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Every religion embraces the ceremony of initiation. It is an assemblage of rituals by which neophyte enters into the sacred world of religion. There are several symbols involved in these rituals such as dress, colours, stones, various bodily acts, mantras, etc. Out of these symbols, water plays a significant role, to understand the crucial process of Initiatory rites there is a need to decipher the symbol of the water engaged in them. The association of water with magical or sacred ideas is known from many parts of the world. It is a life-bearing force that circulates through Nature, in the form of sap, milk, and blood, therefore it is the primary element for life. Its role is substantial in various religious traditions. The eminent scholar Mircea Eliade states that ‘Water symbolizes the entire universe of the virtual; they are the fons et origo, the reservoir of all the potentialities of existence, they precede every form and sustain every creation.’[1] From the origin of discipline of the Study of Religion, for a better understanding of the religious practice, scholars are involved in decoding symbols involved in rituals using various approaches.

Outcomes which underlines the various scenarios of symbols of rituals of initiation or function of initiation may be summarized as

1. It is a dramatization of death and rebirth.
2. It is a kind of symbolism expressing human awareness of social and spiritual transformation.
3. It is a process of connecting present with past performing an act of cosmogonic mythology.
4. It reveals neophyte a sacred world, a world that is a transcendental or saintly world.   

Study of Rituals of Initiation

There are four kinds of rites of passages, birth, initiation, marriage, and death. Rituals involved in them act as an essential mark in human life. It is a passage or transformation from one mode of life to another, for example from infancy to childhood, adolescence to adulthood, from alive to dead, etc.[6] These are crucial steps in which a person enters by performing some rites. From Rites of Passage, rituals of initiation are one that is opening to the sacred world. Its repetitive and symbolic actions are processes by which neophyte enters into the world of religion. It is a principal ritual of every religion which acts as a channel for entry in the mainstream.

According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary initiation is ‘the act of becoming a member of a group, often with special ceremony’[7]. The term initiation in a general sense is the body of rituals and oral teachings whose purpose is to produce a radical alteration of the religious and social status of the person to be initiated.[8] So we can say that it is a crucial part of life responsible for some exceptional changes and while observing it from the perspective of religious studies the change comprises the experience of sacredness. 

Modern theories concerned with the Study of Religion can be expounded as theories of rituals and study of religious literature. While observing rituals, Sociologists and Anthropologists are interested in the socio-cultural function of rituals and this study circumscribes the religious value to social affirmations, and on the other hand Psychologist in psycho-analytic theory girdle symbols in rituals to psychological complexes or genetically linked archetypes. The phenomenological approach which understands ritual as arising from and celebrating the encounter with the numinous or sacred, which is mysterious reality is near the experience of religion. They emphasize personal encounter with a divine being.

As a religious person have a fascination toward the experience of Sacred Realities so he seeks to live in continual contact with this sacredness. This behavior of religious persons gives birth to a symbolic form of rituals, which are repeated to participate in the power of Sacred Realities. Performing ritual is pragmatic exercise to become a participant in the experience of holiness. According to Evan M Zuesse ‘rituals are those conscious and voluntary repetitious and stylized symbolic bodily actions that are centered on the cosmic structure and/or sacred presences’.[9] Bodily action here is verbal behavior as chanting, dancing, prayers, etc. Secondly ‘rituals come from the ancients and was a gift from the divine; to repeat it means to receive their stamp upon the self and to make their world one’s own.’[10] Here ritual acts as a mediator between neophyte and the divine or it is a stamp of God.

Mircea Eliade states that ‘Initiation includes a ritual death and resurrection. In primitive peoples, the novice is symbolically killed….when he rises from the grave he is looked upon as a new man, for he has been brought to birth once more, this time directly by cosmic mother’.[11] Symbols engaged in rituals depict death and rebirth, it is a death to the profane world and rebirth to the sacred world, it is a new life in which novice enters. Rituals are shaped by archetypes, by the first gestures and dramas from the beginning of time, which must be represented again in the ritual and re-experienced by the participants. Eliade used the terms hierophanies and kratophanies to express the encounters with the sacred. In his interpretation cosmogonic myth has an important place in understanding symbols of initiatory rites.

Constructing the Myth-Symbol-Ritual connection George Weckman states in his article ‘Understanding Initiation’ that ‘mythological elements are added to the rites because of their structural meaning or basic symbolic reference, the rite does not dramatize the myth, but myth gives conscious form to the meaning of the rite’.[12] For him Socio-genic and Psycho-genic interpretation of rituals are non-religious. As in these interpretations, the center of ritual is social, psychological, and physical maturation. There is a need to understand these rituals from the perspective of religion, instead of social or psychological change.

Perennial thinker Martin Lings states that ‘a rite is as a life-line thrown down from Heaven: it is for the worshipper to cling to the life-line; the rest is in the hand of the thrower. Since a rite is always performed with a view to God, it amounts to a re-enactment of the connection between the symbol and the supreme Archetype, which needs the constant repetition of these vibrant acts to rouse it, once and for all, from sleep to awake’.[13] Here ritual is act gifted to humans by Supreme Power performing which he can create a connection with him.

Water in Practice of Rituals of Initiation in Various Religions

Ritual is a bunch of symbols. As our concern is with the symbol of water, so are attempt is to articulate a symbol of water in the religious ritual of the ceremony of initiation. Here is a concise explanation of the use of water in initiatory rites of various religious traditions.

In Hinduism, there are stages or doctrine of four ashramas called Varnashrama Dharma: Brahmacharya, Grhastha, Vanaprastha and Sannyasa. The various rituals are performed to enter these stages. Upanayana Samskara or the process of initiation in Hinduism is the process by which neophyte becomes Bramhacari. According to Rajbali Pandey, it is difficult to place words equivalent to Samskara in English. Instead of rite or ritual, it is near to the word sacrament which means ‘religious ceremony or acts regarded as outward and visible sign of inward and spiritual grace’.[14] So it is a religious ritual for sanctifying the mind and body of neophyte and having spiritual connections.

1.In this ceremony, after taking permission from the gathering of learned assembly first step is performed as Suddhikarama. As the name suggests it is a process of purification. In this step, before cutting the hairs of student, water is smeared on his head while reciting mantras. Afterward, Acharya cut his hair, and then again there is a ceremonial bath in which neophyte’s mother and other relatives pour water symbolizing purification of mind as well as body.

Then following a series of symbolic acts involving, fire, prayers, blessings, sacrifice, mantras, bathing etc. process of investing the student with a sacred thread called yajnopavitam is followed. Acharya pours water in the joined hands of the student and sprinkles on his body reciting Gayatri Mantra.[15] This is the use of water symbols in the process of becoming Bramhacari.   

Upanayana samskara is called twice-born, as Rajbali Pandey quoting Atri Smriti states that there was a theory of every man born as sudhra, so he required refinement to become full-fledge Aryan[16]. So we see that in Upanayana ceremonial bath is a process of death of sudhra and rebirth again. In this overall process water in the Suddhikarama process act as a symbol of purification, which removes evil elements from the body as well as mind and secondly the ceremonial bath symbolizes death and rebirth, which is most common in other religious traditions also.

2.Sannyas is a prominent element in Vedic religion. There are important Samparadais of Naths, Yogis and Siddhas in which common thing is renunciation or Sannyas. Even the basic scripture of Hinduism divides human life into four parts out of which the last one is sannyas, which means renunciation from the world. In Sannyasi initiation rite, the neophyte performs atma-shraddha or his death rites. After this, his scalp-lock sikha is cut off and the sacred thread is removed and neophyte enters the river or other water with it and throws them both in water, resolving, ‘I am no one’s, and no one is mine’ on emerging from the water he started moving naked toward the north, his Guru stops him, smear him with ashes or give him staff, water vessel (Jal Patar) and mantra in secret.[17] This is the process by which neophyte is admitted to particular math, samparadai, etc.

Here, cutting of scalp-lock and removal of sacred thread throwing in water symbolizes detachment from social life. Dipping in water symbolizes death in the social world and rising from the water symbolizes birth in the renunciation world, which is the world of Sannyas. Here water symbolizes as a destroying power and creating power.

Baptism in Christianity, The word baptism originates from the Greek word Baptein, which means to immerse or to wash, it signifies a rite of immersion in water.[18] This process is the beginning of the ceremony of initiation. It is necessary to perform to take neophyte into a state of purity. As Mircea Eliade asserts that Christianity is a historical religion and deeply rooted in another historical religion, Judaism. So to explain or fine understanding of rituals and symbols of Christianity one has to go through the Old Testament that is the sacred history of Jews.[19] While studying Baptism in the sacred history of Sematic tradition use of water was common in the Jewish world. Law of Mossis order to Isralies to perform ablutions before ritual entry into the sacred world, as impurities are erased by water. According to Michel Meslin, ‘The Jews adopted the custom of baptizing proselytes seven days after their circumcision the rabbis having added the impurity of converted gentiles to the chief impurities enumerated in Torah. After their baptism, new converts were allowed access to the sacrifices in the temple.’[20] After circumcised, he was immersed naked in the pool of flowing water, when he rose from the pool, he was a true son of Israel.

2.In Christianity, John baptized Jesus in the flowing water of the Jordan River. The practice of baptism in Christianity is started with the commandment of Jesus mentioned in Gospel of Matthews in which after resurrection Jesus addresses the disciples that ‘go to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples: baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.’[21] The process of baptism is performed as immersing in the water or sprinkling water on the head.

Several scholars elaborated this process. Major work on baptism is considered by Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus (A.D 160-225) whose writings of baptism are entitled as De Baptismo or On Baptism. To explain the importance of water in baptism he cited various references from Old Testament, especially from Genesis where water is stated as a resting place for the Spirit of God or where God commanded the water to swarm with living creator or creation of man, in which man was created from earth but it was alive when water was added to it, etc. He concludes that due to carrier of Holy Spirit water has acquired holiness itself. Secondly, it heals spirit as well as body and third it is a seal of faith.[22] His source of writing is sacred scripture, according to him importance of water is written in all scripture of Christianity, so it is the proper element for baptism. Water in the Baptism process symbolizes the redemption of the soul, healing, resurrection as Jesus etc.  

Khande ki Pahul is a ritual or ceremony by which Sikh is knighted a Singh and enrolled as a member of the Order of Khalsa. It is a procedure formulated or adopted by Guru Gobind Singh on the occasion of Bishakhi of 1699 when he enrolled the first Five Beloved Ones (Panj Pyare) as the Khalsa.[23] The word Pahul is derived from the word pahu, which stands for an agent that brightens, accelerates, or sharpens the potentialities of a given object.[24] According to Bhai Kahan Singh Nabha, Pah stands for water and Pahul is the water prepared from religious mantras to conceal the person.[25] In Sikh History before this ceremony, there was a ritual called Charanamrita, as clear from the name, the word charan is equivalent to foot. In this ceremony, water was touched by the Guru’s toe and it was sipped by the novice to become Sikh.[26] Then Tenth Nanak, Guru Gobind Singh replaced this process by Khande Ki Pahul. According to Ratan Singh Bhangu, Khande Ki Pahul was a process by which Sikh converted to Khalsa was independent under the direct control of Akal Purakh, and sharing the attributes of Supreme Power.[27] It was also the process in which Sangat institution started by Guru Nanak Dev was converted to Khalsa Panth and designated as Guru Panth.

3.Sikh Rahitmaryada, rules and regulations of Sikh religion passed by Supreme Sikh Seat of Authority Shri Akal Takht Sahib and published by Siromani Gurudwara Prabandak Committee, in this document the process of the ceremony of initiation is named as Amrit Sanskar. Out of the number of symbols, in Sikhism use of water is expressly associated with the ceremony of initiation and it is that context that we must primarily explain it.

Under the title of Amrit Sanskar, in the fourth point, it is mentioned that the petitioner should have had a full bath, including that of the head hairs. Five Beloved Ones should sit in a hero-posture or Birasan (Kneeling on the right foot, and the left knee raised) in a circle, where bowl made of pure steel (Sarabloh) containing pure water and sugar plums is placed in the center. According to the eleventh point, one of the officiants should stir the water with double-edged sword Khanda, with his right hand and place his left hand on the edge of the steel bowl, reciting the Japu of Guru Nanak Dev. Remaining four should likewise place their hands upon edge of the steel bowl and fix the gaze of their eyes into the water of the bowl. So while reciting Jap, Swayyas, Chaupai and Anand Sahib one by one everyone should keep stirring the water of the steel bowl. This is the process by which Khade Ki Pahul or Amrit is prepared. Then Amrit is administered to the petitioner. It is served to neophyte sitting in a birasan, five times to sip, five times few drops are sprinkled in the open unwinking eyes and five times upon hairs of the head, every time repeating the formula ‘Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh’ means The Khalsa is of the wondrous God, Victory to God.[28] After explaining various rules and obligations in detail neophyte is admitted to the Khalsa Panth.

Khalsa is born from Khande Ki Pahul, during ceremony giving new surname as Singh for man and Kaur for woman, and designating religious father as Guru Gobind Singh and Mother as Mata Sahib Deva, signifies that there is the symbolic rebirth of a neophyte as his identity of caste and creed is demolished due to his passage through death.

Sirdar Kapur Singh, renowned Sikh Scholar studies the Baisakhi of Guru Gobind Singh and states that ‘The mystery of the baptism of the Pure Steel, the mystic rite of stirring the water with the double-edged sword of creation-destruction potency by the Five Beloved Ones, by which a Sikh is knighted into a Singh and thus enrolled as a member of the Order of the Khalsa, which Mystery Guru Gobind Singh proclaimed, is precisely this, that mankind can only be saved through the uniquely regenerative act of communion and union with God on earth, giving birth to a new life-impulse and ferment in the human Society, releasing ever-expanding forces of love and service and strength, to form the basis of a new heaven on earth. This is the meaning and significance of stirring the water with a double-edged sword for preparing the Amrit’.[29] Expanding the biological term ‘Parthenogenesis’ in the religious field he decoded the Hindu mythology of Churning the Ocean, Samudramanthan and production of Amrit from it which is fluid of life, possessing the power of immortalization and which endures beyond the world ages, beyond the time cycles, in which water as a Cosmic Ocean and water as Amrit are important symbols. J.P.S Uberoi states that understanding the symbolic language of ritual we conclude that Sikh initiation rite stood as the antithesis or antonym of the rite of Hindu renunciation.[30] The whole process is for the creation of Tesar Panth. In Hinduism dipping or sprinkling water symbolizes death and rebirth to Sanyasi life (far away from social life) but in Sikhism rebirth did not symbolize renunciation, it is a birth in society with new social status, abolishing the discrimination of caste, creed, sex, etc. and creating a direct connection with Supreme Lord without any mediator.   

Rituals of initiation are acts through which neophyte enters into the world of religion. It is a starting point involving various spiritual and social modifications. From the study of these rituals, we conclude that

1. All initiation rites distinctly acquire the nature of admission, since through it some new status with its subsequent rights and commitments are granted symbolically upon novice and he or she passes into a new mode of existence. This new status comprises of religious as well as social changes.
2. Every initiation rituals also contain an element of renunciation or symbolic death, where neophyte is symbolically discarded or lost his old status and mode of existence.  
3. As a religious act, rituals are to recall and renew the experience of reality or it is a result of personal experience of encounter with divinity. In major religious traditions, it is seen as a process of submission of individual will in the divine will.
4. Overall all religious initiatory rites follow a similar paradigmatic model involving the process of ordeals, death, resurrection, and new life. Water is the first significant element of the universal order. The whole life process is possible due to water. In world history, the sea or rivers were understood as a geographical feature defining the shape of the state or country. Understanding religious ideas, scholars tried to elaborate water as the independent spirit having an initiative role in the act of transformation and mysteriously it giving birth to the first human or originator of life on the earth. In rituals of initiation as discussed above what water symbolizes is concluded below.
5. Water is a symbol of Divine Power. Its essential role in rituals of initiation states that religious experience of Divine Power is granted to neophyte through sacred water along with reciting mantras. So it is a vehicle of divinity which brings religious experience.
6. Water is a source of all existence, it symbolizes the whole of potentiality. Cosmogonic mythologies of various religious traditions state water as a primary element of creation. So the divine power of God through which the world is created and through which process of life is going on is symbolized by water. Decoding Mythologies of various traditions we conclude that water is a source of all creation, and the Grave of all dissolved forms or it is the primary stuff of all creation.
7. Water symbolizes death and rebirth. According to the rituals of initiation, the immersion, dip or sprinkling of water symbolizes the passage from death to a new and supernatural life. When neophyte immerses in the water it symbolizes death, as it is property of the water to dissolve or abolish all forms. When he comes out of the water it symbolizes rebirth as according to various cosmogonic myths water is an element from which the world is created. So coming out from water is similar to that cosmogonic process in which creation originates from water. Due to this rebirth new name as a new identity is given to neophyte.
8. Water symbolizes pure form and acts as a purifying agent or remover of sins in the ceremony of initiation. Immersion in water removes sins and evil bodies. As in Christianity baptismal nakedness following Jesus is attached to Adam, where he covered his body due to committed sin. So while immersion during baptism, removing cloths symbolizes the removal of sins and water acts as a purifying agent which took neophyte to stage of Adam’s life before sinning.

Overall water in the ceremony of initiation symbolizes death, rebirth, fertility, healing, creating, and destructing divine power.

1. Bhai Gurdas. 2011. Waran Bhai Gurdas Steek, (Punjabi). (Edi. Bhai Vir Singh) New Delhi: Bhai Vir Singh Sahit Sadan.

2. Bhangu, Bhai Ratan Singh. 2005. Sri Guru Panth Parkash, (Punjabi). (Edi. Jeet Singh Sital). Amritsar: Sikh History Research Board.

3. Eliade, Mircea. 1991. Images And Symbols: Studies in Religious Symbolism. (Transl. by Philip Mairet). New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

4. ____________. 1987. The Sacred And The Profane: The Nature Of Religion. (Transl. Willard R. Trask). New York: A Harvest Book Harcourt.

5. Good news Bible. Bangalore: The Bible Society of India. 

6. Kapur Singh. 2001. Parasaraprasna: The Baisakhi Of Guru Gobind Singh. (Edi. Piar Singh, Madanjit Kaur). Amritsar: Guru Nanak Dev University.

7. ___________.2010. Sikhism For Modern Man. (Edited by Madanjit Kaur and Piar Singh). Amritsar: Guru Nanak Dev University.

8. Lings, Martin. 2006. Symbol and Archetype: A Study of The Meaning of Existence. Louisville: Fons Vitae.

9. Nabha, Bhai Kahan Singh. 2011. Gurushabad Ratnakar Mahan Kosh. Patiala: Language Department of Punjab.

10. Olson, Carl. 2015. Religious Studies: The Key Concepts. Abingdon: Routledge Taylor and Francis Group.

11. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. (Edi. Sally Wehmeier). 2005. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

12. Pandey, Rajbali. 2006. Hindu Samskaras: Socio-Religious Study of the Hindu Sacraments. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers.

13. Rambo, Tye. Tertullian On Baptism. Site. Biblicalspirituality.files.wordpress.com

14. S.Radhakrishnan. 2015. Indian Philosophy. Vol. 1. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

15. Shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in

16. Sikh Rahitmaryada, (Punjabi). 2014. Amritsar: SGPC.

17. The Encyclopaedia Of Sikhism. Vol. 3. (Edi. Harbans Singh). 2011. Patiala: Punjabi University.

18. The Encyclopedia of Religion. Vol. 2, 7, 11 (Edi. Lindsay Jones). 2005. Farmington Hills: Thomson Gale. 

19. Tillich, Paul. 1958. Dynamics of Faith. New York: Harper Brothers.

20. Uberoi, J.P.S. Religion. 1999. Civil Society and The State, A Study of Sikhism. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

21. Weckman, George. Understanding Initiation. (Source History of Religion, Vol. 10, no. 1, Aug. 1970) The University of Chicago Press, Aug 1970.

1. Eliade, Mircea. Images And Symbols. p. 151.
2. Kapur Singh. Sikhism For Modern Man. p. 149.
3. Lings, Martin. Symbol and Archetype. p. 1.
4. S.Radhakrishnan. Indian Philosophy. Vol. 1. p. 71.
5. Tillich, Paul. Dynamics of Faith. p. 47.
6. Olson, Carl. Religious Studies: The Key Concepts. p. 205.
7. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. (Edi. Sally Wehmeier). p. 779.
8. Mircea Eliade, ‘Initiation’. The Encyclopedia of Religion. Vol. 7. (Edi. Lindsay Jones). p. 4475.
9. Zuesse, Evan M. ‘Ritual’. The Encyclopedia of Religion. Vol. 11. (Edi. Lindsay Jones). p. 7834.
10. Ibid. p. 7835.
11. Eliade, Mircea. The Sacred And The Profane. p. 144.
12. Weckman, George. Understanding Initiation. (Source History of Religion, Vol. 10, no. 1, Aug., 1970) p. 64.
13. Lings, Martin. Symbol and Archetype. p. 9.
14. Pandey, Rajbali. Hindu Samskaras. p. 15.
15. Shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in
16. Pandey, Rajbali. Hindu Samskaras. p. 30.
17. Uberoi, J.P.S. Religion. Civil Society and The State, A Study of Sikhism. p. 6.
18. Meslin, Michel. ‘Baptism’. The Encyclopedia of Religion. Vol. 2. (Edi. Lindsay Jones). p. 779.
19. Eliade, Mircea. Images And Symbols. p. 157.
20. Meslin, Michel. ‘Baptism’. The Encyclopedia of Religion. Vol. 2. (Edi. Lindsay Jones). p. 780.
21. ‘New Testament’. Good news Bible. p. 44.
22. Rambo, Tye. Tertullian On Baptism. Site. Biblicalspirituality.files.wordpress.com
23. Kapur Singh. Sikhism For Modern Man. p. 158.
24.Taran Singh. ‘Pahul’, The Encyclopaedia Of Sikhism. Vol. 3. (Edi. Harbans Singh). p. 263.
25. Nabha, Bhai Kahan Singh. Gurushabad Ratnakar Mahan Kosh. p. 759.
26. ਚਰਨ ਧੋਇ ਰਹਰਾਸਿ ਕਰਿ ਚਰਣਾਮ੍ਰਿਤੁ ਸਿਖਾਂ ਪੀਲਾਇਆ।
Bhai Gurdas, Vaar 1. Paudi 23
27.ਖਾਲਸੋ ਹੋਵੈ ਖੁਦ ਖੁਦਾ ਜਿਮ ਖੂਬੀ ਖੂਬ ਖੁਦਾਇ।
ਆਨ ਨ ਮਾਨੈ ਆਨ ਕੀ ਇਕ ਸਚੇ ਬਿਨ ਪਤਿਸ਼ਾਹ॥
Bhangu, Bhai Ratan Singh. Sri Guru Panth Parkash. p. 74.
28. Sikh Rahitmaryada. pp. 28-29.
29. Kapur Singh. Parasaraprasna. pp. 183-184.
30. Uberoi, J.P.S. Religion. Civil Society and The State, A Study of Sikhism. p. 5.