शास्त्रीय शिक्षण कॆन्द्र

Chudakarana

The purpose of the Samsk?ra as given in the scripture was the achievement of long life for the recipient. Life is prolonged by tonsure; without it, it is shortened. Therefore, it should be performed by all means. According to Sušruta, shaving and cutting the hair and nails remove impurities and give delight, lightness, prosperity, courage and happiness. At the basis of the tonsure ceremony the idea of health and beauty was prominent. In the opinion of some anthropologists, however, this ceremony had a dedicative purpose in its origin, that is hair was cut off and offered as a gift to some deity. But this supposition is not correct, at least so far as the hindu tonsure is concerned. The dedicative purpose was unknown to the Grihyasũtras and Smritis. No doubt at present, the tonsure ceremony is sometimes performed at the temple of a deity. But so are some other Samsk?r?s like Upanayana. The Samsk?r?s of only those children are performed at the place of a deity who are born after a long disappointment of the death of previous children. Moreover, this practice is not universal. Thus there is not an innate connection between the tonsure ceremony and its dedication to deity. Almost all the verses that are used in the Grihyasũtras at the tonsure ceremony are found in the Vĕdic literature and they are all of specific character which shows that they were composed for the purpose of cutting the hair only. यॆनावपत्सविता क्षुरॆण सॊमस्य राग्ञॊ वरुणस्य विद्वान् । तॆनब्रह्माणॊ वपतॆदमस्यायुष्मान्जरदष्टिर्यथासदयं wetting the head for tonsure is mentioned in the all four Vedas. आप उन्दन्तु जीवसॆ दीर्घायुत्वाय वर्चसॆ. The shaving razor is praised and requested to be harmless. यत्क्षुरॆणमर्चयिता सुपॆशसा वप्त्रा वपसि कॆशान् Cutting the hair by the father himself for abundance of food शिवोनामासि स्वधिस्तॆ पिता नमस्तॆ अस्तु मामाहिग्ंसी:, progeny, wealth and strength is also referred to. The barber, an personification Savit? or or the sun, is welcomed. Many other mythological allusions to hair-cutting are given in the Vĕdas. So it is quite clear that the Chũdũkaraņa was religious ceremony as early as in the vĕdic period, consisting of wetting the head, prayer to the razor, invitation to the barber, cutting the hair with Vĕdic verses and wishes for long life, prosperity and even progeny for the child. In the opinion of the Grihyasũtr?s the Chũd?karaņa ceremony took place at the before end of first year or before the expiry of the third year. The earliest Smriti MANU, त्रुतीयॆ पंचमॆचाब्दे चौलकर्म प्रशस्यतॆ। प्राग्वासमॆ सप्तमॆ वा सहॊपनयनॆव |त्रुतीयेवर्षॆचौलॆतुसर्वकामार्थ साधनं| संवत्सरॆतु चौलॆन आयुष्यं ब्रह्मवर्चसं|पंचमॆ पशुकामस्य युग्मेवर्षॆतु गर्हितं also prescribes the same: according to the Vĕd?s, the Chũdakaraņa of all the twice-born should be performed either in the first or the third year. Some say that it could be performed with the Upanayana which might take place even later. Chũd?karaņa is praiseworthy in the third or the fifth year: but it can be performed even in the seventh year or with the Upanayana. The tendency of prescribing later periods for performing the ceremony was due to the fact that in times subsequent to the sutras, गर्भिण्यां मातरि शिशॊक्षौरकर्म न कारयॆत् | विशिखॊ व्युपवीतश्च यत्करॊति न तत्क्रुतं its purpose became ceremonial instead of real. In practice, hair was cropped early in the life of the child, but its ceremonial performance was postponed up to the time of the Upanayana when it was performed a few minutes before the initiation with all the formulas of the scripture. This is the custom which is generally followed at present. The arrangement of the top-hair or SIKHA was the most important feature of the Chũd?karaņa: As the very name of the Samsk?ra suggests. The hair on the top was arranged according to the family customs. One should arrange the hair in accordance with one’s family tradition. The number of tufts was determined by the number of the Pravara in the family, as it may be three or five. यथर्षि शिखा निदधाति । यथा तॆषां कुलधर्मस्यात् शिखां छिन्दन्ति ये मॊहात् द्वॆषादज्ञानतॊपिवा | तप्त क्रुच्छ्रॆण शुध्यन्ति त्रयोवर्णद्विजातय: