India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c10.s1.4

c10.s1.4

Students initiated by teachers of the rank of an *āchārya*, were called *antevāsins*. Pāṇini calls the ceremony of initiation as *āchārya-karaṇa* (I.3.36). This was expressed by the formula *māṇavakam upanayate*. He brings the pupil close to himself as his 'Āchārya'. This is further explained by the *Kāśikā* as *ātmānam āchāryīkurvan-māṇavakam ātmasamīpam prāpayati*, 'converting himself into a teacher he draws close to himself the tender youth as his pupil'. The *antevāsin* was thus the *Brahmachārī* proper, wearing a particular uniform consisting of a deer skin (*ajina*, VI.2.194) and a *kamaṇḍalu* (IV.1.71). Patañjali refers to a student marked by the *kamaṇḍalu* in his hand (*kamaṇḍalu-pāṇi chhātra*, I.347), getting food offered by pious families (I.133, *yājyakulāni gatvā agrāśanādīni labhate*). An *antevāsī Brahmachārin* was considered to be a full-fledged member of his school called *Charaṇa*, and this bond of comradeship applying in common to all fellow-students was expressed by the phrase *sa-brahmachārī* (VI.2.86).