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upanayana

उपनयन upanayana

The initiation rite at which a boy receives the sacred thread and begins Vedic study, one of the central life-cycle samskaras.

Where this term appears

  • The Gayatri Mantra Worship

    It is conferred at the upanayana , "the leading near" of a boy to a teacher, prescribed across the grihyasutras (Shankhayana 2.5.12, Khadira 2.4.21, Apastamba 4.10.9 to 12, Varaha 5.26).

  • What is Diksha? Lineages

    The rite was the upanayana , the investiture with the sacred thread and the girdle, at which a boy was formally led to a teacher and given the Savitri verse to recite.

  • The Rules of the Rite Treatise

    … before birth to after death: the rites of conception and naming, the upanayana (the initiation that admits a boy to Vedic study), marriage, and the funerary rites.

  • Who was allowed to learn Sanskrit? Journal

    Within those texts, access to Vedic learning runs through the upanayana , the initiation that makes a man dvija , twice-born.

  • The Gayatri Treatise

    It is conferred at the upanayana , the initiation that traditionally marks a boy's entry into formal study of the Veda and makes him dvija , "twice-born," born once of his parents and again into the sacred lear…

  • The Pedagogical Question Treatise

    The child received the Upanayana (sacred-thread investiture) ceremony between ages eight and twelve, after which formal Vedic recitation began.

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