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

APPENDIX II.
YAJÑOPAVĪTA OR THE SO-CALLED SACRED THREAD.
**Introduction :—**Yajñopavīta is at present under-
stood to be the Sacred Thread, that is to be worn by
the twice-born classes from the time of the Upanayana
ceremony onwards. The popular belief is that the
Upanayana ceremony is primarily intended for
investing the boy with this mysterious thread, and the
Śrāvaṇī ritual for the purpose of renewing it annually.
We have already shown how both these conceptions
are wrong (App. I, B and C). Here we propose to trace
briefly the history of Yajñopavīta.
**Yajnopavita, the upper Garment :—**Later writers
explain Yajñopavīta thread as a symbol of the
Guṇamayī Māyā, as it was visualised by the Creator
at the time of creation ;¹ but its original significance
was entirely different. Grammatically, Yajñopavīta
is an adjective and refers to something that was
worn at the time of the sacrifice ; यज्ञाय उपवीतं यज्ञोपवीतम् ।
Hindu notion of decency required that the upper
part of the body should be properly covered when one
was engaged in sacred functions like sacrifices, charity

1. सिसृक्षुरेक एकाग्रे समासीनः शिवः स्वयम् ।
   दृष्ट्वा गुणमयीं मायां सूत्ररूपामिवाकरोत् ॥
   तया तदात्मकं विष्णुं स्पृष्ट्वा पालं दिवौकसाम् ।
   स्वयं ब्रह्माऽभवद्बुद्धो रुद्रश्चास्य ज्ञयाय सः ॥
   ज्ञानात्मकेन हरिणा ब्रह्मात्मनि शिवेऽव्यये ।
   तत्सूत्रमुपवीतत्वाद्ब्रह्मसूत्रमिदं कृतम् ॥
   Āśvalāyana quoted in VMS, p. 419.