Om, Sri Gurubhyo Namaha Vaidika Samskaras (contd..,) Dr. S. Yegnasubramanian (Sections and sub-sections are numbered in continuation from the previous article) In the previous article in Volume 4 No. l For kshatriyas, the eleventh year is sug- 3&4 of Paramaartha Tattvam, we discussed the gested including pregnancy (garbha- four post-natal samskaras, namely, jAtakarma, EkAdaSa). The suggested season is Sum- nAmakaraNa, annaprASana and cUDA karma. mer grIshma Ritu. Their function is not We will now continue the discussion with the to protect the Sastras, but to know as much educational samskAras, starting from to follow their dharma . Their vedic edu- upanayanam. cation was also limited to that extent, since they had a larger responsibility of protect- 4.3 Upanayanam (thread ceremony) ing the entire country, and the other three Among the educational samskaaras, the varNas. They had additional education foremost is upanayanam. Scriptural (vedic) edu- such as, dhanur vidya, (archery and war- cation starts only after this samskaara is fare), artha Sastra (economics) etc. Sum- peformed and, as such, can be viewed as a pre- mer is a hot season and as such, the educational samskaara also. kshatriyas were actively engaged in battles Upanayana samskAra is to be performed etc. to protect the country, and to punish for all three varNas the brAhmaNas, the the wicked to uphold dharma. kshatriyas, and the vaiSyas. Why is this l For vaiSyas, the twelfth year including samskAra performed only for the three varNas? pregnancy is suggested and the preferred According to scriptures, those who are not ini- season is Autumn Sarad Ritu. Their func- tiated, or those who do not perform the vaidika tion was essentially commerce to assure a samskAras even after initiation, are geneally sound economic basis for the country and considered sUdras! (one should not confuse so, their vedic education was limited to this with the caste system). that much extent to know their dharma adequately. They also had additional edu- Scriptures also suggest the time in which cation in commerce etc. The autumnal this samskaara can be performed, which var- seaon just after the rains stands for ies with the varNa. prosperity, and was considered the pre- l For brahmaNas, the 8th year (including ferred season for the upanayana samskAra pregnancy) is suggested. The Spring sea- for the vaiSyas. son is considered ideal. The very function In addition, platenary positions and other as- of a brAhmaNa was only veda paThanam pects were also considered for the conduct of (learning of vedas) and veda pAThanam this ritual by all the varNas. (teaching of vedas). A lot of study of the entire SAstras was involved, such as, the 4.3.1 Purpose of upanayanam vedas, the vedAngas, the upAngas etc. upanayanam marks the entry into a sec- Spring vasanta Ritu - is a mild season, ond life and after the performance of this cer- and as such the brAhmaNas were supposed emony, the boy becomes a dvija:. (dve janmanI to be mild and not involved in aggressive yasya sa: dvija: - one who has got two janmas. or violent activities. All the three varNas are known as dvijas. 16 What is meant by a second life? pampering etc. of the parents, and will also be able to learn through interaction with other Till upanayanam, only the physical per- children. sonality alone was taken care of, and not the inner personality. The life was similar to that The syllabus for this education is based of animal only until this time with little devel- on the scritptures (vedas), which talk not only opment of individuality, intellect, mind, of the purushArthas of the individual but also awareness of family, community etc. When the the social well-being, duties to family, to soci- child reaches the age of 7 or 8, the mind, in- ety etc. tellect etc. develop from that stage to a hu- Since the child leads a life based on the man stage with self-awareness etc. It is neces- learnings from the vedas, this life is called, sary and critical to regulate and orient the per- brahmacaryam a way of life, devised by sonality in the right direction, at this time. brahma the vedas. One who leads such a life upanayanam is a samskAra which is meant to is called a brahmacArI. mould the personality to become a responsible There is also another meaning for this human being with several considerations term Brahma refers to Para Brahman, and such as: so, brahmacaryam is a life style directed to- Proper emotional personality; imbibing wards brahmaNi carati or brahma vishaye or of values - satyam vada (speak the truth); brahma nimittam carati. dharmam cara (abide by dharma) etc. even In summary, brahmacaryam has two if the child does not understand and fol- meanings: low for some time, he will realize the val- ues later and grow with the right attitude 1. a life style as prescribed in the vedas and emotion. 2. a life style meant to reach brahmatvam Development of the intellect with the 4.3.2 The word upanayanam right type of knowledge viveka (dis- The word upanayanam has been de- crimination); vairAgya (dispassion) etc. scribed in many ways. For example, and development of a spiritual person- ality. the term upa means near and nayanam means leading. The word upanayanam Physical discipline getting up early, means leading near. It is a samskAra by cleanliness, etc. which a person is purified and made fit to Knowledge of varNa dharma and learn the vedas OR vedam upanayanam ASrama dharma and the duties; re- to study vedas, the child goes to a guru and spect for others etc. so it can be described as gurum upanayanam Knowledge of the responsibility to the Or, through this samskAra, the child is society, to oneself, to the family etc. coming closer to parabrahma and so can So, the society and the individual are con- be described as parabrahama-upanayanam sidered together in the building up of a right Or, since the teacher utters the mantra personality of the child during growth. Entry aham upanaye (I take the boy near my- into such a life style is indicated by the self), it is called upanayanam upanayana samskAra. Since the child learns the vedas from the The ideal setting for this education was teacher, an ideal human being is born, and for the gurukula setting where the child can learn this birth, the Veda is the mother and the without the emotional considerations, teacher is the father. 17 m;tu" ag[e ai/ jnnmß. i»tIy' m;w©IbN/n;tß . Since the AcArya is going to teach the t];Sy m;t; g;y]I ipt;tu a;c;yR ¯Cyte.. child, he keeps the child in his garbha, as it were - for three nights - tam rAtrI: tisra: udare m;tu" ag[e ai/ jnnmß. First a non-refined indi- bibharti ; and when the new brahmacArI is vidual is born with human anatomy born, all the devatas will come and be happy - i»tIy m;w­jIbN/n;tß the second birth takes place tam jAtam drushTum abhisamyanti devA: | in upanayanam referred by mounjI-bandhanam 4.3.3.1 yajnopavIta dhAraNam wearing t];Sy m;t; g;y]I (For the second birth dvitIya of the sacred thread janmani), the mother is gAyatrI refers to the entire veda itself; so gAyatrI is taught first. After these preparatory rites, the actual ritual begins. The first ritual is yajnopavIta ipt;tu a;c;yR ¯Cyte the teacher is the father. dhAraNam wearing of the sacred thread. In summary, the purpose of the upanayanam is two-fold: UpavItam is the one that is worn 1. It symbolizes entry in to gurukulam For what purpose? yajnAya - for the sake 2. It purifies the child to enter the of performing yajnas sandhyAvandanam, gurukulam to learn the gAyatrI mantra devayajnam, pitruyajnam, etc. or dedicating and the vedas. all actions as yajna. 4.3.3 The upanayanam ritual The following samkalpam is made when the yajnopavItam is worn Generally the biological father does the gAyatrI mantra upadeSam to the child, before À;;wtSm;tR iviht sd;c;r inTykm;RnuÎ;nyoGyt; sending to the gurukulam and hence, plays the is?yqRmß b[;tej ai&vO?yqR role of the AcArya. Because of this, lot of dis- cipline is prescribed to the father since the Who has initiated this? mantra upadeSa will have more effect only when the upadeSa kartA has more merit! If the y_opvIt prm piv] p[j;pte yTshj father has not been performing the purSt;tß a;yu-ymg[ßy p[itmu¨ xu&[ sandhyAvandanam etc. rituals regularly, at least y_opvIt blmStu tej a few weeks before the ritual, he should re- This yajnopavItam worn by (born with) cite 1008 gAyatrIs every day along with the Brahmaji Himself first sahajam indicates sandhyAvandanam. bondage and the boy will now on be bound by There are so many preparatory rituals the veda niyamas. prescribed such as nAndI SrAddham (to propi- tiate the ancestors), udakaSAnti, 4.3.3.2 kumAra bhojanam Joint meal puNyAhavAcanam (purificatory rites) etc. Also, There is then another ritual known as till now, the samskAras for the boy were done kumAra bhojanam joint meal with other by the father (jAtakarma, nAmakaraNa, etc.), brahmacArIs, friends etc. Then, vapanam but now on, the child becomes responsible to (shaving the head leaving the tuft) is conducted do all the rituals and so has to be purified. which symbolizes the removal of all sins (hair Since this is considered a second birth, is symbolic of sins) followed by snAnam (bath- in olden days, the child was asked to remain ing).