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

I, B] UPANAYANA RITUAL 281 **Medhajanana Ritual :—**For three days after the Upanayana, the student was said to remain in an embryonic condition ; it was on the fourth day that his spiritual birth took place. The preceptor, who was now in the position of the father, then performed the Medhājanana ritual for sharpening the memory, intellect and grasping power of the student. Prayer was offered that the student should be favoured with an intelligence as attractive as cows, as vigorous as studs and as brilliant as the solar rays ; it should be equally effective in mechanical, material and spiritual spheres.¹ Medhājanana ritual marked the termination of the Upanayana ceremony. **Significance of the ritual :—**At the time when the significance of the Upanayana ritual and Mantras was perfectly grasped, a very powerful impression must have been produced on the mind of all the parties partici- pating in the ceremony through the various suggestions conveyed to them by the different elements in the ritual. The ritual heralded the beginning of a new epoch in the student's life, characterised by dignity, decorum and discipline. The scholar was to regard himself as a self-reliant traveller bound for the realm of knowledge; the journey was to be long and arduous, but if there was singleness of purpose, devotion to. studies and perfect accord between him and his teachers, he would

1. त्वं नो मेधे प्रथमा गोभिरश्वेभिरागहि । त्वं सूर्यस्य रश्मिभिस्त्वं नो असि यज्ञिया ॥ यां मेधामृभवो विदुर्यां मेधामसुरा विदुः । ऋषयो भद्रां मेधां यां विदुस्तां मय्या वेशयामसि ॥ A. V., VI 108, 1, 3. Ribhus were famous for their mechanical skill and Asuras for their material civilization.