संस्कार

saṉ-skāra

m. (ifc. f. ā) putting together, forming well, making perfect, accomplishment, embellishment adornment, purification, cleansing, making ready, preparation, dressing (of food), refining (of metals), polishing (of gems), rearing (of animals orﾠ plants) GṛṠrS. MBh. Kāv. , etc.;

cleansing the body, toilet, attire Hariv. ;
forming the mind, training, education R. Ragh. ;
correction (alsoﾠ in an astronomical sense Sūryas. ), correct formation orﾠ use of a word Nir. Sarvad. ;
correctness, purity (esp. of pronunciation orﾠ expression) MBh. R. etc.;
making sacred, hallowing, consecration Mn. MBh. etc.;
a sacred orﾠ sanctifying ceremony, one which purifies from the taint of sin contracted in the, womb andﾠ leading to regeneration
(12 such ceremonies are enjoined on the first three orﾠ twice-born classes in Mn. II, 27, ;
viz.
1.  garbhâ̱dhāna,
2.  puṉ-savana,
3.  sīmantônnayana,
4.  jāta-karman,
5.  nāmakarman,
6.  nishkramaṇa,
7.  anna-prâ̱ṡana,
8.  cūḍā-karman,
9.  upanayana,
10.  keṡâ̱nta,
11.  samāvartana,
12.  vivāha, qq.vv.;
accord. toﾠ Gaut. VIII, 8 etc.. there are 40 Saṃskāras)
GṛS. Mn. MBh. etc.. (IW. 188; 192 etc.. RTL. 353) ;
the ceremony performed on a dead body (i.e. cremation) R. ;
any purificatory ceremony W. ;
the faculty of memory, mental impression orﾠ recollection, impression on the mind of acts done in a former state of existence (one of the 24 qualities of the Vaiṡeshikas, including bhāvanā, the faculty of reproductive imagination) Kaṇ. Sarvad. (IW. 69) ;
(pl., with Buddhists) a mental conformation orﾠ creation of the mind (such as that of the external world, regarded by it as real, though actually non-existent, andﾠ forming the second link in the twelvefold chain of causation orﾠ the fourth of the 5  Skandhas) Dharmas. 22; 42 ;
a polishing stone MW.