Samnyasa Upanishads: Hindu Scriptures on Asceticism and Renunciation c5.s2.t6.35

c5.s2.t6.35

The journey through the *āśramas*, according to the new system, begins at a boy’s Vedic initiation, which is now considered the rite of entry into the first *āśrama*. The initiatory studentship thus constitutes the first *āśrama*. The fusing of the initiatory studentship and the first *āśrama* transformed the latter from an adult into an adolescent mode of life and converted the former from a period of preparation for all *āśramas* into one that prepares a youth to assume the responsibilities of marriage. This represents a return to the conception of initiatory studentship as envisaged in the system of Brāhmaṇical sacraments (*saṃskāra*).