- Samasrayana
Samasrayana or Pancha Samskara (meaning five purifications) is a rite in
Sri Vaishnavism . Samasrayana means 'to approach with all sincerity and truthfulness toAcharya '. During this rite, the AchAryA initiates a person, irrespective of sex,caste,social status etc. as hissishya . It is a commitment from the disciple that he or she will live as per the wishes of theAchAryA . Thus the person gets the link to theSri Vaishnava tradition. During samasrayana, Pancha Samskara (five Purifications) is performed and he becomes a "Sri VaishnavA".Overview
The five samskArams and its main purposes are:
# thApam - To emboss the impressions of heated (hot) Sankha and ChakrA on the arms (near the shoulders).
# pundram - To wear the dvAdasa Urdhva pundram (12 Thiruman & Srichoornam)
# nAmam- To be christened by the AchAryA afresh as "RAmAnuja dAsan"(addition of 'dAsA'at the end of ones name) to indicate that one is forever a servant of the Supreme Lord Sriman NArAyanA and BhagavAnRAmAnujA.
# manthram - To get the initiation of "Rahasya Traya MantrAs" - AshtAksharam, Dvayam and charama slokam.
# Ijyai - To learn the worship of Sriman nArAyanA in proper form (Bhagavad ThiruvArAdhanam).References
External links
* http://www.ahobilamutt.org/samas.html
* http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/apr2000/0082.html
* http://www.srivaishnavam.com/faq.html
* http://www.saranagathi.org/articles/samasrayanam.htm
* http://www.srivaishnavam.org/samasraya.htm
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