Part 26

The Upanayana, or leading a boy to his guru or spiritual teacher, is essentially a ceremony of initiation. From an orthodox point of view, this ceremony should be performed before the age of eight years, but in practice it is deferred even up to the age of seventeen. It usually commences with the arrangement of seed-pans containing nine kinds of grain, and tying a thread or pratisaram on the boy's wrist. After this, the Abyudayam, or invocation of ancestors, is gone through. The boy sits in front of the sacred fire, and his father, or some other person, sits by his side, to help him in the ceremonial and act the part of guru. He places over the boy's head blades of dharbha grass so that the tips are towards the east, south, west, and north. The tips are cut off, and the following Vedic verses are repeated:--"Please permit me to shave the head of this boy with the knife used by the sun for shaving Soma. He is to be shaved, because it will bring him long life and old age. May the boy become great, and not die a premature death. May he outshine all in glory." The boy is then shaved by a barber, and more Vedic verses are repeated, which run as follows:--"You are shaving with a sharp razor, so that this shaving may enable him to live long. Brihaspathi, Surya, and Agni shaved the hair of the head of Varuna, and placed the hairs in the middle regions of the sky, earth, and in swarga. I shall place the hairs removed by me at the foot of the audambara tree (Ficus glomerata), or in the clumps of dharbha grass." The boy then bathes, and comes near the sacred fire. After ghi has been poured thereon, a bundle of palasa (Butea frondosa) sticks is given to him, and he puts it on the fire after repeating certain Vedic riks. A grinding-stone is placed on one side of the fire, and the boy treads on it, while the following verse is repeated:--"Tread on this stone, and may you be as firm as it is. May you subdue thy enemies." A new cloth is given to him, which he puts on. The following verses are then repeated:--"Oh! cloth, Revathi and others have spun, woven, spread out, and put skirts on both sides of you. May these goddesses clothe the boy with long life. Blessed with life, put on this cloth. Dress the boy with this cloth. By wearing it, let him attain a hundred years of age. May his life be extended. Such a garment as this was given to Soma by Brihaspathi to wear. Mayst thou reach old age. Put on this cloth. Be a protector to all people. May you live a hundred years with full vigour. May you have plenty of wealth." After the boy has put on the cloth, the following is repeated:--"You have put on this cloth for the sake of blessing. You have become the protector of your friends. Live a hundred years. A noble man, blessed with life, mayst thou obtain wealth." A girdle (minji) spun from grass is wound thrice round the boy's body, and tied with a knot opposite the navel, or to the left of it. The following verses are repeated:--"This blessed girdle, the friend of the gods, has come to us to remove our sins, to purify and protect us, bring strength to us by the power of exhalation and inhalation. Protect, Oh! girdle, our wealth and meditation. Destroy our enemies, and guard us on all the four sides." A small piece of deer-skin is next tied on to the sacred thread, which has been put on the boy soon after the shaving rite. The following verses are repeated:--"Oh! skin which is full of lustre because Mitra sees you, full of glory and one that is not fit for wicked people, I am now putting you on. May Aditi tuck up thy garment. Thou mayst read Vedas, and grow wise. Thou mayst not forget what you have read. Mayst thou become holy and glorious." The boy seats himself next to the guru, and close to the sacred fire, and repeats the following:--"I have come near the spiritual teacher, my Acharya. May the teacher and myself become prosperous. May I also complete my Vedic studies properly, and let me be blessed with a married life after the study." The guru sprinkles water over the boy three times, and, taking hold of his hand, says:--"Agni, Soman, Savitha, Sarasvati, Pusha, Aryaman, Amsuhu, Bagadevata, and Mitra have seized thy hand. They have taken you over to them, and you have become friends." Then he hands over the boy to the gods by repeating:--"We give you to Agni, Soman, Savitha, Sarasvati, Mrityu, Yaman, Gadhan, Andhakan, Abhaya, Oshadhi, Prithvi, and Vaisvanara. With the permission of Surya, I am allowing you to approach me. Oh! boy, may you have children full of lustre, and capable of becoming heroes." The boy then repeats the following:--"I am come to be a student. You that have obtained permission from the Surya, please take me." The teacher asks, "Who are you? What is your name?" The boy gives out his name, and the teacher enquires of him what kind of Brahmachari he is. The boy replies that he is a Brahmachari for Atman, and repeats the following:--"Oh! sun, the lord of all ways, through your grace I am about to begin my studies, which will do good to me." The teacher and the boy take their seats on dharbha grass, and say:--"Oh! dharbha, a giver of royal power, a teacher's seat, may I not withdraw from thee." The boy then pours some ghi on to the sacred fire. A cloth is thrown over both the teacher and the boy, and the latter asks the former to recite the Savitri. The following Gayatri is repeated into his ear:--"Let us meditate on that excellent glory of the divine vivifier. May he illumine our understandings." The boy touches his own upper lip with his right hand, and says:--"Oh! Prana, I have become illumined, having heard the Savitri. Protect and guard this wealth that has entered me, the Gayatri or Savitri." He then takes the palasa staff, and the teacher says:--"Up with life. Oh! sun, this is thy son. I give him in charge to thee." The boy then worships the sun thus:--"That bright eye created by the gods, which rises in the east, may we see it a hundred autumns; may we live a hundred autumns; may we rejoice a hundred autumns; may we live a hundred autumns; may we rejoice a hundred autumns; may we be glad a hundred autumns; may we prosper a hundred autumns; may we speak a hundred autumns; may we live undecaying a hundred autumns; and may we long see the sun." The ceremonial is brought to a close on the first day by the boy begging rice from his mother and other female relations. A basket, filled with rice, is placed in a pandal (booth), and the boy stands near it, repeating "Please give me alms." Each woman pours some rice into a tray which he carries, and presents him with some money and betel leaves. The rice is placed in the basket. On the second and third days, the boy puts palasa sticks into the sacred fire, and pours ghi thereon. On the fourth day, the new cloth is given to the teacher.

The wearing of the sacred thread is a sign that the boy has gone through the upanayanam ceremony. It is noted [156] by the Rev. A. Margöschis that "the son of Brahman parents is not reckoned to be a Brahman (i.e., he may not take part in religious ceremonies) until he has gone through the ceremony of assuming the sacred thread; and I have heard Brahman boys wearing the thread taunting a boy of Brahman birth, and calling him a Sudra, because he had not yet assumed the holy thread." The thread is composed of three threads of cotton secured together in one spot by a sacred knot of peculiar construction, called Brahma Grandhi. The knot in the sacred thread worn by Vaishnava Brahmans is called Vishnu Grandhi, and that in the thread of Smarthas Rudra Grandhi. In the preparation of the thread, cotton sold in the bazaar may not be used; the bolls ought to be secured direct from the plant. Here and there Brahmans may be seen in villages, removing the cotton from the bolls, and preparing it into pads for spinning into thread. Those who teach students the Vedas may be seen spinning the thread from these pads. The spinning rod is a thin piece of bamboo stick weighted with a lead or soapstone disc about half an inch in diameter. The thin thread is kept in stock, and twisted into the sacred thread whenever it is required. Three or more people usually take part in the twisting process, during which they chant Vedic verses. In the Srutis and Sutras, it is enjoined that the Yagnopavita (sacred thread) is to be put on only on occasions of sacrifice. It ought really to be a vestment, and is a symbolical representation thereof. Ordinarily the thread is worn over the left shoulder in the position called Upavitham. In ceremonies connected with the dead, however, it is worn over the right shoulder in the position called prachinavithi. At the time of worshipping Rishis and Ganas, the thread should be over both shoulders and round the neck in the position called nivithi.

The grass girdle and deer-skin worn by a youth at the Upanayanam ceremony are removed on the fifth day, or, among the orthodox, kept on until the first Upakarmam day. They, and the palasa stick, should be retained by the Brahmachari till the close of his studentship. Nambutiri Brahman lads of eight or nine years old, who have gone through the Upanayanam ceremony, always carry with them the palasa stick, and wear the grass girdle, and, in addition to the sacred thread, a thin strip of deer-skin in length equal to the thread. Round the waist he wears a narrow strip of cloth (kaupinam) passed between the legs. He may cover his breast and abdomen with a cloth thrown over his body. He is thus clad until his marriage, or at least until he has concluded the study of the Vedas.

The marriage rites in vogue at the present day resemble those of Vedic times in all essential particulars. All sections of Brahmans closely follow the Grihya Sutras relating to their sakha. The marriage ceremonies commence with the Nischyathartham or betrothal ceremony. The bridegroom being seated on a plank amidst a number of Brahmans, Vedic verses are repeated, and, after the bestowal of blessings, the bride's father proclaims that he intends giving his daughter in marriage to the bridegroom, and that he may come for the purpose after the completion of the Vratam ceremony. For this ceremony, the bridegroom, after being shaved, dresses up. Meanwhile, the Brahmans who have been invited assemble. The bridegroom sits on the marriage dais, and, after repeating certain Vedic verses, says:--"With the permission of all assembled, let me begin the Vratams Prajapathyam, Soumyam, Agneyam, and Vaiswadevam, and let me also close them." All the Vratams should be performed long before the marriage. In practice, however, this is not done, so the bridegroom performs an expiatory ceremony, to make up for the omission. This consists in offering oblations of ghi, and giving presents of money to a few Brahmans. The bridegroom is helped throughout the Vratam ceremonies by a spiritual teacher or guru, who is usually his father or a near relation. The guru sprinkles water over the bridegroom's body, and tells him to go on with kandarishi tharpanam (offerings of water, gingelly, and rice, as an oblation to Rishis). A small copper or silver vessel is placed on a leaf to the north-east of the sacred fire, and is made to represent Varuna. A new cloth is placed round the vessel. The various Vratams mentioned are gone through rapidly, and consist of offerings of ghi through fire to the various Devatas and Pitris. The Nandhi Sradh, or memorial service to ancestors, is then performed. The bridegroom next dresses up as a married man, and proceeds on a mock pilgrimage to a distant place. This is called Paradesa Pravesam (going to a foreign place), or Kasiyatra (pilgrimage to Benares). It is a remnant of the Snathakarma rite, whereat a Brahmachari, or student, leaves his spiritual teacher's house at the close of his studies, performs a ceremony of ablution, and becomes an initiated householder or Snathaka. The bridegroom carries with him an umbrella, a fan, and a bundle containing some rice, cocoanut, and areca-nut. He usually goes eastward. His future father-in-law meets him, and brings him to the house at which the marriage is to be celebrated. As soon as he has arrived there, the bride is brought, dressed up and decorated in finery. The bridal pair are taken up on the shoulders of their maternal uncles, who dance about for a short time. Whenever they meet, the bride and bridegroom exchange garlands (malaimaththal). The couple then sit on a swing within the pandal (booth), and songs are sung. A few married women go round them three times, carrying water, a light, fruits, and betel, in a tray. The pair are conducted into the house, and are seated on the marriage dais. The marriage, or Vivaham, is then commenced. A purohit (priest) repeats certain Vedic texts as a blessing, and says:--"Bless this couple of ... gotras, the son and daughter of ..., grandchildren of ..., now about to be married." At this stage, the gotras of the contracting couple must be pronounced distinctly, so as to ensure that they are not among the prohibited degrees. The bridal couple must belong to different gotras. The bridegroom next says that he is about to commence the worship of Visvaksena if he is a Vaishnavite, or Ganapathi if he is a Saivite, for the successful termination of the marriage ceremonies. The Ankurarpana (seed-pan) ceremony is then proceeded with. Five earthenware pans are procured, and, after being purified by the sprinkling of punyaham water over them, are arranged in the form of a square. Four of the pans are placed at the four cardinal points, east, west, north, and south, and the remaining pot is set down in the centre of the square. The pan to the east represents Indra, the one to the west Varuna, the one to the south Yama, and the one to the north Soman. While water is being sprinkled over the pans, the following synonyms for each of these gods are repeated:--

Indra--Sathakruthu, Vajranam, Sachipathi. Yama--Vaivaswata, Pithrupathi, Dharmaraja. Varuna--Prachethas, Apampathi, Swarupinam. Soman--Indum, Nisakaram, Oshadisam.

Nine kinds of grains soaked in water are placed in the seed-pans. These grains are Dolichos Lablab (two varieties), Phaseolus Mungo (two varieties), Oryza sativa, Cicer Arietinum, Cajanus indicus, Eleusine Coracana, and Vigna Catiang. The tying of the wrist-thread (pratisaram) is next proceeded with. Two cotton threads are laid on a vessel representing Varuna. After the recitation of Vedic verses, the bridegroom takes one of the threads, and, dipping it in turmeric paste, holds it with his left thumb, smears some of the paste on it with his right thumb and forefinger, and ties it on the left wrist of the bride. The purohit ties the other thread on the right wrist of the bridegroom, who, facing the assembly, says "I am going to take the bride." He then recites the following Vedic verse:--"Go to my future father-in-law with due precautions, and mingle with the members of his family. This marriage is sure to be pleasing to Indra, because he gets oblations of food, etc., after the marriage. May your path be smooth and free from thorns. May Surya and Bhaga promote our dhampathyam (companionship)."