Rakesh

The Four Stages of Life in Hinduism In Hinduism, human life is believed to comprise four stages. These are called "ashramas" and every person should ideally go through each of these stages. A crucial piece of the ashrama lifecycle is its focus on dharma, the Hindu concept of moral rightness. Manava Dharmashastra (originally 700 verses) takes care of Dharma. Devimahatmyam (700 verses) takes care of Artha. Vatsyana Kamasutra (700 sutras) takes care of Kama. Srimad Bhagavadgita (700 verses) takes care of Moksha. All the above four texts fulfil the purushartha chatushtaya. Dharma underlies many themes in Hindu life, and in the four ashramas, dharma is learned, practiced, taught and realized. They are Brahmacharya: The Celibate Student; a period of formal education lasting until around age 25, during which, the student leaves home to stay with a guru and attain both spiritual and practical life knowledge. The student has two duties: to learn the skills of his life and to practice unwavering devotion to his teachers. During this period, he is called a Brahmachari as he prepares for his future profession, as well as for his family, and social and religious life ahead. Grihastha: The Householder; This Second Ashrama begins at marriage when one must undertake the responsibility for earning a living and supporting a family. At this stage, first practice Karma as dharma, but also pursue wealth or material gratification (artha) as a necessity, and indulge in pleasure (kama) for reproductive motives, under certain defined social and cosmic norms. This ashrama lasts until around the age of 60. According to the Laws of Manu, when a person's skin wrinkles and his hair turns gray, he should leave his home and go out into the forest. Vanaprastha: The Hermit in Retreat; is one of gradual withdrawal. The person's duty as a householder comes to an end: He has become a grandfather, his children are grown up and have established lives of their own. At this age, he should renounce all physical, material, and other pleasures, retire from his social and professional life and leave his home for a forest hut where he can spend his time in meditation, Yoga and Prayers. The hermit is allowed to take his spouse along with him but maintains little contact with the rest of the family. The role of the third ashrama is to be consulted as elders by the community at large, teaching dharma to those who visit. Sannyasa: The Wandering Recluse; Ashrama 4 is one of renunciation and the realization of dharma. At this stage, a person is supposed to be totally devoted to God. He is a sannyasi, he has no home / Ego, no other attachment; he has renounced all desires, fears, hopes, duties, and responsibilities. He is virtually merged with God, all his worldly ties are broken, and his sole concern becomes attaining moksha or release from the circle of birth and death. (Suffice it to say, very few Hindus can go up to this stage of becoming a complete ascetic.) When he dies, the funeral ceremonies (Pretakarma) are performed by his heir. In Hinduism, Four Represent very special place it represents the Four Yugas, four Vedas, the Four aims/objectives of life, Four stages of life, the swastika is a Four-dimensional cube used in Vedic Mathematics, and also symbolizes an entire state of being in Hindu philosophy the fourth state of consciousness. Adi Shankara amalgamated the ideologies of ancient ‘Advaita Vedanta’ and also explained the basic ideas of Upanishads. He advocated the oldest concept of Hinduism which explains the unification of the soul (atman) with the Supreme Soul (Nirguna Brahman). Shankaracharya explained the existence of one Supreme Being (Brahman) and that the five supreme deities are part of one divine power. During Adi Sankaracharya time, Ancient hindu India was a maze of various sects ( each one claiming supremacy over the others ) and added to that was the chaos of buddhist sectarianism. #Longthread