# Samavartanam

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{{Short description|Hindu rite of passage}}
{{Hinduism_small}}
The '''Samavartana''' ({{langx|sa|समावर्तन}}, {{IAST|Samāvartana}}), also known as '''{{IAST|Snāna}}''', is a rite of passage in the ancient texts of [Hinduism](/source/Hinduism). Performed at the close of the [Brahmacharya](/source/Brahmacharya) period, it marks the graduation of a student from ''Gurukul'' (school).<ref>For definition of {{IAST|Samāvartana}}, and alternate term {{IAST|Snāna}}, see: {{Harvnb|Pandey|1969|p=146}}.</ref> It signifies a person's readiness to enter [grihastashrama](/source/grihastashrama) (householder, married life).

==Description==
''Samavartana'', or ''Snana'', is the ceremony associated with the end of formal education and the [Brahmacharya](/source/Brahmacharya) [asrama](/source/%C4%80%C5%9Brama_(stage)) of life. This rite of passage includes a ceremonial bath.<ref>PV Kane, [https://archive.org/stream/historyofdharmas029210mbp#page/n461/mode/2up Samskara, Chapter VII], History of Dharmasastras, Vol II, Part I, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, pages 405-408</ref> The ceremony marked the end of school, but did not imply immediate start of married life. Typically, significant time elapsed between exiting Brahmacharya and entering the [Grihastha](/source/G%E1%B9%9Bhastha) stage of life.<ref>PV Kane, [https://archive.org/stream/historyofdharmas029210mbp#page/n465/mode/2up Samskara, Chapter VII], History of Dharmasastras, Vol II, Part I, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, page 408</ref>

Anyone who had completed this rite of passage was considered a ''Vidya-snataka'' (literally, bathed in knowledge, or showered with learning), and symbolized as one who had crossed the ocean of learning.<ref>Kathy Jackson (2005), Rituals and Patterns in Children's Lives, University of Wisconsin Press, {{ISBN|978-0299208301}}, page 52</ref>

==Ceremony==
The ceremony was a gathering of students, teacher and guests. The student asked the teacher for any gift (''guru-dakshina'') he desired, which if specified was the student's responsibility to deliver over his lifetime.<ref>PV Kane, [https://archive.org/stream/historyofdharmas029210mbp#page/n463/mode/2up Snana or Samavartana, Chapter VII], History of Dharmasastras, Vol II, Part I, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, pages 406-409</ref> Then, after a recitation by the teacher of a graduate's [dharma](/source/dharma) (''snataka-dharma'')<ref>PV Kane, [https://archive.org/stream/historyofdharmas029210mbp#page/n469/mode/2up Samskara, Chapter VII], History of Dharmasastras, Vol II, Part I, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, pages 412-417 (note: link has missing pages)</ref> and a fire ritual, the graduate took a ceremonial bath. The ceremony occurred after completion of at least 12 years of school, that is at about age 21 or later.

The [Taittiriya Upanishad](/source/Taittiriya_Upanishad) describes, in the eleventh anuvaka of Shiksha Valli, the ''snataka-dharma'' recitation emphasized by the teacher to a graduate at this rite of passage.<ref name=ssastri1112/><ref name=pauldeussentu1112/> The verses ask the graduate to take care of themselves and pursue [Dharma](/source/Dharma), [Artha](/source/Artha) and [Kama](/source/Kama) to the best of their abilities. Parts of the verses in section 1.11.1, for example, state:<ref name=ssastri1112/>
{{Quote|
<poem>
Never err from Truth,
Never err from Dharma,
Never neglect your well-being,
Never neglect your health,
Never neglect your prosperity,
Never neglect ''Svādhyāya'' (study of oneself) and ''Pravacana'' (exposition of Vedas).
</poem>
|Taittirĩya Upanishad, I.11.1<ref name=ssastri1112>[https://archive.org/stream/AitareyataittiriyaUpanishadsWithShankaraBhashya-English/05AitareyataittiriyaUpanishadsWithShankaraBhashya-English#page/n93/mode/2up Taittiriya Upanishad] SS Sastri (Translator), The Aitereya and Taittiriya Upanishad, pages 89-92</ref><ref name=pauldeussentu1112>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120814684}}, pages 229-231</ref>}}

The eleventh anuvaka of ''Shiksha Valli'' lists behavioral guidelines for the graduating students from a ''[gurukul](/source/Gurukula)'':<ref name=roberthume/><ref>Original: मातृदेवो भव । पितृदेवो भव ।  आचार्यदेवो भव । अतिथिदेवो भव । 
यान्यनवद्यानि कर्माणि तानि सेवितव्यानि । नो इतराणि । यान्यस्माकँ सुचरितानि तानि त्वयोपास्यानि । नो इतराणि ॥ २ ॥; [http://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/तैत्तिरीयोपनिषद् Taittiriya Upanishad (Sanskrit)], Wikisource</ref>
{{Quote|
<poem>
Be one to whom a mother is as god, be one to whom a father is as god, 
Be one to whom an ''Acharya'' (spiritual guide, scholars you learn from) is as god,
Be one to whom a guest is as god.<ref name=roberthume>[https://archive.org/stream/thirteenprincipa028442mbp#page/n301/mode/2up Taittiriya Upanishad] Thirteen Principal Upanishads, Robert Hume (Translator), pages 281-282</ref>
Let your actions be uncensurable, none else. 
Those acts that you consider good when done to you, do those to others, none else.
</poem>
|Taittirĩya Upanishad, I.11.2<ref name=ssastri1112>[https://archive.org/stream/AitareyataittiriyaUpanishadsWithShankaraBhashya-English/05AitareyataittiriyaUpanishadsWithShankaraBhashya-English#page/n93/mode/2up Taittiriya Upanishad] SS Sastri (Translator), The Aitereya and Taittiriya Upanishad, pages 89-92</ref><ref name=pauldeussentu1112>Paul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120814684}}, pages 229-231</ref>}}

The third section of the eleventh anuvaka lists charity and giving, with faith, sympathy, modesty and cheerfulness, as ethical precepts for the graduating students at the ''Samavartana'' rite of passage.<ref name=pauldeussentu1112/>

==See also==
*[Saṃskāra](/source/Sa%E1%B9%83sk%C4%81ra) – a list of rites of passage in Hinduism
*[Rites of passage](/source/Rites_of_passage)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{Citation | last=Pandey | first=Rajbali | year=1969 | title=Hindu Saṁskāras: Socio-Religious Study of the Hindu Sacraments | place=Delhi | publisher=Motilal Banarsidass | edition=Second Revised | isbn=81-208-0434-1}}
* [https://archive.org/stream/historyofdharmas029210mbp#page/n463/mode/2up Samavartana, Snāna] PV Kane, History of Dharmasastras, pages 407-417

{{Hindu samskaras}}

Category:Samskaras

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Samavartanam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samavartanam) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samavartanam?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.