Ashramas (Hinduism)

According to Hindu tradition, man's life proceeds through four stages or ashramas. These are [brahmacarya]

or celibacy, [grahasta]

or household, [vanaprastha]

(recluse) and [sanyasa]

(mendicancy). Although everyone does not need to go physically through all four stages for full development, the four stages nonetheless demonstrate pictorially the progress to full self realization.