Adhyāya I, Kaṇḍikā 15

1^[1]. When a son has been born, (the father) should, before other people touch him, give him to eat from gold (i.e. from a golden vessel or with a golden spoon) butter and honey with which he has ground gold(-dust), with (the verse), 'I administer to thee the wisdom ('veda') of honey, of ghee, raised by Savitṛ the bountiful. Long-living, protected by the gods, live a hundred autumns in this world!'

2. Approaching (his mouth) to (the child's) two ears he murmurs the 'production of intelligence:' 'Intelligence may give to thee god Savitṛ, intelligence may goddess Sarasvatī, intelligence may give to thee the two divine Aśvins, wreathed with lotus.'

3^[2]. He touches (the child's) two shoulders with (the verse), 'Be a stone, be an axe, be insuperable gold. Thou indeed art the Veda, called son; so live a hundred autumns'—and with (the verses), 'Indra, give the best treasures' (Rig-veda II, 21, 6), Bestow on us, O bountiful one, O speedy one' (Rig-veda III, 36, 10).

4. And let them give him a name beginning with a sonant, with a semivowel in it, with the Visarga at its end, consisting of two syllables,

5. Or of four syllables;

6. Of two syllables, if he is desirous of firm position; of four syllables, if he is desirous of holy lustre;

7. But in every case with an even number (of syllables) for men, an uneven for women.

8. And let him also find out (for the child) a name to be used at respectful salutations (such as that due to the Ācārya at the ceremony of the initiation); that his mother and his father (alone) should know till his initiation.

9. When he returns from a journey, he embraces his son's head and murmurs, 'From limb by limb thou art produced; out of the heart thou art born. Thou indeed art the self called son; so live a hundred autumns!'—(thus) he kisses him three times on his head.

10. The rite only (without the Mantra is performed) for a girl.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

15, 1. Comp. Āśv.-Gṛhya-Pariśiṣṭa I, 26. I follow Professor Stenzler, who corrects maghonām into maghonā; comp. Śāṅkh.-Gṛhya I, 24, 4.

[2]:

Vedo may as well be the nominative of veda as that of vedas ('property').