Saptapadi

For other uses, see Saptapadi (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Satphere.

Saptapadi (Sanskrit: Sanskrit: सप्तपदी, , Malayalam: സപ്തപദി, Bengali: সপ্তপদী, Telugu: సప్తపది, English: seven steps, saptapadī) is the most important rite (Sanskrit, Hindi: rītī) of a Hindu marriage ceremony. The word, Saptapadi means "Seven steps". After tying the Mangalsutra, the newly wed couple take seven steps around the holy fire, that is called Saptapadi.

Saptapadi

In Eastern India, South India and in Western India specially in Hindu Marriage, after each saying a mantra at each of the seven steps, the couple say these words together:

"Now let us make a vow together. We shall share love, share the same food, share our strengths, share the same tastes. We shall be of one mind, we shall observe the vows together. I shall be the Samaveda, you the Rigveda, I shall be the Upper World, you the Earth; I shall be the Sukhilam, you the Holder - together we shall live and beget children, and other riches; come thou, O sweet-worded girl!"^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

In North Indian weddings, the bride and the groom say the following words after completing the seven steps:

"We have taken the Seven Steps. You have become mine forever. Yes, we have become partners. I have become yours. Hereafter, I cannot live without you. Do not live without me. Let us share the joys. We are word and meaning, united. You are thought and I am sound. May the night be honey-sweet for us. May the morning be honey-sweet for us. May the earth be honey-sweet for us. May the heavens be honey-sweet for us. May the plants be honey-sweet for us. May the sun be all honey for us. May the cows yield us honey-sweet milk. As the heavens are stable, as the earth is stable, as the mountains are stable, as the whole universe is stable, so may our union be permanently settled."^[6][7][8][9]

In Culture

• In 1961, a Bengali film was released in Tollywood directed by Ajoy Kar named Saptapadi. It is a love story with a twist set in Bengal in pre independent India (early 1940); the time when young Indian students were competing equally with British 'goras' in all fields whether it be education or sports.
• In 1981 a Telugu film was released named Sapthapadhi, directed by Kasinadhuni Viswanath, this film won National Award in Indian Films.

References

1. ^ www.panchangam.com
2. ^ South Indian Wedding, SanathanaDharma.com, http://www.sanathanadharma.com/articles/wedding.htm, retrieved 2009-05-21, "... The Ritual of the Hindu Wedding too is each symbolic ..." 
3. ^ Sapthapathi Manthras - Its meaning, bnaiyer.com, http://www.bnaiyer.com/companion/paths-13.html, retrieved 2009-05-21, "... they both say: "Now let us make a vow together. We shall share the same food, share the strengths ..." 
4. ^ www.sophieanand.com
5. ^ A South Indian Wedding – The Rituals and the Rationale: The Vedic Ceremony of the Tamil Shaivite Brahmin community, SAWNET, http://www.sawnet.org/weddings/tamil_vedic.html, retrieved 2009-05-21, "... The gates of the wedding hall are adorned with full-grown plantain trees, signifying evergreen plenty for endless generations ..." 
6. ^ Diane Warner (2006), Diane Warner's Complete Book of Wedding Vows: Hundreds of Ways to Say "I Do", Career Press, pp. 7–8, ISBN 1564148165, http://books.google.com/?id=hdnNZ3U6iG8C&pg=PA8&dq=%22seven+steps%22, "... We have taken the Seven Steps. You have become mine ..." 
7. ^ Sitaram Sehgal (1969), Hindu marriage and its immortal traditions, Navyug Publications, http://books.google.com/?id=MwUYAAAAIAAJ, "... May the plants be honey-sweet for us; may the Sun be all honey for us and ..." 
8. ^ Eleanor C. Munro (1996), Wedding readings: centuries of writing and rituals on love and marriage, Penguin Books, ISBN 0140088792, http://books.google.com/?id=OiALO4j3LpkC, "... May the nights be honey-sweet for us; may the mornings be honey-sweet ..." 
9. ^ Michael Macfarlane (1999), Wedding Vows: Finding the Perfect Words, Sterling Publishing Company, p. 89, ISBN 9780806906393, http://books.google.com/books?id=W987VY-4h3IC&pg=PA89, "... we are word and meaning, united ..." 

External links

• Website with more information on Saat phera and Indian Hindu marriage
• http://www.vivaaha.org/saptapad.htm