Hi! Its been ages since I wrote anything. Now, I think, until two or three months, can spare some time for blogging. I thought to start from where I stopped in the past. We were dealing with the elements of Hindu marriage ritual. We have covered groom’s transition (38)Elements of Hindu Marriage (Part-2)) from his education to social life, coming of the bride (39) Elements of Hindu Marriage (Part-3)) into picture of marriage ritual. I also covered many apparent dark spots with logical explanations which would otherwise render the whole ritual a meaningless time waste, for the profane. Let us now go into the last part of the ritual i.e., the main event of marriage.
This is a junction where, a sweet mixture is offered to the groom by uttering and invoking few mantras. The sweet mixture is made of cow milk, ghee (clarified butter), etc., to give him enough strength. In fact, ghee is considered as spiritual semen in Vēdic lore. So, offering the sweet made of ghee is symbolic to offering ghee in a fire ritual where, the offerings are offered to the angels on the other side of the door of AGNI, in this case – the Lord in groom. After this, food is offered to those who visited the marriage. They too need strength to bless, don’t they! So, unlike present days, where the dinner/lunch is independent of the ritual, the olden customs considered the presence of people and their blessings (mental thoughts of goodness and kindness) a necessary capsule for the new would-be couple’s futuristic journey. So, they offer food first and then the marriage ritual happens.
This is the most important part of the marriage. In-fact, this is the ” Moment of marriage”. Please note that tying the knot comes later and actually is not the “moment of marriage”. That is why, the time at which this 18th aspect occurs, is called the Auspicious Time of marriage, which is generally printed on wedding cards that invite people’s blessings at that moment. Let us see why it is so important.
After the invocations of mantras, a white curtain is held in the directions parallel to North-South. The bride is made to sit on the East, facing Westward and groom on the West, facing Eastward. Bride on the East symbolizes the sunrise which awakens beings into consciousness and hence the Energy aspect of the LORD. The groom on the west symbolizes the goal post of the risen sun i.e., Shakti, and hence her husband – Īshwara. But, before marriage, they both play dual role and hence are facing opposite to the direction in which they sat. The curtain forms the reference with respect to which, we marked East/West. This demarcation exists in all of us as the “self” that separates from the ONE being. So, it also acts as the separation between the bride and the groom.
The bride and groom are now given a finely ground mixture-paste, made of Jaggery and Cumin seeds (Jeera) to hold in the palm. This mixture is very sticky and strong in its composition. It symbolizes the strong bond that is about to happen. But there is more to it. A person who knows Ayurveda would immediately identify this mixture to be of something which induces electric activity (well, its called vidyut in Sanskrit and is not exact to electricity, but more than that – a life force one can say).
Now, they wait for the auspicious moment – Muhūrta. While waiting, the auspicious instruments are played, people sing in glory of the lord and his consort, priests invoke the SUN lord mantras which kindle the fire of soul in bride and groom. As the situation becomes energized with so many elements, at the exact moment decided for the marriage, the bride and groom are asked to look at each others’ eye-brow-center. While looking, they are asked to put the palm, containing the paste, on each others head-center. Thus, the brow-center (Ājña Cakra) and head-centers (Sahasrāra) of both bride and groom are connected via the vitalized element of Jaggery-Jeera paste and the looks from the depths of the souls of each other.
The paste is symbolic to material and the looks to spiritual, for a look can be mental as well. Thus, the bond of their is strengthened spiritually and physically. Now, what is the role of ” exact time or Muhurta” ? Well, time rules everyone and everyone are constrained by time. The science of time is well known to ancients and hence the art of choosing “favorable time” belongs to ancients, which we follow even today. More on this later, but the important thing to note is that, right time gives a right push to the upcoming journey!
This is akin to the Upanayana ritual. As the Upanayana for women discontinued over the time, for the reasons I stated in my first article on this series, the reminiscent of that is visible in this part of the marriage. Here, Husband ties a palm tree rope unto his wife, giving her the share of his debts (27) The Three Debts) and invoke those mantras which suggest his request unto her to support him in his endeavors (and vice-versa).
At first, the groom invokes the lord of “auspiciousness” and prays for the well being of his wife till eternity. This is done onto a sacred thread which he will tie around his wife’s neck. This thread is then passed onto all the people, who wish her the best, so that they can touch and bless the new life. After this, the groom invokes the following mantra and ties three knots around her neck:
Whose meaning is: “I am storing the all auspiciousness, marked by the pious life I have tread (gurukul and etc.) into this sacred thread, which I am now tying around your throat center (and hence storing the GODDESS of auspiciousness in your every WORD). May you live for 100 years (actually eons of life times to come)“.
This is a ritual act, actually taken from that lore which extols GODDESS (like tantra). In Lalitā Sahasra Nāma, one can see this description of her neck being tied by the thread of Shiva, etc. This is the second main event of marriage. One can observe that a man gets three sacred threads and the woman one sacred thread with three knots, after the marriage. This three is to symbolize all the tertiary aspects that I explored in 36) Mystic nature of Numbers. Just a point to note!
This is a fun part of the marriage. rice grains are sanctified with turmeric/holy waters and then are given to husband and wife. They will invoke different lords and then pour on each other’s heads. This is fun because, one will always play with their spouse at this stage — by not being stationary and hence making it difficult for the partner to pour. Otherwise, pouring rice grains over head is one of the ancient acts that symbolizes a blessing.
This is self explanatory.
This is the knot that is tied to the upper garment of the husband and the upper garment of the wife. This is the knot tied by the priest who sits in the place of “Brahma” i.e., main priest and hence is called Brahma’s knot. This knot ties them together for the rest of the rituals and hence are not free to do/roam as they like!
The mantras in this are often used by modern activists to show that scriptures are woman demeaning. I will try to counter argue that here. First, as usual, I will give the import of the mantras and then the intended/esoteric meaning:
Translation: First, Sōma had you. Then Gandharva had you. As the third, Agni liked you. As a human and as the fourth, I am getting you. Sōma gave you to Gandharva. gandharva gave you to Agni. Agni donated you to me.
When one reads this, there is a bad sense to the word “had”. But, when one understands the import using the keys that I have been exploring in this blog, one can see the following mapping:
Now, one can see that, before Sōma took her, the kid is similar to her husband i.e., childhood. When menstruation kicks in, She is governed by her periods. If her periods are disturbed, her health and her life is disturbed. Thus, SŌMA – the lord of periodicities ruled her. As time proceeded, she aged and so her beauty started to unfold. This un-foldment of beauty is governed by the lord of beauty or Gandharva. When she was ruled by both, SHE started to understand “I am so and so” – an individual awareness kicks in. This is the play of AGNI or the FIRE in us. Thus three people / angels took hold of her. Thus, the husband, is the fourth to beget her. From now on, along with the past influence of periods, beauty and individuality, a sense of co-existence (in form of the new relationship) rules her. This is the main import of the mantras here.
Those who wants first a girl child will hold the four fingers, except thumb, of the spouse (who ever has the request to make). Who wishes for a first boy child will hold the thumb. Those who did not decide or have no preferences, will hold all the fingers or the right hand of the spouse. This is done while invoking related mantras.
With respect to the center fire altar,both of them must move towards North or East by keeping their right foot first and utter the mantras whose essence is the best bond possible between them. The seven steps symbolize seven lives or seven planes of existence in which they share their very existence.
These are fire rituals associated with different aspects of married life to be embarked upon.
This concludes the series of articles on Hindu marriage ritual. The ritual is an ocean of ideas, some of which, I just touched upon. Interested reader can dive deep and realize the essence and purpose of marriage according to ancient Hindus. I hope you all enjoyed this series of articles.
PhD (Quantum Physics), M.Sc. (IIT Madras), B.Tech. (LNMIIT).
Bridging the depths of Science and the wisdom of the Vedas
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