The classical sixteen life rituals, from Garbhadhana to Antyeshti. The original meaning of the word samskara, the Grihya Sutra procedures, and the modern reform context.
Lessons in this chapter
Before You Were Born — Garbhadhana, Pumsavana, Simantonnayana, and the Three Samskaras That Run Before the First Cry
The First Days — Jatakarma, Namakarana, Nishkramana, and the Phonology of the Name That Wellness Apps Are Now Selling Back
The Body Grows — Annaprashana, Chudakarana, and Karnavedha: three samskaras that mark the body's first food, first shave, and first piercing
Learning Begins — Vidyarambha, Upanayana, and Vedarambha: how the Hindu civilisation invented the world's oldest school admission, the world's oldest student initiation, and the world's oldest curriculum convocation, and how Harvard's freshman convocation, Hogwarts' Sorting Hat, and the modern adult-learning literature are still rediscovering the design