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RELIGION & CULTURE OF THE JAINS
month rainy season retreat by the ascetics also takes the form of a ritual. Social-religious Ceremonies
There is an infinite variety of life, and every variety consists of innumerable living beings. All this life, in whatever from is sacred. Yet, the greatest value is attached to the human from, which is the best and most coveted of all forms of life. It is the only 'way in' for that paradise wherein is situated the temple of spiritual freedom. Man alone can attain nirvāna. But, to be worth his salt, a human being has got to be cultured through various saṁskāras or ceremonies. The texts prescribe several classes of such rites and ceremonies. There are fiftythree kriyās (rites) which cover the entire life of a person from conception to nirvāņa.
Another set of fortyeight is meant for those who are neoconverts, and starts from a person's conversion to the faith and ends with his nirvāņa if he is able to achieve it. The third set of seven is meant for the specially meritorious souls. There are, however, sixteen saṁskāras which are of a socioreligious nature and concern the life of a householder. The first of these is the conception ceremony which a husband and wife, in perfect health, perform in a gay and loving as well as pious mood, by resolving to copulate for the purpose of procreation and not mere gratification of lust. Then four ceremonies are performed during the period of pregnancy, in the third, fifth, seventh and the ninth month, respectively. The purpose is to take due care of the mother, keep her healthy, happy and cheerful, and occupy her mind with pious thoughts, so as to produce a very whole-some effect on the physical, mental and psychic development of the child in the womb. The sixth is the birth ceremony, performed with much rejoicing, when blessings are showered on the new-born. On the twelfth day, the christening ceremony is performed when a specific name is given to the child. In the fourth or fifth month the
