Four Stages of Life - Essay Example

Four Stages of Life In relation to the Laws of Manu, Hinduism has four stages of life. These include; the stage, the householder stage, the hermit stage or forest dweller stage, and the wandering ascetic stage. Each of the stages has a different Dharma and is representative of various periods, i.e. preparation, production, service, and retirement respectively. The laws of Manu are a legal code that insists on men earning the right to renounce the world through initial existence in the world (Van Voorst 67). This right is earned by being an exemplary student, husband, and father. In order for Hindus to opt out of their ordinary life, one must engage in the laws of Manu. Hindus do not require teachings on how to be happy, secure, or win the admiration and respect of their associates and friends. However, they do require instructions on the best way to secure the same. In Hindu, deeper thinking is suggestive of the fact that these stages and the values they represent progress naturally. Therefore, man grows more towards their fundamental interests (Van Voorst 67). The movement towards increasingly satisfying and enduring values is institutionalized in the Ashramas, or the comprehension of the four stages of life. The first stage of human life in accordance with the laws of Manu is the studentship stage. For boy students, they are supposed to habituate with a guru or teacher to learn Sanskrit, ritual, the Vedas and others (Van Voorst 39). The guru in this case is a Brahmin. For the student, the dharma is inclusive of obedience, non-violence, celibacy, and respectfulness. God is the student’s teacher in this stage. When it comes to girls, this stage of student-hood is coincident with the householder stage; her husband takes up the role of her teacher. In this stage, the student’s norm is discipline, his forte is celibacy, and his duty is devotion to the guru, while his vocation is concentration in the studies. The student learns the renderings and nuances of Sastras, Upanishads, and Vedas. He does this through rote in order for him to realize in real life situations the significance of his studies when he is of age. Therefore, this stage is one of probation and training sans prejudice. The student is expected to add an honorific title before pronouncing the teacher’s name even when out of earshot (Van Voorst 40). The student’s initial lesson is Sandhya Vandanam in the evening, noon, and morning, breath control, Gayatri recitation, ablutions, sprinkling and sipping water, and water libations. The second stage of life as stipulated in the laws of Manu is the householder stage. In this stage, after bathing and performing the ritual for going back home, a twice born man is allowed to marry a woman from the same caste endowed with bodily marks of an auspicious nature (Van Voorst 40). Hindus take this stage more seriously as compared to Buddhism and Jainism; it is usually considered to be mandatory just as the first stage of student hood is. Here, the fundamental dharma of the specific individual is carried out whether as a warrior, priest, or otherwise, while for women the role is usually as a mother or wife. On top of the particular duties of the second stage, general duties are carried out with the aim of paying off debt. Marriage and bearing children is considered as discharging the debt to ancestors; sacrifices and household rituals are considered as discharging debt to the gods, and teaching one’s children, wife, and other students in the case of Brahmins is considered as discharging debt to the teacher (Van Voorst 41). These three debts can at times be associated with the three-trinity gods. These are Shiva for debt to the teachers, Brahma for debts to the ancestors, and Vishnu for debt to the gods. The third stage of human life written in the law of Manu is the forest dweller stage. This stage is optional and is entered ideally when a person gets graying hair, has grandchildren who can carry the family name onwards, and gets wrinkled skin. Wives and husbands can leave their possessions and affairs behind in the care of their children and both can retire together as hermits to the forest (Van Voorst 41). However, this is not representative of their complete renunciation of worldly things because the two can still conjugate once every month, while they are required to keep a sacred fire and perform minimal rituals. For this reason, the forest dwellers stage is not totally free of the dharma. Aranyakas, also known as forest treaties, were to be written for those dwelling in the forest (Van Voorst 41). These people had renounced worldly trappings and started to consider the probability of liberation. The lives of people in this stage hold are not dependent on imagination or fancy but on the values that one regards as inviolable in reality. This stage can be viewed as the start of adult education for adults to evaluate their lives and performance, as well as reorder their lives, in order to discover themselves. Stage four of human life as put across by the laws of Manu is the wandering ascetic stage. Men can go on to this stage, although their wives are required to leave at home as, traditionally, they cannot wander as ascetics or live alone in the forest. Men in this stage renounce the world and their families consider them to have died, while they finally overcome caste and dharma (Van Voorst 41). They are objects of worship in temples, which even the gods are not since they are considered to be householders. While the Mahabharata contend that Brahmins are allowed to directly move to renunciation, they concede that the three debts should and must be repaid. The ancestral debt is paid through co-habitation of wife and husband living as householders or forest dwellers where they decide to undergo renunciation. An ascetic wanderer must not expect to die nor expect to live, while he should drink purified water, utter complete truths, bear hard words patiently, not create enemies for the sake of it, control his anger, and not insult anyone (Van Voorst 42). Ascetic wanderers are wise and spontaneous, practice self-realization, and embrace ascetics as a way out of misfortune, disappointment, or misery that prevent them from being involved in worldly activity. A Brahman’s life is divided into four periods; this is in accordance with the laws of Manu, which are student, the householder, the hermit or forest dweller, and the wandering ascetic stages. The first is regulated using strict rules of study, chastity, and obedience, while the second is devoted to marriage duties such as private and public performance of sacrifices. Stage three and four, the ascetic and hermit stages respectively, are approximate renderings. The major difference is that the Brahman in the 3rd stage keeps his forest dwelling away from the village, and his wife can accompany him; he can see his children, and maintain sacred fires. In the latter stage, the Brahman is free from restrictions and lives without a fixed abode. Work Cited Van Voorst, Robert. E. Anthology of World Scriptures. Australia: Thomson Wadsworth, 2008. Print. Van Voorst, Robert. E. Relg: World. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, 2013. Print. Read More