THE PEOPLE

MUNJA

Upanayana, Vratabandha and Maunjibandhana are the Sanskrit names of what is popularly known as the munja sacrament, intended only for the three varnas viz., Brahmana, Kshatriya and Vaishya. Whoever can claim classification in one of these three from among the numerous castes and sub-castes of today can have it performed in the case of their male issues. In theory, it is a purificatory rite initiating a boy into Brahmacaryasrama or studenthood. It has to be performed when a boy is from 8 to 12 years of age. It is customary to perform it in only five months of the year viz., Magna, Phalguna, Chaitra, Vaishakha and Jyestha with due regard to astrological considerations.

Maunjibandhana means girding the waist of a boy by a thread made from the munja grass. Its religious or cultural significance is now almost wholly lost and it has now become an occasion for a social get-to-gether for relatives and friends. It is more a festive than serious function. Preparations for it begin a few days before the auspicious day fixed for the ceremony. A booth is raised in front of the house and its posts are decorated with plantain trees, mango twigs and flowers. Invitations are sent far and wide to friends and relatives. As in the case of marriage, gadagners or kelvans i.e. congratulatory feasts are given to the boy and his parents by friends and relatives. A day or two before the ceremony, the boy's parents and the family priest visit temples and houses of friends and relatives to extend personal invitations to God and man for bless-ing the boy. This ceremonial invitation extending is called aksat.

On the thread-ceremony day, the ghana is performed as in the case of marriage. Drummers and pipers start playing on their instru-ments. One of the priests sets up the ghatika (water-clock) with due ceremony. The usual propitiatory rites are gone through. Ganapati and the Matrkas are worshipped and punyahavacana is performed- It is a prayer offered for the day proving full of blessings. This is the hour for friends and relatives to offer presents to the boy and his parents. After this is performed what is known as nandisraddha. Twenty-seven betel-nuts representing joy-bringing guardians are placed in a winnowing fan and worshipped with kunku and flowers. It is then taken in the family god-room. Brahmanas, men and women are fed and are given daksina. Mother and boy are then annointed and bathed together and there is a ceremonial (now-a-days nominal) cutting of the boys hair by a barber who is given a turban, a kerchief rice, betel and cocoanut. The boy is again bathed and there is a ceremonial tiffin when for the last time the boy eats from his mother's plate. Boys of his age called batus participate in the tiffin and are given daksina. The boy is again given a bath and made ready for the upanayana ceremony.

As the muhurta (auspicious moment) approaches, friends and relations and all invitees gather together in the booth and take their seats. The father sits on a pat with his face to the east and the boy stands before him facing west. A curtain is held between them by the priests. The boy's sister stands behind him with a lighted lamp and, a cocoanut in her hands. The priests recite mangalastakas (lucky verses) and the guests present throw aksatiis (unbroken red rice grains) at the boy and his father. At the exact lucky moment' (muhurta) the curtain is withdrawn, guests clap their palms, musicians play with double effort and the boy lays his head at the feet of his father. The father blesses him and seats him on his right thigh. Pansupari, aitar-gulab and flowers are distributed to all present. It is customary to hand a cocoanut to each person while departing. The new custom on the part of guests, now-a-days is to make some present to the boy.

The religious ritual begins soon. The boy is seated to the father's right. A sthandila (earthen altar) is traced in front of the father, blades of darbha (sacred grass) are spread over it and a sacrificial fire (homo) is got ready. The priest daubs a cotton string in oil and turmeric, ties it round the boy's waist and gives him a langoti to wear. He then rolls a yellow panca (short waist-cloth) round his waist and a white one round his shoulders. Another cotton string daubed with oil and turmeric and a bit of deer skin passed into it is hung on the left shoulder of the boy in the manner of a sacred thread. Offerings of ajya (ghee), sesame and seven kinds of samidhas, (sacred fuel sticks) arc made to the sacrificial fire. The boy is asked to pass between father and fire, sip three acamanas and repeat texts. Again he passes between fire and father and takes his seat to the right of his father. He then rises, bows to the acarya (preceptor-priest) and requests him to initiate him in brahmacaiydsrama. His request is granted by handing him over a yajnopavita (sacred thread) a danda (staff) of palas and by giving him general instructions about acquiring knowledge. He is taken out of the house to look at the sun and offer him a prayer called Gayatri. After this is performed the principal sacrifice in which prayers are offered to agni (fire), Indra (king of gods) and Surya (the Sun) to bestow their powers on the boy. The last rite of the Upanayaita sacrament is medhajanana in which prayer is offered to the Goddess of Mind that she give the boy knowledge and intellect. This is done by preparing a small square earthen mound and planting in it a branch of the palas tree and worshipping it as the representative of the Goddess of Mind.

Samavartana (originally return from the preceptor's home after 12 years of studenthood) has now become an adjunct of Upanayana, coining within a few days of it. The boy discards the munja i.e. the triple waistcord of sacred grass and his langoti, puts on costly clothes, a pair of shoes and takes up an umbrella and pretends to set out on a journey to Kashi (Banaras). The priest or the maternal uncle of the boy pretends to dissuade him from his plan by promising to give his daughter to him in marriage and he stays!

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