Namakarana Samskara for Adults Guide for Priests and Temple Managers

Some priests and temple managers have requested guidance on performance of the Namakarana Samskara for adults. The following is an outline of the order of kriyas as followed at Kauai Aad- heenam. It essentially follows the traditional samskara as done for a baby, but in this case, the new convert to Hinduism writes his or her own name in the tray of rice instead of the father. The proce- dure is simplified here, but the priest may freely embellish and amplify the ceremony according to the tradition of his community, his training and inspiration, to make this a memorable occasion.

1. The priest should see a copy of the Namakarana Certificate and the pledge to be read by the devotee before the puja and familiarize himself with the name of the participant And also get a copy of these instructions some days in advance of the ceremony. The devotee also provides two copies of his Namarakana Certificate.

2. The priest or temple management may consider conducting an interview of the candidate to ascertain their commitment and sincerity. It would good to confirm, for example, that they are no longer participating in activities of their former religions and are planning to change their name legally.

3. A large flat tray with rice should be prepared ahead of time.

4. This is kept near the fire.

5. Priest is informed to stop just before he begins the 108 Svaha offerings

6. When the priest stops, he then motions to the devotee to read his pledge.

7. The devotee reads his pledge (the top half of the Namakarana Certificate) three times; after each repetition, he pauses for a moment, any devotees present and the priest affirm his petition by saying “Tat Astu!” Then he reads again, stops, everyone says “Tat Astu!” three times.

8. After reading the pledge, the devotee writes his or her name in the rice and hands the tray to the priest.

The priest passes the tray over the homa fire and returns it to the devotee.

The devotee smooths out the rice and writes his name again, second time, and passes the tray to the priest who passes it over the fire, a second time;

He gives it back to the devotee who writes his name in the rice again for the third and last time.

The priest passes the tray over the fire, sets it down and then begins the 108 Svaha offerings with the Mula Mantra of the main Deity (e.g. in a Shiva temple it would commonly be: “Aum Hum Haum Sivaya Svaha!” 108 times) and finishes the homa.

9. At the end of the ceremony both copies of the certificates are signed and witnessed, first by the priest and then by other devotees present. The temple keeps one copy of the certificate with their official records and the other is given to the devotee.

10. If the priest is inspired to do additional “kriyas” or actions to embellish the ceremony, he is free to do so on his own inspiration. For example, some priests have themselves whispered the new Hindu name of the participant into his or her right ear, just as the father would do for an infant.

11. There are a number of existing shuddhi ceremonies that have been designed for a similar purpose. These may be incorporated as part of the process of bringing the participant into the Hindu religions to be added to the ceremony, before or after the homa.