The Story of Brahmopadesham Ceremony
The entire history of Hinduism is hidden in the word ‘Brahmopadesham’
As soon as their son becomes 7 year
old, most Hindu Brāhmin parents begin to plan an elaborate and expensive
Brahmopadesham Ceremony. Some people refer to this ancient ritual as
Yajnopavītam, and others call it Upanayana. Colloquially this ritual is also
known as “Sūtra (Thread) Ceremony.” It is a ritual, which most Hindu men
of “upper classes” have been through as boys.
Most parents put their boys through
this ceremony simply because it is the religious
requirement and family tradition passed
on from generation to generation for almost three thousand years. This article
is an attempt to make this ritual more meaningful for parents who are planning
for this ceremony.
The Upanishads: During the period of 900-500 B.C. some Kshatriya intellectuals
within the fold of Sanātana Dharma, whom we shall henceforth refer to as Upanishadists, created and promoted the
doctrines of immortal Brahman the Supreme, and Yoga of detachment and selfless
Karma. The texts explaining these doctrines were known as the Upanishads. Most authorities believe
that the word Upanishad means, “being seated near.” The student (Shishya) sat close
to his Guru and engaged him in confidential
discourses on the Upanishadic doctrines.
The Secret Doctrines: The apparent
goal of the Upanishadic doctrines was to enable the student to attain
immortality of Brahman (Brahmajnāna) by means of practice of Yoga of detachment
and Nishkama (selfless) Karma. Their secret
goal, however, was to overthrow decadent Sanātana Dharma, also known as
Brahmavāda (Dharma of Brahma, Brāhmanism), which was based on two distinct doctrines:
The Gunas (Qualities, ropes) of Prakriti and the Law of Karma. Yoga of detachment
helped one to transcend the Gunas of Prakriti, and Yoga of Nishkama Karma
helped one to transcend the Law of Karma. Because the secret goal of the
Upanishadic doctrines was to overthrow Brāhmanism, they were known as Secret
Doctrines (Rahasyam). The reason why Upanishadists wanted to overthrow
Brāhmanism was because it had steadily decayed between 1500-900 B.C. due to
abuse of Yajnas (sacrificial rites
performed to thank nature gods for their benevolence), and Varna Dharma (hierarchical class-designated duties) based on
unequal distribution of three Gunas in different classes. Brāhmanism’s decay
threw the society into a great deal of turmoil, and this resulted in revolt and
birth of several heterodox Dharmas such as Buddhism and Jainism.
Brahman: Upanishadists believed in an all-pervading,
all-containing, eternal, immortal, immutable, indestructible Super Divinity
known as Brahman the Supreme. They declared Brahman as Sat –Real, and the material world (Prakriti) as Asat (Unreal). The term Brahmopadesham
(Brahman + Upadesha) meant, teaching the knowledge (Jnāna) of immortal Brahman
(=Brahmajnāna). When Upanishadists said just the word ‘Jnāna’ (knowledge), they
meant Brahmajnāna; and when they said ‘Ajnāna’ (Ignorance) or ‘Tamas’
(darkness), they meant lack of Brahmajnāna.
Secret purpose: However, Brahman the Supreme had a secret purpose.
It was designed to replace Brahma (Prakriti) the Supreme of Brāhmanism and its
nature gods:
Mundaka Upanishad
2:6:2-3: Whatever
there is –the whole world (perishable Prakriti)- when gone forth from immortal
Brahman, trembles in its breath. That Brahman is a great terror, like a drawn
sword. Those who know It become immortal. From terror of Brahman fire burns;
from terror the Sun burns; from terror Indra, Vayu and Yama, as the fifth, run
away!
Furthermore, Upanishadists declared
the Vedas as inferior knowledge; Varna Dharma as a sign of Ignorance of
Brahman; Yajnas as evil, and priests as conceited fools.
Ātman (Self): Upanishadists believed that a part of all-pervading
immortal Brahman the Supreme resided in all living beings as Ātman, the life
essence. Brahman and Ātman were one and the same (Self). They expressed this
view by means of the Sūtra: Tat Tvam Asi
(That you are). Here the word Tat stood for Brahman. They claimed that the
Gunas (ropes) of Prakriti held Ātman a prisoner in the body just as hunter’s
net traps a bird. Thus Ātman, now bound by the Gunas to the perishable body,
became ignorant of the fact that It and Brahman were one and the same. Furthermore,
they claimed that Ātman was bound by both good and bad Karmaphalam (fruits of deeds), which condemned It to Samsāra –to be
born on earth again to enjoy one’s Punyam (good Karmaphalam) or to suffer one’s
Pāpam (bad Karmaphalam).
Yoga: Upanishadists believed that for one’s Ātman to rejoin Brahman
and realize Its oneness with It, one must resort to Yoga and cut off all
attachments (Gunas, ropes) to material things (money, people, power, etc.) and
give up desire for fruits of deeds (Karmaphalam). In Yoga one steadies one’s
bewildered and restless Mind (Manas) by yoking it to one’s Wisdom (Buddhi), and
withdraws one’s Senses (Indriyāni, eyes, ears, nose, taste and touch) from
sense objects (money, people, power, etc.). In practice, the term ‘withdrawing
the senses’ meant giving up desire for, attachment to and possessiveness of all
material things.
Self-realization: When one succeeds in Yoga of detachment and
selfless Karma, one intuitively becomes aware of the fact that he is Brahman,
as expressed in the Sūtra: Aham
Brahmāsmi! I am Brahman! Such a person is said to be a Brahmajnāni, a Self-realized person or knower of Brahman. Since
Brahman has everything and desires nothing, It is the seat of Sukham (Bliss). A Self-realized person
enjoys Bliss of Brahman here on earth
and Brahmanirvāna hereafter. Brahmanirvāna means Ātman,
released from all bondage with this material world, merges with Brahman never
to suffer from Samsāra, the cycle of death and birth, hereafter.
Mode of communication: Upanishadic seers were brilliant
intellectuals capable of direct and coherent communication. However, because of
the secret nature of their mission, they often used metaphors, double entendre,
enigmatic parables, secret codes and Sūtras to communicate their views and secret
motives to their students as well as peers. As we will discover soon, unless
one knows the history and deeper meaning of the words and phrases they used in
the Upanishads nearly 2750 years ago, one would interpret them literally and
miss their true intent and spirit, or even reach wrong conclusions.
Sūtra: The literal meaning of this word is thread. It is a highly
compressed statement, which, like a thread holding gems, holds a few code
words. One must know the inner meanings of the code words in order to
understand the message hidden in it.
Recruitment: Brahman-realized Gurus, residing in Ashrams, carefully
selected their students for the purpose of Brahmopadesham: Mundaka Upanishad:
1:2:12-13: In
order to gain the knowledge of Brahman, let the Shishya approach a Guru who is
learned and dwells entirely in Brahman. To that pupil who has approached him
respectfully, whose thoughts are not troubled by any desire, and who has
obtained perfect peace, the wise teacher truly told that knowledge of Brahman.
BG: 4:34: Seek that enlightenment by prostrating, by
questioning and by service. The wise seers with insight into the True will
instruct you that knowledge.
The Ceremony: The selected student underwent Dīksha (initiation),
which we know today as Brahmopadesham Ceremony. During the ceremony, the
student sat very close to the Guru who uttered three Sūtras in the ear of his
student, and asked him to repeat them. These Sūtras were in the form of a
request to the Guru to teach him knowledge of Brahman. They were the three most
profound Sūtras of the Upanishads:
Asato Ma Sat Gamaya
(Lead me from Asat –Prakriti- to Sat -Brahman);
Tamaso Ma Jyotir
Gamaya (From Ignorance of Brahman to Its knowledge);
Mrityor Ma Amritam
Gamaya (from Samsāra to Brahmanirvāna).
As a symbol of having uttered these
three Sūtras and begun the study, the Guru put around his neck and chest a
cotton garland consisting of three threads (Sūtra). After this ceremony, the
boy became a Brahmachārin –one who walked
the path of immortal Brahman. His goal was to escape from Samsāra –the
perpetual cycle of birth and death on earth as per the Law of Karma- and become
immortal –Chiranjīvi. His method to achieve this goal was Yoga.
Guru Kula: The student then became part of his Guru’s family (Guru
Kula). He served the Guru and his wife by faithfully performing their household
chores. The Guru and Shishya regularly engaged each other in confidential discourses by mean of which
the Guru passed on to his Shishya the Secret Doctrines of Brahman and Yoga. The Shishya stayed with the Guru,
sometimes for several years, until the Guru was thoroughly satisfied that he
had truly realized Brahman.
The Vedānta: To neutralize the threat posed by the Upanishads,
Brāhmanic scribes haphazardly interpolated huge amount of pro-Brāhmanic stuff
into these texts and declared them as Shruti (“that which is heard”), which
could be heard only by the upper classes if a Brāhmin chose to utter them. They
classified knowledge of Brahman and Yoga as Jnāna Kānda (knowledge branch) of
Brāhmanism, and decreed that only after one had mastered Karma Kānda (ritual
branch) one was qualified to learn it. They declared these incoherent,
self-contradicting and almost incomprehensible texts as the Vedānta, the end
part of the Vedas. Commentaries on these texts by various “authorities” are
even more bizarre, as they indulged in much fanciful imagination in
interpreting enigmatic words, phrases and metaphors. The Upanishads disappeared
entirely, but we can still find their doctrines scattered haphazardly here and
there in the Vedānta and the Bhagavad Gita-Upanishad. They renamed
Brahmopadesham as Yajnopavītam (Yajna+ Upavītam). Most likely this is a
corrupted form of the compound word Yajnopavista, meaning sitting at or engaged
in Yajna.
Current form of Brahmopadesham Ceremony: The mode of this ceremony
differs widely from one community to another. However, in its core form it is as follows: The father of the boy
strips him of all clothes except for his loin cloth (symbolizing renunciation
of worldly things in the spirit of Yoga), seats him very close to him (“Upanishad”),
or on his lap (“Upanayana,” being within eye range), puts a cloth over both of their
heads (as a symbol of revealing the Secret Doctrine of Brahman), utters the
most sacred Mantra of the Brāhmanism –Gāyatri- Rig Veda: 3:62:10 in his ear, and
asks him to repeat it:
Om! Bhur Buvah Svah…Tat Savitur Varenyam; Bhargo Devasya
Dheemahi, Dhiyoyonah Prachodayat.
May we attain that excellent
glory of (Sun god) Savitur, so may he stimulate our understanding.
After
this ceremony, the boy is declared to be a Brahmachārin and Dvija (twice born).
Then his elders bless him, “Become Chiranjīvi (Immortal).”
Old versus New: Although the current form of Brahmopadesham
ceremony superficially resembles the
one Upanishadic Gurus performed on their students during the Dīksha about 2,750
years ago, there are several significant difference:
1. Following the
Upanishadic revolution, Brāhmanism created its own Super God known as Divine Purusha
(Divine Person) and appointed Him over Brahman. Its scribes interpolated the
verses promoting Purusha into the Upanishads as well as the Rig Veda. RV: Purusha
Sūkta:
10:90:2-3: This
Purusha is all that yet has been and all that is to be. Lord of immortality
(Brahman), which waxes greater still by (sacrificial) food; so mighty is his
greatness; yea, greater than this is Purusha. Also Mundaka Up:
2:1:10.
2. Brāhmanism declared Purusha as Sat,
and claimed that knowledge of Brahman was merely the medium through which one
gains knowledge of Purusha (Mundaka Up: 1:2:13).
3.
Around 1st century B.C., followers of Bhāgavata Dharma, worshipers
of Vāsudeva, God of gods, decided to end the internecine conflict between
Brāhmanism and Upanishadism. They merged the identity of Vāsudeva with Lord
Krishna of the Upanishadic Gita, and declared Him as Parameshwara (Super Lord),
God of gods. They incorporated both Brāhmanic Super God Purusha and Upanishadic
Brahman the Supreme into the body of Vāsudeva-Krishna, and thus they both ceased to exist from that
point in history: BG: 10:12: Arjuna: You are Supreme Brahman, the Supreme Abode, the Supreme
Purifier, the Eternal, Divine Purusha, the Primeval Deity, the Unborn, the
Omnipresent.
4. Brāhmanism
neutralized the Upanishadic Sūtra (Secret Code) Asato Ma Sat Gamaya; Tamaso Ma Jyotir Gamaya;
Mrityor Ma Amritam Gamaya by turning it into a Abhyāroha of Pavamāna
verses of Yajurveda uttered at Yajna ceremony, and declared that the meaning of
all three Sūtras was the same: Lead me from death to immortality.
5.
They replaced it with Gāyatri Mantra of Rig Veda, greatly embellished and glorified
by Brāhmanism as goddess Gāyatri. This Mantra has absolutely nothing to do with
the Upanishadic Secret Doctrines of Brahman the Supreme and Yoga of detachment
and Nishkāma Karma. It addresses one of many Vedic Sun gods (Ādityas), whom
Upanishadists overthrew along with Prakriti in the course of Upanishadic
revolution.
5. In fact, the
Gāyatri is not a Sūtra (Secret Code) at all, but a simple prayer, as it
contains no secret words whatsoever. So, covering the heads of the father and
son with a cloth to symbolize secrecy, and adorning the student with cotton
Sūtra is utterly meaningless.
6. So, the
inescapable conclusion is that Brahmopadesham Ceremony, as conducted today is a
farce. Its only goal is for priests to make money, and for parents to thoughtlessly
fulfill their religious and traditional obligation. Of course, it is a grand
occasion for a get-together of family and friends.
