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 1^st 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.