Snātaka
Snātaka, “one who has bathed”
Grammar: masculine noun, from the root snā (to bathe): “one who has bathed”, the bath that closes the time of study.
Meaning: one who has completed the vrata of Vedic study (Vedādhyayana) and taken the bath that ends his studentship; also the saṃskāra of that completion.
In the scriptures: the Agni Purāṇa uses the word in these places.
- A saṃskāra in the fire: Nārada, teaching the agni-kārya (the fire rite), says that the karmas beginning with garbhādhāna are performed in the fire. The saṃskāras in order are garbhādhāna, puṃsavana, sīmantonnayana, jātakarma, nāmakaraṇa, annaprāśana, caula, vrata-bandha (upanayana), the veda-vratas, snātaka, vivāha and ādhikāraka (the conferring of authority). In each karma one meditates in the order of hṛdaya and the rest, worships, and offers eight āhutis (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 24).
- A prāyaścitta: Pushkara, telling the prāyaścittas, says that when a snātaka breaks his vrata or neglects his nitya-karmas (daily rites), he must fast (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 170).
- In the kośa: in the brahma varga, the words for brāhmaṇas and the yajña, a snātaka is one who has completed the vrata of Vedādhyayana (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 365).
In the Bhāgavata Purāṇa. In the account of Sudāma, which Śuka Maharshi tells Parīkshit, Śrī Kṛshṇa welcomes his old friend from the gurukula of Sāndīpani and asks him: after giving dakshiṇā to the guru, did he come home from the gurukula, perform the snātaka vrata and marry a fitting young woman, or not? Śrī Kṛshṇa adds that though Sudāma is a householder, his mind is not drawn by desires and he takes no great delight in wealth (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 80). Here the snātaka vrata stands between the end of study and marriage, the step from brahmacarya into gṛhastha life.
In the Bhavishya Purāṇa: Snātaka is among the forty-eight saṃskāras (Brahma Parva, Chapter 2), and among the eleven named in order, between upanayana and samāvartana (Chapter 42). One gives way to a snātaka as to one in a chariot, the aged, the sick, a load-bearer, a woman, a king and a bridegroom. If they all come together, the snātaka and the king are to be honoured, and of those two the snātaka first. Up to the snātaka stage, with the guru’s permission, the student offers guru-dakshiṇā according to his means (Chapter 4). The student who returns home, known for his svadharma, is garlanded, seated on a couch and honoured first with speech or with madhuparka (Chapter 5). The initiated snātaka is among those who purify by sight, with the kapilā cow, the yājñika, the king, the bhikshu and Mahodadhi (Uttara Parva, Chapter 169).
Related terms: Saṃskāra · Brahmacārī · Samāvartana · Upanayana · Vivāha
Sources
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 24, 170, 365
- Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 80
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 2, 4–5, 42; Uttara Parva, Chapter 169