[Advaita-l] Yagnyopaveetam

[anantharaman]

Dear Vyasji

Yours answers are most enlightening and to the point.  May God bless you.

Anantharaman
----- Original Message -----
From: Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>
To: A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta
<advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>
Sent: Saturday, August 06, 2005 9:12 AM
Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] Yagnyopaveetam


> On Fri, 5 Aug 2005, U.K Anumula wrote:
>
> > What is the significance of "yagnyopaveetam (sacred thread)?
>
> yajna + upavita.  Yajna is a sacrifice or Vedic karma in general.  Upavita
> means it is worn draped over the left shoulder.  This is for Deva karya.
> For Pitr karya it is worn prachinavit (over the right shoulder.)
>
> It is the triple thread worn by a person who has undergone the
> symbolic rebirth of upanayana samskara and is dvija (twice-born) qualified
to
> perform Vedic karma.
>
> >  Why is it worn
> > by some castes and not by others?
>
> Because only Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, and Vaishyas and furthermore only
> the boys among them have the adhikara to perform Upanayana samskara.  And
> for the most part Kshatriyas and Vaishyas have abandoned the practice or
> only wear it perfunctorily.  (See Gandhiji -- a Gujarati Vaishyas --
> autobiography for one example.)  So it is basically only Brahmanas who
> wear it.
>
> Furthermore in the Advaita tradition, sannyasis even if they have the
> right, do not wear yajnopavit because as I said it is a symbol of karma.
> But in e.g. Vaishnava traditions which believe in jnana-karma samuccaya,
> even the sannyasis wear it.
>
> > Is there any significance to the number of
> > threads a 'brahmachari' can wear as contrasted with the number worn by
> > married persons?
>
> A married man wears two yajnopavits one for himself and one on his wifes
> behalf.  It is the same as if any ordinary person hired a purohit to
> perform some puja for them.  The yajamana has to go through a priest as he
> cannot actually perform the ritual himself but he gets the "credit"
> (punya) not the priest.  In the same way women are equally capable of
> performing karma and earn punya but they have no right to upanayana so
> they go through their husbands.
>
> >  Is there a uniform code for wearing the yagyopaveetam for
> > all Hindus?
> >
>
> No the exact details will depend on the grhya sutra of the Vedic Shakha
> the person belongs to.  But its pretty similiar for all.
>
> --
> Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>
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