Education in Ancient India c15.21

c15.21

Mysterious efficacy of Yajñopavīta:—In the course of time Yajñopavīta came to be invested with mysterious efficacy. The Āditya Purāṇa declares that it has the power of destroying demons. When such notions began to prevail in society, it is no wonder that the view began to be advocated that the greater the number of Sacred Threads, the better would be our spiritual and material welfare. Kāśyapa would recommend 2, 3, 5, or 10 Sacred Threads for the house-holder;³ an anonymous text quoted by Mitramiśra is in favour of as many Sacred Threads as possible.⁴ All this vividly shows how the original significance of the Yajñopavīta was completely forgotten by this time. When Yajñopavīta assumed the form of the thread, the custom gained ground of making each of its thread a constituent product of nine smaller threads. Oṅkāra, Agni, Bhaga, Soma, Pitṛis, Prajāpati, Vasu, Dharma, and Sarva-devas were taken to be the presiding deities of the nine threads of the Sacred Thread.