The law experts (dharmaśāstrins) discussed extensively whether this rite had to be performed only once after marriage or at any sexual union.
(2) Transformation of the fruit of love to a male fetus (puṃsavana). This ritual, which occurs in almost all manuals, is to be performed in the third or fourth month of pregnancy when someone desires a male child. In ancient India two ideas about conception were prevalent: (a) that the genus of a child is already fixed at the time of insemination, and (b) that the embryo remains for three months in an indifferent status and only after three months takes on its sexual identity. It is performed by feeding certain food items to the pregnant woman.
(3) Parting of the hair of the pregnant woman (sīmantonnayana). This ritual is performed between the fourth and eighth month of pregnancy in order to protect mother and fetus from evil influences. The main act is when the husband parts the hair of his wife with garbha grass or porcupine stalks and places vermilion in the part of her hair.
In South Indian Vaikhānasa families along with sīmantonnayana, the viṣṇubali ritual is performed, an offering (bali) to Viṣṇu in order to make the child a devotee of this god (Hüsken, 2009). The ceremony involves an offering of a sweet rice pudding (pāyasa) to the pregnant woman, in which the emblems of Viṣṇu (cakra and śaṅkha, i.e. disk and conch) have previously been dipped. The idea of this ceremony is that Viṣṇu himself will thus initiate the newborn child so that it does not need any other sacrament or initiatory rite to make it a Viṣṇu devotee and to make it eligible to become a Vaikhānasa priest. The Vaikhānasa boys acquire this right by their very birth, whereas other Vaiṣṇava families have to conduct during boyhood a ritual branding the arms with heated metallic images of Viṣṇu’s conch and disk.

Birth and Childhood Saṃskāras

The majority of the life-cycle rituals are focused on childhood and adolescence, the most dangerous time in premodern societies. Birth is considered to be impure and thus requires a number of purification rituals.
(4) Birth ritual (jātakarma). This ritual is a complex of subrites that aim at strengthening the child and warding off evil influences as well as blessing the mother. There is a great variety even in the manuals. Basic elements are the cutting of the umbilical cord, the feeding of honey (medhājanana), the blessing of the new child (āyuśya) and the mother (mātrābhimantraṇa), or the touching of the shoulders of the child (aṃsābhimarśana). Other parts such as the first breast feeding might also become ritualized by chanting a mantra. In some texts it is prescribed that the father or five Brahmans blow over the child.
(5) Name giving (nāmakaraṇa). Traditionally the name should not be given until the 11th day after the birth, but because hospitals demand a name on a birth certificate within hours of a birth, a name has to be given without the ritual. In many cases immediately after a birth, a family member will contact an astrologer or priest so that a horoscope can be prepared and a name determined according to astrological criteria. In this way a name is determined and legally given, but the saṃskāra is not performed on the 11th day. On that day the child is washed and newly dressed, and the father or priest then whispers the names into the left ear of the child.
(6) First outing (niṣkramaṇa). On an auspicious day within the first three months, the child is to be taken out of the house and shown to the sun (ādityadarśana). Generally, the maternal uncle then carries him or her back into the house. This ritual demarcates the end of the impure period.
(7) First solid food (annaprāśana). Approximately six months after the child is given solid food (anna) for the first time, a priest is invited to the family’s home, and food (usually a sweet rice preparation) is offered to a deity via the fire and thus transformed into prasāda , which is then as a kind of sanctified leftover fed to the child, normally by the father.
(8) Tonsure or first cutting of the hair (cūḍākaraṇa, caula). This old ritual should take place between the first and third year of the child. The ideal time is when the fontanel in the skull of the child is closed, but today the ritual is mostly combined with the initiation (upanayana). The priest with the help of the father or maternal uncle cuts small locks of hair from four sides of the child’s head. The barber then shaves the rest of the hair except for a little tuft (śikhā) that is regarded as the seat of the patrilineage.
(9) Ear piercing (karṇavedha). This ritual is to be performed on an auspicious day in the seventh or eighth month. The priest or father then pierces both ears with a gold, silver, or iron needle, depending on the class (varṇa) of the family.

Initiation Saṃskāras

Most childhood rituals are performed for both male and female children. The initiation rituals (Zotter & Zotter, 2010), however, are only for boys. (Marriage is regarded as the initiation of the girls.) The saṃskāras of adolescence are often declared to be educational rituals. In fact, they focus on introducing the boy into the adult world and preparing him to take his social and ritual responsibility.
(10) Beginning of learning (vidyārambha). The ritual authorization of the boy to learn the Veda.
(11) Initiation or sacred thread ceremony (upanayana, vratabandhana). This ritual belongs to the main family rituals within Hinduism and is performed for almost all boys of those social groups who call a Brahman priest into their house. Traditionally it is a combination of ritual consecration and transforming the boy into a proper caste member. The aim is to teach him to perform the fire sacrifices. The ritual is to be performed between 8 and 12 years of age, depending on the varṇa, but today this rule is rarely followed. The ritual lasts for two days and includes a great number of subrites such as (again) the tonsure (see above) or the last meal taken together with the mother (after the initiation the boy is supposed to eat with male family members). The main act is the “thread ceremony,” when the sacrificial thread, (yajñopavīta) is placed over the left shoulder and under the right arm of the boy. This thread consisting of three strands, the three Vedas, is to be kept and renewed for the rest of his life. Only by becoming a certain type of ascetic can it be cut and removed. He also receives various items of an ascetic: red or orange clothes, a deerskin, and a staff. During the ritual the priest whispers under a blanket the gāyatrīmantra or sāvitrīmantra (ṚV. 3.62.10), the condensation of the Veda, into the right ear of the boy: “That excellent glory of the sun (Sāvitṛ), the god, we meditate, that he may stimulate our prayers.” He then learns to light and take care of the sacrificial fire. With the upanayana the boy is considered a dvija or twice-born, that is, he is ritually born into and through the Veda and has completed his second birth after the physical birth from the mother, which is the first birth. Traditionally the boy is to stay in the house of the priest or teacher (guru) for many, ideally 12, years until he has mastered the Veda. But this nowadays happens only in very traditional Brahmanic families. Finally he receives new worldly clothes and returns from the first traditional life stage ( āśrama ), the liminal phase of celibacy and learning (brahmacarya), into the second life stage, as a marriageable householder (gṛhastha). However, the manuals prescribe various other rituals to be performed during the years of learning, for instance,
(12) beginning of learning (vedārambha),
(13) the first shave (keśānta), and
(14) the end of study and returning to the house (samāvartana). This ritual, basically a ritual bath, concludes the period of learning the Veda and reintegrates the boy again into this social group.

Marriage Saṃskāras

The Gṛhyasūtras begin with their elaboration on life-cycle rituals, with marriage regarded as the main ritual in life, for a man only becomes complete and fit to sacrifice when he has married.
(15) Wedding (vivāha, pāṇigrahaṇa). Most Hindu weddings last for days and include a great number of subrites. The core elements involve the selection (guṇaparīkṣā) of the bridegroom by the parents of the bride, engagement (vāgdāna), the marriage procession (vadhūgṛhagamana), the reception of the bridegroom’s procession, bestowal of the bride by her father to the groom (kanyādāna), taking of the bride’s hand (pāṇigrahaṇa), an exchange of garlands between the bride and groom, the lighting and circumambulation of the sacred fire (agnipradakṣiṇā, parikramaṇa, pariṇayana) in seven steps (saptapadin), and a meal taken jointly. In South India, often a sacred necklace is given to the bride by the groom (Skt. maṅgalasūtra; Tam. tāli), whereas in North Indian weddings the groom may apply vermilion (sindhūra) to the bride in the part of her hair.

Old Age, Death, and Ancestor Rituals

In the “canon” of the 16 traditional Hindu rites of passage, only the death ritual (antyeṣṭi) is mentioned. Other rituals, however, have to be included in this category. This holds true, for instance, for rituals that concern the third and fourth life stage (āśrama): the ascetic withdrawal from the family home, forest dwelling (vānaprastha), the complete renunciation of the domestic fire, and wandering ( saṃnyāsa ). In some areas there are nonascetic old-age rituals such as the worship of the old with, for instance, 77 years, seven months, and seven days (bhīmaratharohaṇa).
(16) Death ritual (antyeṣṭi). Specialized, “impure” priests that only deal with death often perform the final saṃskāra. It is to prepare the deceased for his or her journey through the underworld to heaven. Hindu corpses are burnt – with the exception of small children, ascetics, and persons inflicted by certain diseases. Upon the death of an individual, the body is wrapped and brought to the burning places, where the eldest son or some other male relative lights the pyre together with the priest. The fire is meant to bring the deceased to the ancestors. This is sometimes regarded as the third birth. The ashes are mostly thrown into a river.
After the death ritual, close relatives are regarded as impure for a certain period, generally 11 to 13 days. During this period they are not allowed to enter a temple or consume salt. The deceased (preta) are then in a weak ghostly state. They are always hungry and without a place to live, until the chief mourner has made a body out of wheat flower or rice balls (piṇḍa). On the 12th day or after one year, the deceased is united with ancestors in a ritual called sapiṇḍīkaraṇa. In this ritual a piṇḍa representing the deceased is mixed with three other piṇḍas representing the father, grandfather, and great-grandfather into again three balls. Afterwards the deceased will be worshipped in common and obligatory śrāddha rituals as an ancestor by his relatives.

Regional Saṃskāras: The Example of Newar Life-Cycle Rituals

As mentioned previously, Hindu life-cycle rituals are practiced in many forms with a great number of variations. Thus, the Newars, the indigenous population of the Kathmandu Valley who speak Newari, a Tibeto-Burmese language, nowadays generally observe the following life-cycle rituals (Gutschow & Michaels, 2005, 2008, 2012):
(1) Childhood and adolescence rituals: birth purification (New. macābu byẽkegu), name giving (New. nã chuyegu, nāmakaraṇa), first feeding of cooked rice (New. macā jãkva, annaprāśana), initiation (New. kaytāpūjā, mekhalābandhana), and the girl’s marriage to the bel fruit (New. ihi; bot. Aegle marmelos) and bārhā tayegu (New. girl’s seclusion) for the girls.
(2) Marriage (New. ihipā, vivāha).
(3) Death rites: the veneration of the aged (New. jyaḥ jãko) is not always observed by the Newars, but the death rituals certainly are observed, above all the cremation of the corpse (New. sī uyegu or murdā utayegu, antyeṣṭi), the “ten” works (Skt. daśakriyā), the feeding of the deceased (New. nhenumhā), the removal of death pollution (New. du byẽkegu), the offering of food to the deceased (New. ekādasīcā bvayegu), and the purifying bath (New. svamva luyegu), as well as the feast to the relatives, neighbors, and friends.
(4) Ancestor rites: the unification with the ancestors (New. latyā, sapiṇḍīkaraṇa, antyeṣṭi), regular offerings to the ancestors (Skt. śrāddha, sohraśrāddha, nāndīśrāddha or vṛddhiśrāddha), and worship of the ancestral deity (New. dugudyaḥpūjā).
“Traditional” lists of life-cycle rituals contain between 10 and over 40 rituals, the majority being concerned with birth, childhood, and adolescence. In a modern list of the ten life-cycle rituals (nevā daśakarma) prepared by the Joshi Society, we find, for example, the following saṃskāras listed: (1) birth purification (jātakarman), (2) the cutting of the umbilical cord (nābhicchedana), (3) sixth-day ritual (chaithī), (4) impurity (āśauca; especially the ten-day period of impurity observed after death and childbirth), (5) name giving (nāmakaraṇa), (6) first feeding of solid food (annaprāśana), (7) first head shaving (cūḍākaraṇa), (8) initiation (vratabandha), (9) marriage (bibāha), and (10) the death ritual (antyeṣṭi). Commonly encountered is also a list of “ten rites” (Skt. daśakriyā) that is found in both Brahmanical and Buddhist sources such as the 11th-century Kriyāsaṅgrahapañjikā, most likely a text of Nepalese origin:
"1. purifying the womb (yoniśodhana), 2. transforming the fruit of love to a male foetus (puṃsavana), 3. parting the mother’s hair (sīmantonnayana), 4. birth (jātakarman), 5. naming (nāmakaraṇa), 6. initiation (upanayana), 7. tonsure (cūḍākaraṇa), 8. instruction in post-initiatory observances (vratādeśa), 9. end of studies (samāvartana), and 10. marriage (pāṇigrahaṇa)" (KriPañ. ch. 6).

Saṃskāras and Ritual Theory

In ritual theory, life-cycle rituals are often regarded as paradigmatic rituals. This is partly due to A. van Gennep’s (1909) and even more so V. Turner’s (1969) groundbreaking studies. Both scholars have introduced key terms for the discussion of rituals: “rites de passage” or “liminality,” “communitas,” “social drama,” and “antistructure.” South Asia offers a richness of textual and ethnographic material on such rituals that is almost unparalleled mainly due to ritual traditions preserved in normative texts from vedic times until present but also due to its great variety of local and regional practices.
To A. van Gennep, all spatial or temporal rites of passage – which demarcate a passage from one place, situation, position, or age group to another – reveal a similar form: rites of separation (rites de séparation) are followed by transitional rites (rites de marge), and rites of integration (rites d’agrégration). Each individual leaves his or her social or age group and gets a new identity and sometimes even a new name: a boy becomes a man, a bachelor a husband, a virgin girl a wife, a living person an ancestor, and so on. A. van Gennep’s theory was revived by V. Turner, who pinpointed the middle phase of life-cycle rituals by coining the term “liminality,” an ambivalent and paradoxical period of “betwixt and between” when many social norms are absent or are turned upside down until, through rites of integration, a new feeling of belonging together (“communitas”) is created. Along with these three strict, formal criteria, many rituals also contain another one, which V. Turner has described as “liminality” (from the Latin, limen, “border”). He means the non-everyday and yet reversible, paradoxical, sometimes absurd and playful parts of rituals, especially in life-cycle border situations.
Apart from these approaches, life-cycle rituals have mostly been understood as hierophanic events (M. Eliade, 1958) or as events that help to overcome life crises (e.g. B. Malinowski, 1925, or S. Freud, 1907), or to strengthen the solidarity or hierarchy of a social group (e.g. É. Durkheim, 1912). They have also been analyzed in terms of purity (e.g. McGhee, 2004). Such functionalistic or reductionist theories do not adequately grasp the polyvalent and polythetic aspects and components of rituals. In recent times the performative and dynamic aspects of life-cycle rituals have been stressed.
Almost every ritual act also takes place in an everyday context. But whether the act of “pouring water” is performed to clean or consecrate a statue is not to be decided solely on the basis of these external, formal criteria, but also depends on “internal” criteria relating to intentions that can relate to (a) social aspects (solidarity, hierarchy, control, or establishment of norms); (b) psychological and more individual aspects like alleviating anxiety, experiences of enthusiasm, desire; or (c) transcendental aspects concerning the other, higher, sacred world. With this last notion, everyday acts acquire sublimity and the immutable, non-individual, non-everyday is staged. Although this criterion is particularly controversial because it links religion with ritual, most life-cycle rituals cannot do without it.
Saṃskāras, like most life-cycle rituals, involve temporal or spatial changes and refer to biological, physical, or age-related alterations. Thus, a tangible change takes place with the ritual. For example, the participants in the ritual must acquire an ability they did not previously have or a new social status with social consequences: the initiate becomes a marriageable twice-born, the girl a wife, the deceased a “gone” (preta) or a forefather (pitṛ).