Introduction

[I] Source materials concerning life stages

1. Infancy (purifying the sins of the parents)
1-1 Materials concerning jātakaraṇa (birth ritual - preparation of astrological chart)
1-2 Materials concerning nāmakaraṇa, nāmakarman, nāmadheya (naming the child)
1-3 Materials concerning niṣkaraṇa (taking the child out of the house for the first time)
1-4 Materials concerning annaprāśana (first meal of rice to baby)
1-5 Materials concerning cauḷakarman, cūḍākarman (first haircut)
1-6 before beginning formal schooling
2. Student (brahmacārin, ācāryakula)
2-1 Materials concerning upanayana (entering schooling - wearing of holy threads)
2-2 upper limits of the period
2-3 lower limits of the period
2-4 Materials concerning keśānta, godāna (first shaving of the head)
2-5 period of schooling
2-6 naiṣṭhika (lifetime student)
3. Householder (gṛhastha, gārhasthya)
3-1 when the student stage ends (age of a bridegroom)
3-2 age at marriage (bride and groom)
3-2-1 daughters - before the onset of menstruation
3-2-2 daughters - after the first menstruation
3-2-3 daughters - despoiled
3-3 Materials concerning the fourth-day rite of marriage (caturthīkarma)
3-4 Materials concerning garbhādhānā, niṣeka (ritual to guarantee conception)
3-5 length of period of being a householder
3-6 The standing of the stage of householder
4. Retirement, stage of "forest dwelling" (vānaprastha, vaikhānasa)
4-1 Materials concerning the period of retirement
4-2 Life during retirement (reference)
5. Renunciation (bhikṣu, parivrājaka, mauna, saṃnyāsa, yati)
5-1 Materials concerning entering the period of renunciation
5-2 Life during the period of renunciation (reference)
[II] Source materials concerning years of age

1. 0-3
2. 6
3. 8
4. 10
5. 14
6. 16
7. 20
8. 25
9. 50
10. 60
11. 70
12. 80
13. 85
14. 100
[III] Reference material

1. Procedure during the four life stages
2. How the four varnas acceptance the life stages
3. Materials showing division among the generations
4. Age differences among those regarded as companions
5. Basis of respect
6. When the husband leaves for abroad

marriage, renunciation, death, life stages, standard age, average age, Dharma Sūtras, Dharma Śāstras, Gṛhya Śāstras, Gṛhya Sūtras, Arthaśāstra, Manusmṛti, Yājñavalkyasmṛti, saṃskāra, upnayana, four āśramas, varṇa
This collection of source materials follows on from Source Materials 1-1 in Monograph1 (A List of References to Years of Age in Early Buddhist Scriptural Sources. Part One: Referencesin the Jātaka-aṭṭhakathā) and Source Materials 1-2 in Monograph 6 (A List of References to Yearsof Age in Early Buddhist Scriptural Sources [II]). The purposes of the study are outlined in thelatter article: "By knowing the standard (average) ages that men and women of various castes andoccupational groups experienced important life stages in the society of Sakyamuni's time and theperiod when the early Buddhist scriptures were being edited (for example, at what age Brahmanboys started school and started work, and around what age did they get married), we have a meansof conjecturing the individual life histories of the Buddha's disciples and lay followers." 

 In the previous articles on source materials mentioned above, we collected items from the Jātakaaṭṭhakathāand the early scriptural sources which were recorded in the format "who did whatat what age", and arranged the information according to age and life stages. In this article, bycontrast, we have collected provisions laid out in the ancient Indian law codes regarding at what agemembers of what caste should do what action. In other words, whereas there is a great possibilitythat the information given in the first two sets of sources we have examined has been modified incertain ways (that it, is a record of what actually happened), the codes lay out what the norms wereand so do not necessarily reflect reality. 

 The ancient law codes referred to here are known generally as the Dharma Sutras ("manualson Dharma") and Dharma Śāstras ("commentaries on Dharma", such as the Manusmṛti andYājñavalkyasmṛti), which concerned the duties of people in the various stages of life (āśramas).In addition, the Gṛhya Sūtras (or Śāstras) were household codes, including rites of passage, whichare closely connected with any inquiry into Dharma. In addition, we have taken up other relatedmaterials in a wider context, such as Kauṭilīya's Arthaśāstra, the Mahābhārata, the Kāmasūtra, andthe Nāradaparivrājaka Upaniṣad, together with classical medical texts. 

 This article consists of three parts: (I) Source materials concerning life stages, (II) Source materialsconcerning years of age, and (III) Reference material. Part One collects together provisionsregarding the rituals (samskāras) of childhood and the upanayana ceremony performed when boysbegan their formal education, as well as at what age the various life stages should occur. Part Twoshows these according to age. Part Three concerns what is expected in each of the four stages, andwhat stages members of the four varnas (castes) were expected to fulfil. It does not treat years ofage per se, but looks at the provisions in the codes connected with rituals (samskāras) and the fourstages of life.