The Samavartana (, ), also known as , is a rite of passage in the ancient texts of Hinduism. Performed at the close of the Brahmacharya period, it marks the graduation of a student from Gurukul (school).For definition of , and alternate term , see: . It signifies a person's readiness to enter grihastashrama (householder, married life).
Description Samavartana, or Snana, is the ceremony associated with the end of formal education and the Brahmacharya asrama of life. This rite of passage includes a ceremonial bath.PV Kane, Samskara, Chapter VII, History of Dharmasastras, Vol II, Part I, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, pages 405-408 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 stage of life.PV Kane, Samskara, Chapter VII, History of Dharmasastras, Vol II, Part I, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, page 408
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.Kathy Jackson (2005), Rituals and Patterns in Children's Lives, University of Wisconsin Press, , page 52
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.PV Kane, Snana or Samavartana, Chapter VII, History of Dharmasastras, Vol II, Part I, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, pages 406-409 Then, after a recitation by the teacher of a graduate's dharma (snataka-dharma)PV Kane, Samskara, Chapter VII, History of Dharmasastras, Vol II, Part I, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, pages 412-417 (note: link has missing pages) 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 describes, in the eleventh anuvaka of Shiksha Valli, the snataka-dharma recitation emphasized by the teacher to a graduate at this rite of passage. The verses ask the graduate to take care of themselves and pursue Dharma, Artha and Kama to the best of their abilities. Parts of the verses in section 1.11.1, for example, state:
The eleventh anuvaka of Shiksha Valli lists behavioral guidelines for the graduating students from a gurukul:Original: मातृदेवो भव । पितृदेवो भव । आचार्यदेवो भव । अतिथिदेवो भव । यान्यनवद्यानि कर्माणि तानि सेवितव्यानि । नो इतराणि । यान्यस्माकँ सुचरितानि तानि त्वयोपास्यानि । नो इतराणि ॥ २ ॥; Taittiriya Upanishad (Sanskrit), Wikisource
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.
See also Saṃskāra – a list of rites of passage in Hinduism Rites of passage
References
Further reading
Samavartana, Snāna PV Kane, History of Dharmasastras, pages 407-417