History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c24.s1.520

v2.c24.s1.520

*Keśānta* or *godāna*:—This saṁskāra consists in shaving the head and also the hair on the other parts of the body (such as arm-pits, chin). Pār. gṛ., Yāj. (I. 36) and Manu (II. 65) employ the word keśānta, while Āśv. gṛ., Śāṅ. gṛ., Gobhila and other gṛhyasūtras employ the word godāna. In the Śat.⁹⁶⁰ Br. while speaking of the dīkṣā (consecration of the performer of a sacrifice) the word godāna is used in the sense of a portion of the hair (on the head) near the top of the ear. Most smṛtikāras say that this saṃskāra was performed in the 16th year. According to Śāṅ. gṛ. (I. 28. 20, S. B. E. vol. 29, p. 57) it may be performed in the 16th or 18th year. According to Manu II. 65 keśānta is performed in the 16th, 22nd or 24th year respectively for a brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya or vaiśya. The Laghu-Āśvalāyana smṛti XIV. 1 says that Godāna may be performed in the 16th year or at the time of marriage. This last view seems to have been known to Bhavabhūti who in his Uttararāmacarita⁹⁶¹ (Act. I) makes the heroine Sītā say that Rāma and his three brothers had the godāna ceremony performed immediately before their marriage. It is somewhat strange that according to the Kauśika sūtra⁹⁶² (54. 15) godāna precedes cūḍākarma and the commentator Keśava remarks that godāna takes place at the end of the first or 2nd year (from birth).