Vanaprastha Ashrama
This period began when one's skin began wrinkling and one became a grand father. During this period a person was expected to move away from worldly matters and get himself ready for his spiritual journey to attain moksha (the fourth purushartha). He was to do this by delegating his duties to his children, leaving his family and possession behind and moving into a secluded place such as a hermitage or the forest . There he should live like an ascetic and spend his time practicing austerities, offering oblations, reciting the Vedas and the metaphysical treatises, and in the acquisition of the knowledge of the self. He should wear a garment made of cloth, skin or bark to cover his nakedness, wear his hair in braids, remain chaste, restrain his speech, actions and senses, subsist on wild growing roots, fruit and vegetables, honor the guests who visited his hermitage, give gifts but not receive any, bathe three times a day, promise safety to all beings and animals, sleep on the ground and so on. These observations were aimed at controlling ones mind, overcoming passions and developing detachment from the sense objects and preparing oneself for a more rigorous life as an ascetic (sanyashi). During this period a person might take his wife along with him only if the latter agreed to accompany him.
)
Mamam nam Hithanney naha Ehema Athi Kiyala Hinduissm wala...!!
)
