Sanskaras. There are DIVERSE number of Sanskaras in Hinduism, varying by TEXTS between 12 and 18 in the Grhyasutras (Kalpa sastras). Of these, 16 are referred to as "Shodasha Samskaras" (Ṣoḍaśa Saṃskāra).A person was once digging up his field for planting seeds. Suddenly he came across a greenish stone. He thought it to be beautiful and took it to a jeweler. The jeweler said that it was nice and paid the man a hundred rupees for the stone. The jeweler then took the stone inside his workshop. He first cleaned the dirt, and then evened it out by doing away with its ruggedness. Further he polished it, and then the stone started shining. Thus the stone was made suitable for setting into an ornament. Aer it had become a piece of jewelry, the same emerald that as a stone had FETCHED only a hundred rupees became worth a million. Such a process of refining and enriching is called Samskara. All the scriptures, WHETHER it be the Gita or the Upanishads, are there to give US Samskara. Even the science of Vedanta, the highest knowledge available to mankind, is meant to remove our Avidya; i.e. Vidya acts by removing an impurity (Avidya), it does not give anything new. Gaining knowledge in Vedanta means removing Avidya, it does not mean ‘acquiring’ knowledge. The Vedas have delineated sixteen Samskaras for purifying us. The Manu Smriti outlines their purpose: ‘All impurities inherent in the seed of the male and the womb of the female are removed by Samskaras.’ (Manu Smriti