DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.636#0371
Tonsure and Shaving.
359
placed in the midst of a party of friends, including the family-
priest, who offered prayers for its welfare and presented it
with gifts. A little solid food (generally rice) was then for the
first time put into its mouth, and various qualities were sup-
posed to be imparted, according to the nature of the food given,
whether rice, butter, honey, milk, or the flesh of partridges or
goats (see Asvalayana Grihya-s. I. 17). At the same time a
verse from the White Yajur-veda (II. 83) was recited.
After this sixth ceremony there was a pause, and the child
was allowed to develope in peace for two or three years.
The next important Sanskaras were those of 'Tonsure,'
' Shaving,' and 'Cutting off the hair' (Caula, Cuda-karma, Ke-
santa, Kshaura). These were kindred operations, and may be
explained together \ When performed for the first time they
were held to have a purificatory effect on the whole character.
In the case of a Brahman the ceremony of tonsure was per-
formed in the third year, but was often delayed, and sometimes
did not take place till the seventh or eighth year. According
to Asvalayana the child was to be placed on the lap of its
mother to the west of the sacred fire. The father was to
take up his station to the south of the mother, holding in his
hand twenty-one stalks of Kusa grass. He was to sprinkle the
head of the child three times with a mixture of warm water,
butter and curds. He was to insert three stalks of Kusa
grass seven times into the child's hair on the right side,
saying: 'O divine grass, protect him!' Then he was to cut off
a portion of the hair and give it to the mother, with recitation
of various texts, leaving one lock (sikha or iuda) on the top of
the head, or occasionally three or five locks, according to the
custom of the family. The operation of shaving was some-
1 Manu makes Kesanta, ' cutting off the hair,' a later Sanskara than
<f aula or Kshaura,' shaving;' see note, p. 353. In the Roman Catholic
Church the ceremony of tonsure is the first ceremony for devoting a
young man to the service of God. In England this is done by cutting
off a single lock; actual shaving is dispensed with.
359
placed in the midst of a party of friends, including the family-
priest, who offered prayers for its welfare and presented it
with gifts. A little solid food (generally rice) was then for the
first time put into its mouth, and various qualities were sup-
posed to be imparted, according to the nature of the food given,
whether rice, butter, honey, milk, or the flesh of partridges or
goats (see Asvalayana Grihya-s. I. 17). At the same time a
verse from the White Yajur-veda (II. 83) was recited.
After this sixth ceremony there was a pause, and the child
was allowed to develope in peace for two or three years.
The next important Sanskaras were those of 'Tonsure,'
' Shaving,' and 'Cutting off the hair' (Caula, Cuda-karma, Ke-
santa, Kshaura). These were kindred operations, and may be
explained together \ When performed for the first time they
were held to have a purificatory effect on the whole character.
In the case of a Brahman the ceremony of tonsure was per-
formed in the third year, but was often delayed, and sometimes
did not take place till the seventh or eighth year. According
to Asvalayana the child was to be placed on the lap of its
mother to the west of the sacred fire. The father was to
take up his station to the south of the mother, holding in his
hand twenty-one stalks of Kusa grass. He was to sprinkle the
head of the child three times with a mixture of warm water,
butter and curds. He was to insert three stalks of Kusa
grass seven times into the child's hair on the right side,
saying: 'O divine grass, protect him!' Then he was to cut off
a portion of the hair and give it to the mother, with recitation
of various texts, leaving one lock (sikha or iuda) on the top of
the head, or occasionally three or five locks, according to the
custom of the family. The operation of shaving was some-
1 Manu makes Kesanta, ' cutting off the hair,' a later Sanskara than
<f aula or Kshaura,' shaving;' see note, p. 353. In the Roman Catholic
Church the ceremony of tonsure is the first ceremony for devoting a
young man to the service of God. In England this is done by cutting
off a single lock; actual shaving is dispensed with.