प्राचीन भारत में शिक्षा (डॉ. ए.एस. अल्तेकर - गुरुकुल एवं बौद्ध विहार शिक्षण इतिहास)

206 EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA [Ch.
the same was the case with Tārā when her husband
Vālī was about to leave the palace to meet Sugrīva in
the fateful encounter.¹ It is interesting to note that
both these ladies are expressly described by the epic
as mantravid, i. e. well grounded in the Vedic literature.
We need not then wonder if we find Sītā also offering
her Vedic prayer during the days of her captivity in
Laṅkā.² Kuntī, the mother of Pāṇḍavas, was well-
versed in the Mantras of the Atharvaveda (Mbh., III.
305. 20).
Upanayana of Girls : No one can recite Vedic
prayers or offer Vedic sacrifices without having under-
gone the Vedic initiation (Upanayana). It is, therefore,
but natural that in the early period the Upanayana of
girls should have been as common as that of boys.
There is ample evidence to show that such was the
case. The Atharvaveda (XI. 5. 18) expressly refers to
maidens undergoing the Brahmacharya discipline³ and
the Sūtra works of the 5th century B. C. supply
interesting details in its connection. Even Manu
includes Upanayana among the saṁskāras (rituals)
obligatory for girls (II. 66). After about the beginning
of the Christian era, girls' Upanayana went out of
vogue, but Smṛiti writers of even the 8th century A. D.
like Yama admit its prevalence in the earlier age.⁴
¹ ततः स्वस्त्ययनं कृत्वा मंत्रविद्विजयैषिणी । IV. 16. 12.
² संध्याकालमनाः श्यामा ध्रुवमेष्यति जानकी ।
नदीं चेमां शुभजलां संध्यार्थं वरवर्णिनी ॥ V. 15. 48.
³ ब्रह्मचर्येण कन्या युवानं विन्दते पतिम् । XI. 5. 18.
⁴ Cf. पुराकल्पे तु नारीणां मौञ्जीबन्धनमिष्यते ।
अध्यापनं च वेदानां सावित्रीवचनं तथा ॥
पिता पितृव्यो भ्राता वा नैनामध्यापयेत्परः ।
स्वगृहे चैव कन्याया भैक्षचर्या विधीयते ॥