during his upanayana ritual. The thin, yellow yajnopavita thread runs from left shoulder to waist. Note the
muñja grass girdle around the waist. The
peepal tree twig in his right hand marks his entry into the
Brahmacharya stage of life.
Background The earliest form of this saṁskāra, whose name there are no records of, may have been to mark the acceptance of a person into a particular community. Indologically, the ritual is present in the
Gṛhyasūtras and
Dharmasūtras and
Dharmaśāstras, as well as a couple of times in the
Saṃhitās. Educational courses or training has been referred to in the
Chandogya Upaniṣad and in the
Yājñavalkya Smṛti; Gharpure writes that during the
Smṛti period, Upanayana may have attained a permanent fixture if the life of students to be as compared to being optional before. In the
Atharvaveda, and later in the
Sutras period, the word
upanayana meant taking responsibility of a student, the beginning of an education, a student's initiation into "studentship" and the acceptance of the student by the teacher.
Preceptors could include a
guru,
ācharya, upādhyāya, and ṛtvik. Gradually, new layers of meaning emerged, such as the inclusion of
goddess Sarasvatī or Sāvitrī, with the teacher becoming the enabler of the connection between this goddess and the student. The meaning was extended to include
Vedāngas and vows among other things. The education of a student was not limited to ritual and philosophical speculations found in the
Vedas and the
Upaniṣads. It extended to many arts and crafts, which had their own, similar rites of passages. The training of these began from childhood and included studies about
dharma, culture, reading, writing, mathematics, geometry, colours, tools, as well as traditions and trade secrets. The rites of passage during apprentice education varied in the respective guilds.
Suśruta and
Charaka developed the initiation ceremony for students of Āyurveda. The
Upanayana rite of passage was also important to the teacher, as the student would therefrom begin to live in the
gurukula (school). Upanayana became an elaborate ceremony, that includes rituals involving the family, the child and the teacher. A boy receives during this ceremony a sacred thread called the
yajnopavita to be worn. The
yajnopavita ceremony announces that the child had entered into formal education. In the modern era, the Upanayana rite of passage is open to anyone at any age. The Upanayana follows the
Vidyārambhaṃ, the previous rite of passage.
Vidyārambhaṃ became an intermediary samskāra following the evolution in writing and language.
Vidyārambhaṃ now marked the beginning of primary education or literacy while Upanayana went on to refer to spiritual education. The Upanayana can also take place at the student's home for those who are home-schooled. Ceremonial
bhikṣa as one of the rituals during Upanayana became important, attaining sizeable proportions. The actual initiation occurred during the recitation of the
Gāyatrī Mantra. The spiritual birth would take place four days after the initial Upanayana rituals. It was then that the last ritual was performed, the Medhajanana. The
Samavartanam or convocation ritual marked the end of the course. The Upanayana became a permanent feature around the Upaniṣad period. Attire includes a daṇḍa or staff and a mekhala or girdle.
Age and varna , India. In Hindu traditions, a human being is born at least twice—once at physical birth and second at intellectual birth through teacher's care. The first is marked through the
Jatakarman rite of passage; the second is marked through
Upanayanam or
Vidyārambha rites of passage. A sacred thread was given by the teacher during the initiation to school ceremony and was a symbolic reminder to the student of his purpose at school as well as a
social marker of the student as someone who was born a second time (
dvija, twice born). Many medieval era texts discuss Upanayana in the context of three of the four
varnas (caste, class)—
Brāhmaṇas,
Kṣatriyas and
Vaiśyas. The ceremony was typically performed at age eight among the
Brāhmaṇas, at age 11 among the
Kṣatriyas, and age 12 among Vaiśyas.
Apastamba Gryha Sutra (verse 1.1.1.27) places a maximum age limit of 24 for the Upanayana ceremony and start of formal education. However,
Gautama Gṛyha Sūtra and other ancient texts state that there is no age restriction and anyone of any age can undertake Upanayanam when they initiate their formal studies of the Vedas.
Śūdras, or the fourth varna, do not have the rite to the Vedic Upanayana or access to
Vedas as their vidhi is not mentioned in any of the
Dharmashastras. However, texts such as
Sushruta Samhita &
Dhanurveda prescribe a rite to be initiated for their education regarding these subjects alone.
Agamas, particularly Kamika Agama allows
Śūdras to wear the sacred thread & get initiated in the Shaiva Mantras. The large variation in age and changes to it over time was to accommodate for the diversity in society and between families.
Vedic period texts such as the
Baudhāyana Gṛhyasūtra encouraged the three
Varṇas of society to undergo the Upanayana. Initiation to sectarian affiliation is not exclusive to ascetics, but open to householders.
Gender and women In some texts, some girls belonging to the three varnas undergo upanayana rite of passage. In ancient and medieval eras, texts such as Harita Dharmasūtras, Aśvālayana Gṛhya Sutra and Yama Smriti suggest women could begin Vedic studies after Upanayana. Girls belonging to the three upper varnas who decided to become a student underwent the Upanayana rite of passage, at the age of 8, and thereafter were called
Brahmavadinī. They wore a thread or upper garment over their left shoulder. Those girls who chose not to go to a
gurukula were called
Sadyovadhu (literally, one who marries straight). However, the
Sadyovadhu, too, underwent a step during the wedding rituals, where she would complete Upanayana, and thereafter wear her upper garment (saree) over her left shoulder. This interim symbolic Upanayana rite of passage for a girl, before her wedding, is described in multiple texts such as the Gobhila Gṛhya Sūtra (verse 2.1.19) and some Dharmasutras.
Yajnopavita The sacred thread or the yajnopavita has become one of the most important parts of contemporary Upanayana ceremonies. There are accordingly a number of rules related to it. The thread is composed of three cotton strands of nine strands each. The strands symbolise different things in their regions. For example, among Tamils, each strand is for each of the
Tridevī, the supreme trinity of the Hindu goddesses
Sarasvatī,
Lakṣmī, and
Pārvatī. According to another tradition, each of the nine threads represents a male deity, such as
Agni,
Bhaga, and
Chandra. The predecessor to the sacred thread was an upper garment (such as a dupatta or an uparane). However, as traditions developed, the upper garment began to be worn continuously. The usage of a thread grew out of convenience and manageability, becoming more popular than alternatives such as a kusa rope. The ancient Saṁskṛta texts offer a diverse view while describing the yajñopavītam or upavita. The term upavita was originally meant to be any upper garment, as stated in
Apastamba Dharmasūtra (verse 2.2.4.22–2.2.4.23) or, if the wearer does not want to wear a top, a thread would suffice. The ancient Indian scholar Haradatta states, "
yajñopavītam means a particular mode of wearing the upper garment, and it is not necessary to have the yajñopavīta at all times". There is no mention of any rule or custom, states
Patrick Olivelle, that "required Brāhmaṇas to wear a sacred string at all times", in the Brāhmaṇya literature (Vedic and ancient post-Vedic). Yajñopavīta, textual evidence suggests, is a medieval and modern tradition. However, the term
yajnopavita appears in ancient Hindu literature, and therein it means a way of wearing the upper garment during a ritual or rites of passage. The custom of wearing a string is a late development in Hinduism, was optional in the medieval era, and the ancient Indian texts do not mention this ritual for any class or for
Upanayana. The Gobhila Gṛhya Sutra (verse 1.2.1) similarly states in its discussion on Upanayana, that "the student understands the yajnopavita as a cord of threads, or a garment, or a rope of kusa grass", and it is its methods of wearing and the significance that matters. The proper manner of wearing the upper garment or thread, state the ancient texts, is from over the left shoulder and under the right arm.
yajñopavīta contrasts with
Pracinavīta method of wearing the upper garment, the latter a reverse and mirror image of former, and suggested to signify rituals for elders/ancestors (for example, funeral). The idea of wearing the upper garment or sacred thread, and its significance, extended to women. This is reflected in the traditional wearing of sari over the left shoulder, during formal occasions and the celebration of rites of passage such as Hindu weddings. It was also the norm if a girl undertakes the Upanayana ceremony and begins her Vedic studies as a
Brahmavadinī. The sacred Yajnopavita is known by many names (varying by region and community), such as
Bratabandha, Janivaara,
Jaanva,
Jandhyam,
Poita,
Pūṇūl,
Janeu,
Lagun,
Yajnopavita,
Yagyopavit,
Yonya and
Zunnar. ==Scholarly commentary==