Education in Ancient India c15.10

c15.10

When and How the Thread came in :— In the early period, Yajñopavīta was normally in the form of a full upper garment like the *Dupaṭṭā* of northern India or the *uparaṇe* of Mahārāṣṭra. *Āpastamba Dharma Sūtra* states distinctly that Yajñopavīta should be normally in the form of the upper garment; wearing a thread instead is only the second alternative.¹ *Jātukarṇya* quoted in the *Smṛticandrikā* distinctly declares that Yajñopavīta in the form of the thread is permissible only when the upper garment of the normal size is not available.² The view of *Ṛṣyaśṛṅga* is the same.³ Yajñopavīta was to be worn on sacred occasions like the sacrifice or the prayer. In the course of time the conception of the sacrifice changed; the whole life came to be viewed as a kind of sacrifice when everything that one does should be dedicated to the Creator. If then the Yajñopavīta was to be continuously used during the time one is engaged in sacred duties, it must be worn all the twenty-four hours. This could be feasible only if the Yajñopavīta assumed a more manageable form. It was probably on this account that Yajñopavīta was allowed to dwindle in form into the modern Sacred Thread. The alternatives placed before society were many. Some were in favour of the continuance of the old custom; they held that it was sufficient if the Yajñopavīta was worn as long as practicable; it need not be worn continuously for 24 hours¹. Others were in favour of substituting a Kuśa rope for the unmanageable upper garment². But Kuśa rope was not pleasant in touch and so some others advocated that cotton thread should be preferred for the purpose³. The reason in recommending the new substitutes was convenience and nothing else. For a long time they were not popular; hence we find that in the Upanayana ceremony, as it is described in most of the Gṛihya-sutras, there is no mention of the boy being invested with the Sacred Thread. In stead, we have the description of the boy being offered the dupaṭṭā or uparaṇe i. e. the upper garment at one stage of the ritual,