Second birth of religio-cultural nature is based on which samskar?
Answers
The 16 Sanskaras. There are diverse number of Sanskaras in Hinduism, varying by texts between 12 and 18 in the Grhyasutras (Kalpa sastras). Of these, 16 are referred to as "Shodasha Samskaras" (Ṣoḍaśa Saṃskāra).
A person was once digging up his field for planting seeds. Suddenly he came across a greenish stone. He thought it
to be beautiful and took it to a jeweler. The jeweler said that it was nice and paid the man a hundred rupees for the
stone. The jeweler then took the stone inside his workshop. He first cleaned the dirt, and then evened it out by doing
away with its ruggedness. Further he polished it, and then the stone started shining. Thus the stone was made
suitable for setting into an ornament. Aer it had become a piece of jewelry, the same emerald that as a stone had
fetched only a hundred rupees became worth a million. Such a process of refining and enriching is called Samskara.
All the scriptures, whether it be the Gita or the Upanishads, are there to give us Samskara. Even the science of
Vedanta, the highest knowledge available to mankind, is meant to remove our Avidya; i.e. Vidya acts by removing an
impurity (Avidya), it does not give anything new. Gaining knowledge in Vedanta means removing Avidya, it does not
mean ‘acquiring’ knowledge.
The Vedas have delineated sixteen Samskaras for purifying us. The Manu Smriti outlines their
purpose:
‘All impurities inherent in the seed of the male and the womb of the female are removed by Samskaras.’ (Manu Smriti
It is based on the Hindu sanskar. The Hindus totally have sixteen sanskars.
Those sixteen sanskars starts from the birth till the death of a human.
It is actually done by invoking the blessings of the five elements.
The five elements are the most powerful elements in world. They are water, earth, air, sky and fire, in their customs the person is given to fire after their death. Among sixteen, three sanskars are performed before the birth of child during pregnancy and last sankar is performed after the death.