Samskaras are the sacraments of Hindu life — rituals that mark and consecrate life's transitions. The classical lists (notably in the Grihya Sutras) enumerate sixteen (Shodasha Samskaras), beginning with Garbhadhana (conception) and including Jatakarma (birth), Namakarana (naming), Annaprashana (first solid food), Chudakarana/Mundan (first haircut), Upanayana (sacred thread initiation), Vivaha (marriage), and ending with Antyeshti (funeral rites). Each samskara invokes divine blessings, formally admits the person to a new stage of dharmic life, and is performed with fire offerings and mantras, usually by a purohit. Which samskaras are observed, and how elaborately, varies greatly by community — naming, first haircut, marriage, and funeral rites remain near-universal. The word also means the mental impressions left by experience, a related sense used in yoga and Vedanta philosophy.