Submitted by Krishna on
In this article we will discuss how wearing the jewelleries that we regularly wear can help us to attain the spiritual goals. In India you will notice that wearing jewellery have been given a very high importance since the ancient times. Not only women even men in ancient India used to wear a lot of jewellery. Women after marriage are expected to wear jewellery on regular basis. Have you ever wondered why such a custom was made in India? If you look deep there is a very effective science behind wearing jewellery.
Four Phases of Life
Hinduism divides the human life has been divided into four parts considering an average of 100 years lifespan of a human being. Each part consists of twenty five years.
- In the first twenty five years one is expected to study.
- In the second twenty five years one must start with his business and also get married to start a family.
- In the third span of twenty five years one must take to meditation and become spiritually strong.
- In the last twenty five years a human is expected to leave his family life and head to the forest in search of moksha.
All these four parts of our lives work on providing salvation to the soul and ensuring that the soul meets the supreme power we call god. In ancient India the custom of child marriage was very popular. Small kids would get married when they were eight or nine years old. These girls would stay with their parents till they attain puberty. After attaining puberty they were sent to their in-law’s house. After years of marriage the boy and girl would start to live together.
The Role of Metal
These kids were mentally prepared in such a way that once they meet each other post marriage they would not take long to adjust with each other. Marriage was not considered to be just meeting of two bodies. It was the meeting of two souls and two lives were becoming one. It was considered that women who were spending years without their husbands could get into depression.
Wearing metal in different parts of their bodies would ensure that they got enough strength to deal with the emotional pains associated with marriage. Married women had to wear metal bangles made of gold or silver. They would also have to wear rings on their hands and toes. Apart from this a ring was worn in the nose too. Nowadays many women do not wear these jewelleries and as a result marriages suffer.
Copper
Even today if you want to learn meditation or become more spiritual you will be advised to wear copper rings. It is said that when you touch water or food with copper the harmful bacteria in these die and you will feel healthier. The metal on your body can ensure that there develops a close connection between you and your body. When you learn meditation there is a possibility that the energy in your body tries to connect with the supreme power and as a result the energy might leave your body which can be a very dangerous situation. If you are wearing metal on any part of your body this will ensure that all the energies and vibes stay inside your body and they don’t leave you.
Physical and Emotional Health
Jewellery was won usually on the head, hands, fingers, ears, anklets and waist. Wearing jewellery can make a boy or girl book more attractive there is no doubts about it but they can also protect the physical and emotional health of the person who is wearing it. For a girl to leave the house of her parents and move into the house of a stranger must have been a very big shift in those days. To make this transition smother these arrangements of jewellery was made. The best metals that you must wear as jewellery is gold and copper. Women were gifted a lot of jewellery at the occasion of their marriage from both the families.
Jewellery in Marriage
In India it is customary to give jewellery at the wedding to the boy or the girl. The reason between these beliefs is the theory that we have just discussed in this article. Women would wear rings so that if there are any impurities in the food or the water the metal would help to fight these germs. Nose ring would ensure that the air the married women are breathing is cleansed by coming in touch with the metal. Anklets would ensure that the sound of these ensure a positive vibe around the woman and protect her from all evil forces. Even the men would wear traditional jewelleries. If you see the pictures of gods and goddesses from ancient India you will notice how they wear jewellery all over the body.
The Misconceptions
The customs talk about only some basic jewellery, but it is we who have exaggerated the version of jewellery and made them heavy and grand. The tradition of giving jewellery to the girl in marriage was just to ensure that she feels spiritually more secured and connected with the boy she had been married to. It was not to show how rich the parents of the girl were.
If the parents could not afford gold jewellery they could give copper jewellery too. Copper was cheap and it would full fill the same purpose as gold. It is strange that how these traditions have changed with changing time and we have given it new form and a new meaning all together. Jewellery can definitely help us to become spiritually stronger and connect to the super power.
Finally
We hope that this article will help the readers to understand the essence of the jewellery that they wear and would encourage them to wear jewelleries more often. Traditions are made keeping something in mind and we must respect these traditions in order to live a better and a happy life. Any tradition in India is not meaningless there are strong scientific reasons behind them all we need to do is find them so that we can protect our traditions from dying.
Sudipta Ray