🪷 सीमन्तोन्नयन · sīmantonnayana
Saṁskāra #3 of 16 · The hair-parting rite of the pregnant mother · stage: pre-natal
🪷 Sīmantonnayana · parting Devakī's hair for Krishna
In the 7th month of Devakī's pregnancy · Vasudeva ritually parted her hair in the sīmantonnayana rite · honoring the cosmic-egg about to manifest as Krishna. The Vasus and Ādityas attended invisibly.
— BG 4.7 · sambhavāmi yuge yuge — I take birth, age after age
Dharmic Purpose
To invoke Rākā · Sinīvālī · Anumati (the moon-phases as goddesses of fertility) · to part the mother's hair with darbha-grass three times upward (symbolizing the journey of the embryo upward toward higher consciousness) · to bring sattva to the mother's mind in the final trimester.
Canonical Timing
6th–8th month of pregnancy · before delivery becomes proximate · waxing moon, sattva-elevated nakshatras
Source-Text Citations
- Manu Smṛti II.27 — "sīmantonnayanāni ca"
- Āśvalāyana Gṛhya-Sūtra I.14 · Pāraskara Gṛhya-Sūtra I.15
sīmantonnayana Source-Anchor Spine
This saṁskāra is route-linked to its lifecycle index, muhūrta doorway, paramparā boundary, exact Krishna-līlā or Bhagavad-Gītā anchors where available, and the Bindu/Philosophy constitutional pages. Manu-Smṛti and Gṛhya-Sūtra citations remain as text because they are not yet first-class local corpus routes.
Ritual Essence
The husband parts the wife's hair upward with a porcupine-quill or darbha-blade three times · while reciting Rākā-Sinīvālī-Anumati mantras · the goddess Rākā is invited into the home.
Modern Adaptation
Often combined with baby-shower style gathering of relatives · mantra-recitation by women of the family · prayers for safe delivery · garbha-saṁskāra music (Vedic chanting played to the womb).
Jyotiṣa Considerations
Performed on auspicious vāra (NOT Tuesday/Saturday) · prefer Rohiṇī, Mr̥gaśirā, Hasta · śukla-pakṣa · avoid void-of-course moon
🪷 ॐ श्री गणेशाय नमः · श्री गुरवे नमः 🪷
📚 See Also
- All 16 Saṁskāras · index · Garbhādhāna through Antyeṣṭi · the full lifecycle
- Saṁskāra Muhūrta Finder · Pick auspicious dates for any of the 16 rites
- Paramparā · Vyāsa-Nārada lineage · The chain transmitting Manu-Smṛti through generations
- Birth-Chart Calculator · See if YOUR Lagna supports performing this rite
📖 References
- Manu Smṛti II.27 — "sīmantonnayanāni ca" — Manu Smṛti — the foundational source for the 16-saṁskāra enumeration
- Āśvalāyana Gṛhya-Sūtra I.14 · Pāraskara Gṛhya-Sūtra I.15 — Gṛhya-Sūtra — the household-ritual treatise specifying mantra + procedure
- Bhāgavata Purāṇa · saṁskāra-context in various skandhas — Krishna-līlā models the saṁskāras (Krishna's own nāmakaraṇa · cūḍākarma · etc.)