The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c28.s3.14

v1.c28.s3.14

On the other hand, as in the case of abstaining from washing, so we have instances in which the hair must not be cut at all. The newly wedded bride on the fourth day, before the consummation of the marriage is permitted, must be rubbed with an ointment from the remains of oblations up to the nails and the hair.¹ The ascetic of the Rigveda wears long hair; the description of the attributes of asceticism in the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa include dirt, long hair, a girdle, and an antelope skin. In the period of a year before the shaving of the beard referred to above the hair may not be cut. In the royal consecration the sacrifice is followed by period of a year in which the consecrated may rub but not wash himself, shorten, but not cut off the hair.² The reason for the usage is given with perfect distinctness by the Brāhmaṇa : the anointing has put the strength of the waters of anointing into his hair, and he would destroy the virtue thus engendered, if he cut off the hair. The same principle is applied to the animals of the sacrifice : the steed for the horse sacrifice must not, for the year in which it wanders free before its death, be allowed to bathe in water, and the manes of the horses in the realm should not be cut for a year after the royal consecration.³ Naturally the end of the period of allowing the hair to grow is marked by a formal act of shaving : this is the case with the man consecrated by the Dīkṣā, with the king at the end of the year of consecration; at the Samāvartana ceremony, which ends the period of studentship, the hair, the beard, the hair on the body, and the nails are all carefully cut.⁴