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

298 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [App. was in lieu of the upper garment¹. Devala also holds the same view; an upper garment, he says, is not always at hand, hence the recommendation to wear the third Sacred Thread². **Mysterious efficacy of Yajnopavita:-**In the course of time Yajñopavīta came to be invested with mysterious efficacy. The Āditya Purāṇa declares that it has the power of destroying demons. When such notions began to prevail in society, it is no wonder that the view began to be advocated that the greater the number of Sacred Threads, the better would be our spiritual and material welfare. Kāśyapa would recommend 2, 3, 5, or 10 Sacred Threads for the house-holder;³ an anonymous text quoted by Mitramiśra is in favour of as many Sacred Threads as possible.⁴ All this vividly shows how the original significance of the Yajñopavīta was completely forgotten by this time. When Yajñopavīta assumed the form of the thread, the custom gained ground of making each of its thread a constituent product of nine smaller threads. Oṅkāra, Agni, Bhaga, Soma, Piṭris, Prajāpati, Vasu, Dharma, and Sarva-devas were taken to be the presiding deities of the nine threads of the Sacred Thread. Can Yajnopavita be removed? :- Even when the Yajñopavīta dwindled into the Sacred-Thread, it could be occasionally removed in the course of the day. The Taittirīya, Kaṭha, Kāṇva, and Vājasaneya schools were in favour of permitting the removal

1. तृतीयमुत्तरीयार्थे वस्त्राभावे तदिष्यते । Ibid, p. 21.
2. तृतीयमुत्तरीयार्थे वस्त्रालाभे तदिष्यते । SCS., p. 801.
3. त्रीणि चत्वारि पञ्चाष्ट मुनिभिः स्युर्दशापि वा ॥ VMS., p. 421.
4. आयुष्कामैः सदा धार्यं बहुयज्ञोपवीतकम् ॥ 'अन्यत्रापि' in Ibid.