History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c24.s1.131

v2.c24.s1.131

On the 4th day after upanayana a rite was performed called Medhājanana⁷²⁴ (generation of intelligence) by virtue of which it was supposed that the student's intellect was made capable of mastering Vedic lore. Āśv. gṛ. I. 22. 18–19 deals with this. The teacher makes the student sprinkle water in an unobjectionable direction thrice from the left to the right with a pot of water round about a palāśa tree that has one root, or round a bunch of kuśa grass if there is no palāśa, and makes him repeat the mantra 'Oh glorious one, thou art glorious. As thou, glorious one, are glorious, thus, glorious one, make me full of glory. As thou art the preserver of the treasure of sacrifice for the gods, thus may I become the preserver of the treasure of Veda among men'⁷²⁵. The Bhār. gṛ. (I. 10) also prescribes this rite on the fourth day after upanayana and says that a palāśa tree with one root is to be anointed with *ājya* and the mantra 'suśravaḥ' (the same as in Āśv.) is to be muttered. Kāṭhaka gṛ. 41. 18, Mānava gṛ. I. 22. 17 also refer to this. The Saṁ. Pr. (pp. 444–446) gives a more elaborate description. In addition to what is stated in Āśv. gṛ. it quotes from Śaunaka and adds a few more details, viz. the student deposits at the root of the palāśa his garments already worn, the staff and the girdle and then wears new ones and then when the boy returns to the house, a stream of water is poured before him. The teacher takes the garments &c. left by the boy. The Āp. gṛ. 11. 24 says that on the fourth day the teacher takes the garments worn on the day of upanayana by the student and the boy wears new ones. Sudarśana on Āp. 11. 24 speaks of palāśa-karma on the fourth day. The boy goes out with his ācārya to the east or north and three sthaṇḍilas are prepared to the north or east of a palāśa tree and on these three praṇava (om), śraddhā and medhā are invoked, are worshipped with unguents, flowers, lamp &c. (as in the regular worship of an image), then the praṇava is worshipped with the formula 'yaś-chandasām' to 'śrutam me gopāya' (Tai. Up. I. 4. 1), śraddhā with the hymn 'śraddhayāgniḥ' Ṛg. X. 151 and Medhā with the anuvāka 'Medhā devī' (Tai. Ār. X. 39). Then the staff is deposited at the foot of the palāśa, another staff is taken and the student returns to the house with the ācārya. In modern times in the Deccan a similar ceremony is gone through under the (Marāṭhī) name 'Paḷasulā'.