Samskara (rite of passage) in the context of "Hindu marriage"

Om (or Aum; listen; Sanskrit: ॐ, ओम्, romanized: Oṃ, Auṃ, ISO 15919: Ōṁ) is a polysemous symbol representing a sacred sound, seed syllable, mantra, and invocation in Hinduism as well as in other Indian religions. Its written form is the most important symbol in the Hindu religion. It is the essence of the supreme Absolute, consciousness, Ātman, Brahman, or the cosmic world. In Indian religions, Om serves as a sonic representation of the divine, a standard of Vedic authority and a central aspect of soteriological doctrines and practices. It is the basic tool for meditation in the yogic path to liberation. The syllable is often found at the beginning and the end of chapters in the Vedas, the Upanishads, and other Hindu texts. It is described as the goal of all the Vedas.

Om emerged in the Vedic corpus and is said to be an encapsulated form of Samavedic chants or songs. It is a sacred spiritual incantation made before and during the recitation of spiritual texts, during puja and private prayers, in ceremonies of rites of passage (samskara) such as weddings, and during meditative and spiritual activities such as Pranava yoga. It is part of the iconography found in ancient and medieval era manuscripts, temples, monasteries, and spiritual retreats in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. As a syllable, it is often chanted either independently or before a spiritual recitation and during meditation in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.

Upanayana (Sanskrit: उपनयन, romanized: upanayana, lit. 'initiation') is a Hindu educational sacrament, one of the traditional saṃskāras or rites of passage that marked the acceptance of a student by a preceptor, such as a guru or acharya, and an individual's initiation into a school in Hinduism. Some traditions consider the ceremony as a spiritual rebirth for the child or future dvija, twice born. It signifies the acquisition of the knowledge of and the start of a new and disciplined life as a brahmāchārya. The Upanayanam ceremony is arguably the most important rite for Brāhmaṇa, Kṣatriya, and Vaiśya males, ensuring his rights with responsibilities and signifying his advent into adulthood.

The tradition is widely discussed in ancient Samskṛta texts of Hinduism and varies regionally. The sacred thread or yajñopavīta (also referred to as Janeu, Jandhyam, Pūṇūl, Muñja and Janivara Yonya) has become one of the most important identifiers of the Upanayana ceremony in contemporary times, however this was not always the case. Typically, this ceremony should be performed before the advent of adulthood.

The Brahmanda Purana (Sanskrit: ब्रह्माण्डपुराण:, romanized: brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa) is a Sanskrit text and one of the eighteen major Puranas, a genre of Hindu texts. It is listed as the eighteenth Maha-Purana in almost all the anthologies. The text is also referred in medieval Indian literature as the Vayaviya Purana or Vayaviya Brahmanda, and it may have been same as the Vayu Purana before these texts developed into two overlapping compositions.

The text is named after one of the cosmological theories of Hinduism, namely the "Cosmic Egg" (Brahma-Anda). It is among the oldest Puranas, the earliest core of text maybe from 4th century CE, continuously edited thereafter over time and it exist in numerous versions. The Brahmanda Purana manuscripts are encyclopedic in their coverage, covering topics such as Cosmogony, Sanskara (Rite Of Passage), Genealogy, chapters on ethics and duties (Dharma), Yoga, geography, rivers, good government, administration, diplomacy, trade, festivals, a travel guide to places such as Kashmir, Cuttack, Kanchipuram, and other topics.