gods, ancestors, humans, spirits, and all knowledge; seven remembrances and donations (sacrifices) using cooked food, in the form of ancestral offerings seven remembrances and donations (sacrifices) in the presence of fire (yajna), to mark harvests, seasons and deities seven kinds of Soma sacrifices: agnistoma, atyagnistoma, ukthya, sodasin, vajapeya, atiratra and aptoryama. To obtain union with Brahman, one must also possess the eight virtues (compassion, patience, non-envy, purity of thought speech and body, inner calm and peace, positive attitude, generosity, and lack of possessiveness). The 16 samskaras There are diverse number of samskaras in Hinduism, varying by texts between 12 and 18 in the Grhyasutras (Kalpa sastras). Of these, 16 are referred to as "Shodasha Samskaras" (). Intent to have a child ritual, Garbhadhana Garbhadhana (IAST: Garbhādhāna, Sanskrit: गर्भाधान), also called Garbhalambhanam, literally means attaining the wealth of the womb. It is a private rite of passage, marking the intent of a couple to have a child. It is a ceremony performed before conception and impregnation. In some ancient texts, the word simply refers to the rite of passage where the couple have sex to have a child, and no ceremonies are mentioned. Scholars trace this rite to Vedic hymns, such as those in sections 8.35.10 through 8.35.12 of the Rigveda, where repeated prayers for progeny and prosperity are solemnized, The Vedic texts have many passages, where the hymn solemnizes the desire for having a child, without specifying the gender of the child. For example, the Rigveda in section 10.184 states, The desire for progeny, without mentioning gender, is in many other books of the Rigveda, such as the hymn 10.85.37. The Atharva Veda, similarly in verse 14.2.2, states a ritual invitation to the wife, by her husband to mount the bed for conception, "being happy in mind, here mount the bed; give birth to children for me, your husband". Later texts, such as the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, in the last chapter detailing the education of a student, include lessons for his Grihastha stage of life. There, the student is taught, that as a husband, he should cook rice for the wife, and they together eat the food in certain way depending on whether they wish for the birth of a daughter or a son, as follows, According to Shankaracharya, rather than meat the inner pulp of two fruits is cooked with rice. The different Grhyasutras differ in their point of view,