Boring of different limbs for wearing ornaments is considered savage habit by our modern, educated intellectuals.
Some of us, predominantly metro youth, bore different limbs as a fashion. Almost without any reason. Mindlessly. Anywhere on the body. And these youth go to fashion stylist for piercing, who has no knowledge of physiology and anatomy of human body. Who hardly take care of cleanliness? This mindless fashion invites skin reaction like issues.
कर्णवेधसंस्कार, it is not only one of the important 16 samskar ritual but also important preventive care.
Not all limbs randomly, but for us, specifically boring ears is an important ritual, irrespective of gender, caste and status. An experienced surgeon who is a specialist and who has studied the treatises of Charak and Sushrut is invited to this Samskara vidhi. In the morning, after bathing and getting child dresses with clothes and ornaments, the mother brought the child to yajna shala. A sacred fire ceremony is performed with holy hymns, then surgeon pierces the right ear first by reciting the vedic hymns. Same is followed for left ear. Surgeon physician then inserts thin gold wire in the freshly pierced ears to prevent the holes from closing up. He also applies healing ointments to the ears. Piercing should be able pass through sun rays from it.
Shushrut says: “Ears of a child should be bored for protection from unimagined mid-life diseases and decoration.
He again explicitly prescribes the boring of ears for preventing hydrocele and hernia (अन्त्रवृद्धिः).
शङ्कोपरि च कर्णान्ते त्यक्त्वा यत्नेन सेवनीयम् ।
व्यत्यासाद्वा शिरां विध्येदन्त्रवृद्धि निवृत्तये ॥
Btw, in modern medicine, there is no specific reason given as root cause of hernia. They give random excuses and guess work. Approximately five million Americans have hernias. Overall, About 25% of males and 2% of females develop inguinal hernias; this is the most common hernia in males and females.
And yet, we are happy to blindly accept medications from modern medicines but foolishly ignore preventive care suggested by local sharir shashtra.
It is also unfortunate that this Samskar, like other rituals, has become mechanical process and so those who are performing it also doing it mindlessly.
If you are an educated doctor, surgeon specifically, take up this as research work and re-establish this ritual back in our society in the interest of National good health.
