Samnyasa Upanishads: Hindu Scriptures on Asceticism and Renunciation c5.s2.t6.34

c5.s2.t6.34

Thus, in contrast to the original system, the classical formulation considers the *āśramas* not as alternative ways of life open to an individual but as obligatory modes of life suitable for different periods of an individual's life. Choice, which was the central element in the original formulation, is eliminated, and the *āśramas* are transformed from permanent and lifelong vocations to temporary periods, the only exception being renunciation, which in the new formulation occupies the final days of an individual's life. At least ideally, a person is expected to pass from one *āśrama* to the next in an orderly manner and at specific points in his life. The *āśramas* accompany an individual as he grows old and assumes new and different duties and responsibilities. The entry into each *āśrama* is a rite of passage that signals the closing of one period of life and the beginning of another.