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The word Asrama is originally derived from the root 'sram' to exert oneself and therefore it may mean (i) a place where exertions are performed and (ii) the action of performing such exertions. The Asramas then are to be regarded 94 as resting places during one's journey on the way to final liberation which is the final aim of life, each of the Asrama amas constituting a stage of life in which the individual 937 Kantawala S.G., Op.Cit., PP. 157-58. 94 ERE, Vol.II, P.128. Article of Deussen on the Asramas.

271 has to train himself for a certain period, and exert himself within the circuit of the same in order to qualify himself for the next.95 Different views have been held regarding the number of Asramas in initial stages of its development. Dr.P.M.Modi bases his arguments on CHU (2.23.1) and Manu smrti (2.230; 7. 78) and comes to the condlusion that in the beginning there were three Asramas,掳 96 and from the same passage Prof.R.D. Ranade infers the firmly-laid-out foundations of the future Asrama system. 97 Dr.Kane finds a somewhat obscure reference to the four Asramas in the AB 33.11 and Prof.Deussen states 98 that the oldest passage which names all the four Asramas in their correct order is Jabala up. 4. 99 Prof. Altekar concludes that "the system of the four Asramas, Brahmacarya, Grhastha, Vanaprastha and Samnyasa, is no doubt now regarded as a very early and ancient feature of Hinduism, but its early history is shrouded in mystery. It is extremely doubtful 95 Prabhu P.N., Hindu Social Organization, P.83. 96 Modi P.M., Development of the system of Asramas; Proc. and Trans. of the Seventh All India Oriental Conference, Baroda, December, 1933 (1935), PP. 315-316. 97 Ranade R.D., A Constructive survey of Upanisadic philosophy, PP.60-61. 98 HDS., Vol.II, PP. 420-421. 99 ERE, Op.Cit., P.129.

272 whether the system was developed in the vedic age. "100 According to Hindu view of life, the highest aim of mankind is not to be found in this worldly existence but in the world beyond and the whole of life of an individual is a kind of schooling and self-discipline; and during the course of this schooling he has to pass through four stages called the Asramas; and the Hindu theory of the four purusarthas is given concrete expression in the Hindu scheme of asramas. 1 Thus in the Brahmacaryasrama it provides healthy restraint on the instinctive and impulsive life of man, and as Deussen says "it offers the opportunity in the stage of Grhastha to enjoy life, and by enjoying it to convince oneself of its futility. It then, in an advanced stage, in the stage of Vanaprastha, tends to a systematic morification of sensuality and it describes the Sanyasin a man who, approaching the end of his days, has become free from all worldly fetters and is best prepared for departure."101 100 In consonance with the Dharmasastra writers, the Altekar A.S., The Asrama system; Ghurye Felicitation Volume, P.183, According to Dr.N.N.Law who substantiated Dr.Jacobi's view, 'the four stages of life were well developed at the time of the older upanisads and the mutual relations between them had been fixed before that period" The Antiquity of the four stages of life (Asramas) IA, Vol.52 (1923), P.272; vide also Kantawala S.G., Op.Cit., Ch.II. 101 ERE, Op.Cit., P.131.

273 Brahma Purana also expounds the four-fold system of the Asramas. It states that in the Sakadvipa, the varnasrama system is and in the Puskaradvipa it is not followed (20.85). followed (20.16)鈻� It also states that in the Kaliyuga, people would be degraded from varna and asrama.102 The nomenclature as employed in the Brahma Purana to denote the persons in the different stages of life is as follows.;- (i) Brahmacarin (ii) Grhastha (iii) Vahaprastha (iv) Bhiksu or Yati A student A house-holder. A forest-hermit. An ascetic.