What are the four stages of life in Balinese Hindu society?
There are four stages of life in a Hindu society and in India to this day these are still followed by many people. In Bali, however, not all of these stages are seen as practical in a modern society. The conditions of each stage or lifestyle are adapted to the place, time and situation known as desa-kala-patra in Balinese. The four stages are known as Catur Warga and they include:
1. Stage One: Brahmacari
This means the study years. According to the palm-leaf scriptures Wertisasana and Slokantara, this stage is divided into three categories:
- Suklabrahmacari: sukla means holy and refers to a person who never marries and devotes their life to study.
- Tresnabrahmacari/Kreswnabrahmacari: trsna/krsna means faithful and refers to a man who after finishing his study, marries only once and remains faithful to her, even after she has died.
- Sewalabrahmacari: a person who marries more than once (has many wives), after his period of study, in order to form a strong family line.
2. Stage Two: Grehastha
The represents the time when one attends to household duties and raises a family.
3. Stage Three: Wanaprastha
Originating from the word wana which means “forest”, this a time when one decides to leave the family for a life of solitude and meditation in an isolated area. The person will totally remove themselves from any family or community concerns. Balinese society, however, has adapted this one to mean the stage when one devotes themselves to the community and does volunteer work without expecting any form of reciprocation.
4. Stage Four: Bhiksuka/Sanyasin
Bhiksu means holy and this is the time when, after their time of study, solitude and reflection, they are ready to return to society to spread their spiritual knowledge to others. In Bali, people do this by devoting themselves to society as a preacher, either directly in villages, or by way of the mass media.
Copyright@ Kulture Kid 2005
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