प्राचीन भारत में शिक्षा (डॉ. ए.एस. अल्तेकर - गुरुकुल एवं बौद्ध विहार शिक्षण इतिहास)

270 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch. dog or a jackal.¹ And if the holy Brahmana can be rendered holier by this Saṁskāra, why should it fail to perform a similar miracle in the case of other inanimate objects ? In medieval times the custom therefore arose of performing this ceremony over the holy Pippal tree in order to make it holier.² All these, however, are later anomalies that crept into society when the original purpose of Upanayana was being gradually forgotten. Its Antiquity : The antiquity of this ritual goes back to prehistoric times. It existed in the Indo- Iranian period and is clearly presupposed by the Ṛigveda [X. 109, 5; III. 8. 4 and 5]. The Atharva- veda describes it in detail and attributes the proper functioning of society and nature to its mysterious efficacy.³ Details about the student's life and paraphernalia, more or less similar to those given in Smṛitis, are to be seen in several passages of the Brāhmaṇa literature.⁴ In the early period, the ritual was a simple one ; even a verbal acceptance by the teacher was sufficient.⁵ For a long time the father himself acted as the teacher (Br. Up., V. 2.1 ; VI. 2.9).

1. Cf. Śātātapa, Paiṭhīnasi and Yama quoted in VMS., p. 545-7.
2. An inscription from Karnatak refers to a Brahmana, per- forming this ceremony on the four Aśvatha trees planted by him in a temple garden in 1358 A.D. E.C., III, Malavalli No. 28.
3. ब्रह्मचर्येणं तपसा राजा राष्ट्रं विरक्षति । XI. 5. 17. ब्रह्मचर्येण कन्या युवानं विन्दते पतिम् । XI. 5. 18. ब्रह्मचर्येण तपसा देवा मृत्युमपाघ्नत । XI. 5. 19. स दाधार पृथिवीं दिवं च ॥ XI. 5. 1. See also, VI. 138.
4. Tai. S., VI, 3, 10, 5; Sat. Br., XI, 5, 4, (here we have a detailed description of the Upanayana); Go. Br., I. 2, 1-8 (here we have several interesting reasons for the different rules of Brahmacharya).
5. वाचा ह स्मैव पूर्वमुपयति । Br. Up., VI. 2.7.