Essay name: Glories of India (Culture and Civilization)
Author: Prasanna Kumar Acharya
This book, “Glories of India on Indian Culture and Civilization”, emphasizes the importance of recognizing distinct cultural traits across different societies. The historical narrative of Indian civilization highlights advancements in agriculture, medicine, science, and arts, tracing back to ancient times. The author argues for the need to understand the past to meaningfully engage with the present and future.
Page 53 of: Glories of India (Culture and Civilization)
53 (of 510)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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INDIAN CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION
The birth ceremonies are a real sacrament which
purifies both the begetter and the begotten in respect of
both mental culture and the external civilization. To
what extent this noble ideal is reached by the in-
dividual member of the modern society is a matter for
individual searching of one's heart and action. The state
laws to protect the child from callous neglect of the
parents give evidence to the discreditable character
of the modern society. But no laws can enforce the
noble feelings of the ancient father.
The next sacrament is known as the N ma-karaṇa or
naming of the child. The pet name given at birth is secret
one for the use of parents only; but that is now-a-days
used by friends also as a token of affection. The proper
name is selected on the basis of the name of a sage,
deity, or forefather.
There are different rules for
selecting names for the male child and the female child.
Under the influence of the foreign domination, es-
pecially over the degenerated imitators, the old national
principles have been given up and we see the hybrid
combination in our names as in Iqbal Nārāyaṇa,
Ivy-lati, etc.
The ceremonies include the initial sacrifice (homa),
naming proper (nama-karaṛa), tying of a gold band
round probably the left wrist (hiranya-bandhana) be-
cause the right wrist has already been similarly tied
at the birth time, and the similar repetition of touching
(abhimarshana) and smelling (avaghrana) for the similar
purposes of transferring personal influence and remov-
ing bad luck of the child.
There appears, however, no personal purification
in this sacrament of naming. This shows more a
communal interest to retain one's own national princi-
ple in the matter of giving a name although a rose
may equally be fragrant under any other name.
The next sacrament is Nishkramaṇa or bringing the
child out of the nursery. This ceremony is timed at the
third or fourth month after the birth. The object is
to get the child introduced and accustomed to the
mild light from the moon and strong glare from the
tropical sun. This is a necessary precaution and
obviously hygienic, because the sudden exposure of the
child to the dazzling sun's glare after its residence in
the darkness of the mother's womb is likely to injure,
incurably in many cases, the eye-sight of the child,
