Adhyāya I, Kaṇḍikā 20

1. Or all (sorts of staffs are to be used) by (men of) all (castes).

2^[1]. While (the student) takes hold of him, the teacher sacrifices and then stations himself to the north of the fire, with his face turned to the east.

3. To the east (of the fire) with his face to the west the other one.

4. (The teacher then) fills the two hollows of (his own and the student's) joined hands with water, and with the verse, 'That we choose of Savitṛ' (Rig-veda V, 82, 1) he makes with the full (hollow of his own hands the water) flow down on the full (hollow of) his, (i.e. the student's hands.) Having (thus) poured (the water over his hands) he should with his (own) hand seize his (i.e. the student's) hand together with the thumb, with (the formula), 'By the impulse of the god Savitṛ, with the arms of the two Aśvins, with Pūṣan's hands I seize thy hand, N.N.!'

5. With (the words), 'Savitṛ has seized thy hand, N.N.!' a second time.

6. With (the words), 'Agni is thy teacher, N.N.!' a third time.

7. He should cause him to look at the sun while the teacher says, 'God Savitṛ, this is thy Brahmacārin; protect him; may he not die.'

8. (And further the teacher says), 'Whose Brahmacārin art thou? The breath's Brahmacārin art thou. Who does initiate thee, and whom (does he initiate)? To whom shall I give thee in charge?'

9. With the half verse, 'A youth, well attired, dressed came hither' (Rig-veda III, 8, 4) he should cause him to turn round from the left to the right.

10. Reaching with his two hands over his (i.e. the student's) shoulders (the teacher) should touch the place of his heart with the following (half verse).

11^[2]. Having wiped the ground round the fire, the student should put on a piece of wood silently. 'Silence indeed is what belongs to Prajāpati. The student becomes belonging to Prajāpati'—this is understood (in the Śruti).

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

20, 2. He offers the oblations prescribed above, chap. 1, 4, 3 seq.

[2]:

On the wiping of the ground round the fire, comp. above, chap. 3, 1; Śāṅkhāyana-Gṛhya I, 7, 11. Nārāyaṇa here has the following remarks, which I can scarcely believe to express the real meaning of this Sūtra: 'Here the wiping of the ground round the fire is out of place, because the Saṃskāras for the fire have already been performed. As to that, it should be observed that the wiping is mentioned here in order that, when fuel is put on the fire in the evening and in the morning, the sprinkling of water and the wiping may be performed. But on this occasion (at the Upanayana) the student does not perform the wiping, &c., and silently puts a piece of wood on that fire.'