GRIHASTHA

'Grihastha' refers to the second phase of an individual's life in the Vedic ashram system.

Contents

Etymolgy

Usage

Etymolgy

This is a Sanskrit word. The Sanskrit meaning of "Griha" is house. And the word 'Grihasthya' (Devanagari: गृहस्थ) means a person who heads a house-hold.

Usage

This word is used to denote the person who is currently in that phase of his life which is called 'Garhastha' according to the ancient Hindu system of life called Chaturashrama, prescribed in Manusmriti for the Dhwija castes.
A person becomes a 'Grihastha' from the age of 20 and this Garhastha phase ends at the age of 60. Once a man becomes a Grihastha, he is expected to settle down, get married & produce children.
The phase of "Garhastha" is preceded by the phase of "Bramhacharya" and followed by the phase of "Vanaprastha".