There are three meanings of Aashram:
[[courtesy:http://www.geocities.com/mahaabhaarat/glossary/aashram.htm]]
1 - Aashram means hermitage. Here sages live along with other sages. They build their huts, small or large, and do their daily chores of Tap, worship, Yagya etc. When somebody goes to Van, since he is not supposed to live in bricks houses, he builds a Kutiyaa (made of leaves, twigs, straws, trees, trees' branches etc) for himself to live and to do his worship etc. When several people live nearby in such Kutiyaa, that is also called Aashram.
2 - That place was also called Aashram where disciples used to go to get educated. This is the place where they used to spend their "Brahmcharya" period of their lives. (see No 3 meaning). It was also called Gurukul. Thus Guru, his wife and disciples were considered as a family where Guru and his wife were like parents of the disciple. Guru's wife use to make arrangements for disciples' food etc and was usually called Guru Maataa (mother). They used to live in huts, work for Aashram, get alms, and learn.
3 - Its another meaning is life's four divisions of human life. In Hindu Dharm a person lives his life under four Aashram - Grihasth Aashram, Vaanprasth Aashram, Sanyaas Aashram. A person's age is supposed to be 100 years.
(A) - Brahmcharya Aashram. The first 25 years have been assigned for study. And this period is called Brahmcharya Aashram. During this period one is supposed to sleep on floor, to eat minimum and whatever is available food, to observe celibacy, to serve Guru (teacher), and to acquire knowledge.
(B) - Grihasth Aashram. The second 25 years (26-50) have been assigned for Grihasth Aashram. In this period a person marries, has children and fulfills all his duties towards God (Yagya, charity, alms, fasts etc). Grihasth Aashram has been considered the most important period of the life as it is the only period when a man can repay his all Rin (loans - Brahm Rin, Dev Rin, Pitra Rin) by producing children, imparting knowledge, and doing Yagya and other religious duties.
(C) - Vaanprasth Aashram. The third part, the next 25 years (51-75), are assigned to Vaanprasth Aashram. In this Aashram, a person lives in the house but detaches himself from materialism and prepares himself for Sanyaas.
(D) - Sanyaas Aashram. The fourth and last 25 years are assigned to Sanyaas Aashram. In this one a person is supposed to leave the world, all kinds of worldly pleasures, all materialism and all worldly involvement and spend his time in all kinds of spiritual activities, keeping minimum things with him, eating only whatever he gets in alms etc.
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Ashram
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An Ashram in ancient India was a Hindu hermitage where sages lived in peace and tranquility amidst nature. Today, the term ashram is sometimes used to refer to an intentional community formed primarily for spiritual upliftment of its members, often headed by a religious leader or mystic.
Traditionally, ashrams were located far from human habitation, in forests or mountainous regions, amidst refreshing natural surroundings conducive to spiritual instruction and meditation. Spiritual and physical exercises, such as the various forms of Yoga, were regularly performed by the residents of an ashram. Other sacrifices and penances, such as Yajnas were also performed. Many Ashrams also served as Gurukuls or residential schools for children. The word ashram is derived from the Sanskrit term "aashraya", which means protection.
Ashrams have been a powerful symbol throughout Hindu history and theology. Most Hindu kings until the medieval ages are known to have had a sage who would advise the royal family in spiritual matters, or in times of crisis, who was called the rajguru which literally translates to royal teacher. A world-weary emperor going to this guru's ashram, and finding solace and tranquility, is a recurring motif in many folktales and legends of ancient India.
Sometimes, the goal of a pilgrimage to the ashram was not tranquility, but instruction in some art, especially warfare. In the Hindu epic Ramayana, the protagonist princes of ancient Ayodhya, Rama and Laxman, go to the Rishi Vishvamitra's ashram to protect his Yajnas from being defiled by emissary-demons of Ravana. After they prove their mettle, the princes receive martial instruction from the sage, especially in the use of enchanted weapons, called Divyastras (Sanskrit Divya: Enchanted + Astra: Missile Weapon. The Sanskrit word 'astra' means missile weapon, such as an arrow; as opposed to 'shastra', which means a hand-to-hand weapon, such as a mace.) In the Mahabharata, Lord Krishna, in his youth, goes to the ashram of Sage Sandiipanii, to gain knowledge of both intellectual and spiritual matters.
Sometimes, the word ashram is used as a synonym of matha, but mathas are generally more hierarchical and rule-bound than ashrams, belonging to ancient orders of Hindu sadhus (Renunciants who are still searching for realization, as opposed to Rishis who have found it.)
A number of Ashrams have been founded in India in the 20th century as well, most notably the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad which served as Mahatma Gandhi's headquarters during the long struggle for India's independence and Aurobindo Ashram, founded in Pondicherry by the Bengali revolutionary-turned-Hindu-mystic Aurobindo Ghosh and Pujya Sant Sri Asaramji Bapu's Ashram on the banks of the Sabarmati River in Ahmedabad and Rampura dist Rewari and in Jind of Haryana state in India founded by in 1918. Dayaram Ashram is located in Nanadiya village of Gujarat.
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