Education in Ancient India c15.2

c15.2

Introduction :—Yajñopavīta is at present understood to be the Sacred Thread, that is to be worn by the twice-born classes from the time of the Upanayana ceremony onwards. The popular belief is that the Upanayana ceremony is primarily intended for investing the boy with this mysterious thread, and the Śrāvaṇī ritual for the purpose of renewing it annually. We have already shown how both these conceptions are wrong (App. I, B and C). Here we propose to trace briefly the history of Yajñopavīta.