Samskaras
Nama-karana homa:
It is explained in the Satapatha-bramana, that one’s name act as a shield against evil. A good combination of sounds, when forming a name in harmony with the person receiving it, has a most important effect.A child should receive his name on the tenth, eleventh, twelfth, twenty-first, (this is most favourable) hundred and first day, or exactly one year after birth, or on an auspicious day like purnima. The child should be in good health and not premature.
Anna-prasana:
During this ceremony, the priest asks Lord Vaisvanara (Vishnu) to enter the child’s body to accept the solid foods he will eat throughout his/her life. This ceremony marks the beginning of a certain detachment from the mother by the child.Sri Krishna says in the Bhagavad-Gita (15.14) I am the fire of digestion in the bodies of all living entities, and I join with the air of life, outgoing and incoming, to digest the four kind of foodstuff.
Unless the supreme lord helps the child in digestion, there is no possibility of eating. He thus produces and digest foodstuff, and by His grace we are enjoying life. This rite must be perform on an auspicious day if possible on the sixth or eighth month after the birth of the child if it’s a boy, and during the fifth, seventh or ninth month if it’s a girl.
Along with Anna-prasana the Child’s Tendencies is also performed. Parents can verify their child’s tendencies by placing before him different objects right after anna-prasada. What he chooses will reveal his calling.
Cuda-karana:
It is custom among pilgrims in India to offer one’s hair to the Deity. This is a sign of detachment for mankind greatly values this bodily ornament. This is also an offering unto nature in return for her gifts in the form of foodstuff and well-being.This ceremony is usually performed at the age of three or five for a male child. The child’s head is then shaved clean except for a small tuft of hair which is left around brama-randhra (sikha).
Antyesti-kriya:
This is the last samskara, the last ritual associated with the body which it will purify one last time. This ritual is performed in order for the soul to become detached from the body and not have to take on the form of a ghost (preta), as well as to make sure the departed soul is promoted to a better world.
Grha-pravesa:
This ritual is performed so that the new place (House, Shop etc.) will be purified, and Vishnu can reside at that place and stay there to make their place protected and blessed. This is done also to scare away the negative subtle entities and burn the bad karma associated with the place.