ABSTRACT
The life of the Brahman, after seven years of it have passed, is divided into four parts. The first part begins with the eighth year, when the Brahmans come to him to instruct him, to teach him his duties, and to enjoin him to adhere to them and to embrace them as long as he lives. Then they bind a girdle round his waist and invest him with a pair of yajnopavîtas, i.e. one strong cord consisting of nine single cords which are twisted together, and with a third yajnopavîta, a single one made from cloth. This girdle runs from the left shoulder to the right hip. Further, he is presented with a stick which he has to wear, and with a seal-ring of a certain grass, called darbha, which he wears on the ring-finger of the right hand. This seal-ring is also called pavitra. The object of his wearing the ring on the ring-finger of his right hand is this, that it should be a good omen and a blessing for all those who receive gifts from that hand. The obligation of wearing the ring is not quite so stringent as that of wearing the yajnopavîta, for from the latter he is not to separate himself under any circumstances whatever. If he takes it off while eating or fulfilling some want of nature, he thereby commits a sin which cannot be wiped off save by some work of expiation, fasting, or almsgiving.
First period in the Brahman’s life.
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