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

I, B] UPANAYANA RITUAL 277 student from harm, disease and death¹. When this presentation was over, the teacher assured his pupil that he was thenceforward under divine protection²; fortified by that consciousness, he should push forth his studies without any apprehensions. Standing on Stone : The next element in the ritual is a symbolical one; the boy was asked to stand on a stone and enjoined to be steadfast in the pursuit of his studies³. Firm determination and singleness of purpose are most essential for a successful educational career and the necessity of cultivating them was emphasised on the scholar's mind by this element in the ritual. Acceptance by the Teacher : The scholar was then brought before his teacher who asked him whose Braha- chārin⁴ (student) he was. The young boy naturally replied to the preceptor that he was the latter's disciple. The preceptor then used to correct him and asked him to note that he was the pupil of gods Indra and Agni, the most popular and powerful among the Vedic deities⁵. When formally taking charge of the pupil by seizing his right hand, the teacher used to announce that he was doing so with the command and concur- rence of God Savitṛi.⁶ The teacher then touched the

1. Cf. देव सवितेरेष ते ब्रह्मचारी स मा मृत । Aś. Gr. S., I, 20, 6
2. Śat Br., XI. 5, 4, 3.
3. Mā. Gr. S., I. 22. 12. Stone was also symbolical of strength: Bh. G. S. held that the significance of the ritual was to make the boy invulnerable. I. 8.
4. Brahma originally meant prayer; the original meaning of Brahmacharya was thus the period of study of the sacred prayers or the Vedic Mantras. Since chastity was usually observed in this period, the term came to acquire the secondary sense of a period of chastity as well. Brahmachārin was one who followed Brahmacharya discipline.
5. Cf. कस्य त्वं ब्रह्मचार्यसि । भवत इत्युच्यमाने इन्द्रस्य ब्रह्मचार्यसि अग्निरचार्यस्तव अहमाचार्यस्तव । Pā. Gr. S., II, 3.
6. Aś. Gr. S., I. 20, 4.