Ancient Indian Education (Brahmanical and Buddhist) c12.34

c12.34

It is also to be noted that the maximum limit of age of Upanayaya is also fixed on the basis of the same considerations. It is 16 for a Brāhmaṇa, 22 for a Kshatriya, and 24 for a Vaiśya [Āpastamba, *Dh. S.*, i, 1, 1, 27; Gautama, i, 5, 11; Baudhāyana, i, 2, 3, 7-9; etc.]. The age of 16 is none too high for a Brāhmaṇa who has completed his preliminary training as preparation for Vedic study which is not elementary but advanced study. The age for higher study is always stated to be 16 in the Jātakas referring to admission of students at Taxila. The age of 16 is also considered as the maximum for a Brāhmaṇa from the moral point of view for which he stands. This point is brought out by Jaimini [*Grihya Sūtra*, i, 12] who forbids Upanayana after 16 on the ground that a pupil older in years will find Vedic study difficult and mind prone to sexual distractions for want of an earlier discipline by *brahma-charya* [*na atishoḍaśavarshaṁ upanayīta | prāsṛishṭavṛishaṇaḥ hi eshaḥ vṛishalībhūto bhavati*].