EE7.5 - Infant's Játakarma: The Naming of and First Feeding of Solid Food to an Infant

Infant's Játakarma: The Naming of and First Feeding of Solid Food to an Infant

Published in:
Ananda Marga Caryácarya Part 1

Notes:

this version: is the printed Caryácarya Part 1, 6th edition, 2nd printing, version (obvious spelling, punctuation and typographical mistakes only may have been corrected). I.e., this is the most up-to-date version as of the present Electronic Edition.

Online additional information

When an infant is six months old (or any time between six months and one year of age), at least five members of Ananda Marga will gather together on a convenient day, and the infant will be laid before them. The ácárya/á, or the oldest person present if no ácárya/á is available, will recite the following verse first, and all present will follow:

Oṋḿ madhu vátá rtáyate madhu kśarantu sindhavah;
Mádhviirnah santvośadhiih.
Madhu naktamutośaso madhumat párthivaḿ rajah;
Madhu dyaorastu nah pitá.
Madhumán no vanaspatirmadhumán astu súryah;
Mádhviirgávo bhavantu nah.
Oṋḿ madhu oṋḿ madhu oṋḿ madhu.⁽¹⁾

Having done this, they will say in their mother tongue or in a language intelligible to all those present: “O gracious Brahma, may we unitedly be able to arrange for the upkeep, medical care and physical growth of this infant who has entered our society today.”

Everyone present will take one container of water (cool or lukewarm, according to the season) and pour it into a big vessel, and then recite:

“O gracious Brahma, may we be able to provide adequate education for the mental development of this infant who has entered our society today.”

After that all the persons present will pour a container of water each in the same manner and recite:

“O gracious Brahma, may we succeed, through proper education, in effecting the spiritual elevation of this infant who has entered our society today.”

Then again they will pour one container of water each into the same vessel and recite the verse:

“O gracious Brahma, may we be able to see Your pervasive manifestation in this infant, in the form of which You have appeared to us today.

Thereafter, the guardian of the infant will bathe the child with that sanctified water. Then the child will be fed solid food for the first time.

For the celebration of this ceremony the arrangement of a social feast depends entirely on the desire and the financial position of the guardians concerned. Taking a loan or incurring a debt for this purpose is forbidden.

Twenty-one days after the birth of a child, the child and its mother, after bathing, will be considered generally free from impurities.

(1) For the convenience of persons speaking different languages, this mantra will be recited in Sanskrit only. The meaning of the mantra is: “May the wind bring blessings with it! May the ocean yield felicity! May our herbs be blissful! May the day and night be sweet! May the dust particles be blissful! May the world’s spiritual realm of the divinities and the venerable ancestors prove sweet! May our plants be charming! May the sun shower felicity! May our domestic cattle be blessed! Brahma madhu, Brahma madhu, Brahma madhu.”