Niṣkramaṇa

निष्क्रमण

Also written: nishkramana · niṣkramaṇa · nishkramana sanskar · nishkramana ceremony

Niṣkramaṇa (निष्क्रमण) is the sixth of the sixteen saṃskāras. The child's first journey out of the house — the meeting with sun, sky and world.


Number	6 of 16
Stage of life	Childhood
Performed	Third or fourth month
Purpose	The child's first journey out of the house — the meeting with sun, sky and world.

The mantra

तच्चक्षुर्देवहितं पुरस्ताच्छुक्रमुच्चरत्। पश्येम शरदः शतं जीवेम शरदः शतम्॥

tac cakṣur deva-hitaṁ purastāc chukram uccarat paśyema śaradaḥ śataṁ jīvema śaradaḥ śatam

That eye, set by the gods, rises bright in the east. May we see it a hundred autumns; may we live a hundred autumns.

— Śukla Yajurveda 36.24 — recited as the child is shown the sun for the first time

The infant is taken out of doors for the first time, shown the sun and the moon, and introduced to the elements with mantras addressed to each.

In many families the first outing is to a temple; the child is placed before the deity and blessed.

The practical logic is sound: the newborn's immunity and the mother's recovery both argue for a period indoors, and the rite marks its proper end.

Widely observed as the first temple visit or the first outing, usually without formal mantras.