History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c24.s1.25

v2.c24.s1.25

The length of the staff varied according to the varṇa of the boy. Āśv. gṛ. I. 19. 13, Gaut. I. 25, Vas. Dh. S. (XI. 55-57), Pār. gṛ. (II. 5), Manu (II. 46) prescribe that in the case of the brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya or vaiśya boy respectively the staff should be as high as his head, forehead or the tip of the nose. The Śāṅ. gṛ. (II. 1. 21-23, S. B. E. vol. 29. p. 260) on the other hand reverses this (the brāhmaṇa having the shortest staff and the vaiśya the longest). Gaut. I. 26 says that the staff should be one not eaten by worms, should have the bark attached to it, and should have a curved tip, while Manu II. 47 adds that the staff should be straight, pleasing to look at and should not have come into contact with fire. The Śāṅ. gṛ. (II. 13. 2-3) prescribes that the brahmacārī should not allow any one to pass between himself and his staff and that if the staff, girdle or the yajñopavīta break or rend, he has to undergo a penance (same as the one for the breaking of a chariot at a wedding procession) and that at the end of the period of brahmacarya, he should sacrifice in water the yajñopavīta, staff, the girdle and the skin⁶⁵⁰ with a mantra to Varuṇa (Ṛg. I. 24. 6) or with the sacred syllable 'om'. Manu II. 64 and Viṣṇu Dh. S. (27. 29) say the same thing.