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

I, B] UPANAYANA RITUAL 281
**Medhajanana Ritual :—**For three days after the
Upanayana, the student was said to remain in an
embryonic condition ; it was on the fourth day that
his spiritual birth took place. The preceptor, who
was now in the position of the father, then performed
the Medhājanana ritual for sharpening the memory,
intellect and grasping power of the student. Prayer
was offered that the student should be favoured with
an intelligence as attractive as cows, as vigorous as
studs and as brilliant as the solar rays ; it should be
equally effective in mechanical, material and spiritual
spheres.¹ Medhājanana ritual marked the termination
of the Upanayana ceremony.
**Significance of the ritual :—**At the time when the
significance of the Upanayana ritual and Mantras was
perfectly grasped, a very powerful impression must have
been produced on the mind of all the parties partici-
pating in the ceremony through the various suggestions
conveyed to them by the different elements in the ritual.
The ritual heralded the beginning of a new epoch in the
student's life, characterised by dignity, decorum and
discipline. The scholar was to regard himself as a
self-reliant traveller bound for the realm of knowledge;
the journey was to be long and arduous, but if there
was singleness of purpose, devotion to. studies and
perfect accord between him and his teachers, he would

1. त्वं नो मेधे प्रथमा गोभिरश्वेभिरागहि ।
   त्वं सूर्यस्य रश्मिभिस्त्वं नो असि यज्ञिया ॥
   यां मेधामृभवो विदुर्यां मेधामसुरा विदुः ।
   ऋषयो भद्रां मेधां यां विदुस्तां मय्या वेशयामसि ॥
   A. V., VI 108, 1, 3.
   Ribhus were famous for their mechanical skill and Asuras for
   their material civilization.