Upanayana : When to Perform It ? from Hindu Dharma
A Brahmin child's upanayana must be performed when heis
eight years old from conception, that is when he is seven years and two months
old from birth. A Ksatriya's is to be performed at the age of twelve. Krsna
Paramatman who belonged to the clan of Yadus (Yadavas) was invested with the
sacred thread at that age. The corresponding age for a Vaisya is sixteen.
According to the sastras, the lower limit of Brahmin
youngsters is eight years and the upper limit is sixteen which means a grace of
eight years. It is sinful in the not to have performed upanaya of a Brahminboy
before his passing the upper age limit.
Uttarayana is the right period to perform upanayana- from
the Tamil month Tai to Ani. when the sun
journeys northwards. While this is the right time for marriages also, the season
of spring(Chittirai to
Vaikasi)is considered particularly auspicious. For
upanayana the month specially favoured is Masi. Upanayana and
marriage are not favoured during Daksinayana(from the
Tamil month Adi to the end of Margazhi).
Nowadays, for various reasons, the upanayana and marriage
ceremonies are delayed for as long as possible and celebrated in any month other
than Margazhi. The results
are there for you to see. But one must be happy perhaps that a function called
marriage is still performed somehow. So long as people perform it, let them
perform it at any time. If we take this attitude, marriages may be permitted in
any season as a desperate step. But upanayana is a different matter. It should
never be permitted in Daksinayana. If it is for some reason celeberated during
this period, I would ask for its performance again in Uttarayana. Money is the
main problem in conducting an upanayana or a marriage. Parents postpone the
upanayana because they want to perform it at the same time as the marriage of
their daughter so as to minimise the expenses.
The upanayana is sometimes performed when the boy is only
five years old. This is called "kamyopanayana", "Kamya" meaning in persuance of
desire. Such early upanayana is all right if you want the child to develop
inwardly at an early age. But seven years is the proper age for the child to be
invested with sacred thread because by now he would have learned enough Sanskrit
to chant the mantras clearly. Nowadays, the "thread ceremony" is conducted
together with the marriage, that is when the "boy" is 30 or 35 years old. So to
suggest that the upanayana needs to be performed only when the child is seven
years old - and not at five - would be taken as a joke. Joke or no joke, it[the
delay in performing the upanayana] should make you uneasy deep within if you
have some concern for the vedic dharma.
Adi Sankara's upanayana, it is believed, was performed when
he was five years old. If the child is extraordinarily intelligent and can
articulate words properly, his upanayana may be performed at five years.