Origin and Meaning

    The word ‘ashram’ has been derived from the root ‘shram’ which means to make efforts. The meaning of the word ‘ashram’ is ‘a state in which one makes efforts on one’s own’.

Objectives and Types

    Righteousness (Dharma), wealth, desire and Final Liberation (Moksha) are the four pursuits of human life according to Vedic culture. The system for the stages of life (ashrams), as explained in the Vedas, is the principal means of attaining them. When explaining the duties to be performed in the various stages of life, the lifespan of man has been considered as 100 years and has been divided into four parts. Each part is called a stage (ashram).

The four stages are:

• The stage of a celibate (brahmacharya): In this stage, one has to live in the hermitage of a spiritual master (Guru), and study the Holy Scriptures. This includes study of the code of Righteousness and undertaking vowed religious observances.

• The stage of a householder (gruhastha): In this stage, through procreation, performing fire sacrifices, study of scriptures, receiving and serving guests, one repays the three debts, namely those towards society, ancestors and God. The main form of spiritual practice is to make offerings to social and religious causes and shoulder the responsibility of caring for the needs of those observing the path of Spirituality through renunciation.

• The stage of a retired householder (vanaprastha): In this stage, as one ages, one retires to live in the forest, renouncing one’s home. Spiritual practice of this stage is undertaken with the objectives of purifying the physical body and undertaking the study of scriptures. One can accept this stage when one has borne a son, or their son bears a son, which occurs roughly between 50 and 75 years of age. However, if one has developed intense detachment, then the scriptures permit one to go directly from the celibate stage to this stage, without having to go through the 25 years of the householder stage. It is important to note that living in an old age home is not equivalent to this stage.

• The stage of a renunciant (sannyas): ‘Sann’ means all and ‘nyas’ means to give up. In this final stage, towards the end of life, one renounces the world in order to attain the Final Liberation through Self-realization. In the stage of retired householder, as one lives in one place, even if it is a forest, there is a chance of developing attachment for that place. To avoid generation of such attachment, a renunciant does not stay in one place for more than three days. One can undertake this stage only after going through all the other three stages, or when one develops detachment irrespective of the stage one is currently in. One can undertake this stage only after one has sought permission for doing so from one’s parent or caretaker.

    These stages are beneficial for gradually detaching oneself from desire and attachment to wealth. Restricting the natural and unrestricted tendency of man, and guiding it onto the right path by defining limits, is necessary to accomplish any of the four pursuits of human life. Realizing that this objective would be fulfilled only if human life was regulated by the four stages of life, sages established this system for the stages of life. The supreme means to accomplish the ultimate objective of human life, that is Final Liberation, is the stage of the renunciant. To accomplish the spiritual practice of this final stage, the first three are essential. Thus, the four stages are inter-related. In short, the stages of life teach a materialist what spiritual practice he should undertake to gradually adopt the path of Spirituality as his age advances.

Importance

    The stages of life are absolutely essential to decrease attachment for the Great Illusion (Maya), to reduce awareness of the body, to consider others as part of one’s own family and to reduce the ego.

The other stages

    After undertaking spiritual practice by living with the Guru for 12 years, rarely would one accept the path of Spirituality directly and become a renunciant (sannyasi). Most people would accept the path of materialism (living in the world) and become householders, and their spiritual practice would remain incomplete. They would compensate for this shortcoming by serving those following the path of Spirituality.