Upanayanam

Upanayanam

Recently someone in the family wanted to know what is the purpose of Upanayanam. So I thought I will blog an elementary sketch of the Facts on Upanayanam.

Upanayana  is one of the traditional saṃskāras (rites of passage) that marked the acceptance of a student by a guru (teacher) and an individual's entrance to a school in Hinduism. The tradition is widely discussed in ancient Sanskrit texts of India and varies regionally

Every male child born in certain Hindu communities has to go through the Upanayana ritual. Upanayana is also known as Munji, Brahmopadesham (supreme teaching), and Sacred thread ceremony. The Yagnopavitha / Janivara / Sacred thread / Janoi is worn as a symbol of having gone through this ceremony.

Yagnopavitham. : a cotton thread with which a Hindu youth of the three twice-born castes and some Sudras is invested at the ceremony of initiation (as at the age of from eight to twelve) and which is worn constantly thereafter from the left shoulder across the body to the right. So unlike what the current Dravidian moment is Broadcasting wearing a sacred Thread or Poonul is not the sole Right of Brahmins. It is the right of every Hindu.

In some Hindu families the Sacred Thread ceremony is performed when a boy is growing up. He is given three strands of the sacred thread which represent three promises (vows) he makes: to respect the knowledge, the parents and the society.

A girdle made of Munja Grass ( Bengal Cane) is tied around the boy's girdle. It is rough and is supposed to irritate the Boy whenever he wants to lie down to sleep. Thus Sleep or Tamas the first hindrance to Knowledge is Countered.

A Deer skin is also normally tied to the Sacred Thread, Deer Skin is called Krishnajinam and is taken from the skin of a Deer after its natural death. It represents the qualities of a Sadhu animal and since Brahmachari should live a very disciplined life, his mind must be tuned accordingly. It shows the ideal asana for Sadhus and is known to resist the approach of snakes, etc.

Brahmopadesam or the Supreme Initiation as it is called initiates the Boy to the Chanting of the Gayathri Manthra which is is acclaimed as the essence of the three Vedas Rig, Yajur and Sama. Thus the Upanayanam ceremony gives the right of passage to a Hindu Boy to learn the Vedas and by chanting the Gayathri Manthra he invokes the Divine Goddess's Grace to illuminate his Intellect for higher learning.

The Upanayanam Ceremony bestows the right and obligation on the Hindu Boy to do an obligatory worship three times a day namely ,Sandhyavandanam . It  literally means "salutation to Sandhya". Sandhya, in turn, has traditionally been interpreted either as "the transition moments of the day" (namely the two twilight dawn and dusk), or as "the solar noon". Thus, Sandhyavandanam may be defined as the ritual "salutation to twilight or the solar noon". This performing of Sandhya rights alone gives the Right to an Hindu to perform other vedic rituals.


The Importance and Meaning of Gayathri Manthra, may be in another Blog?



See you till then!





Krishnamachari Santhanam