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Yagnopaveeth Janeu


"I shall bare you over my left shoulder with dignity and pride. They had told me not to, scolded at me for wearing you because I wasn't born on the Holi land. Because I wasn't casted under the visions of Brahmins. Because I wasn’t initiated to study your scriptures and live by your rules. Because I am a woman.

I worship you because you are my master when my eyes are diluted by this illusionary world. You are my Guru when Iswara (God) looks away ... You are my teacher who reminds me to live by the knowledge of the great wise.

You keep me sain from the worldly sins. You keep me free from my own mental boundaries of desires. You keep me away from material wealth to rise higher. You keep me pure from the three worlds, the tastes of passion, pleasure and leisure.

I merge with you in infinite love as I merge with the divine force. You are Vishnu, Brahma, Maheshwar, Lakshmi, Saraswati and Durga. You are always with me, within me and around me. God is everywhere …"

Mata

In Vedic traditions, The Sacred thread ceremony (Upanayana) is a ceremony mostly given to young boys from Brahmin cast wherein the child is undergoing a second birth and is initiated to study the Vedas under the supervision of a Guru.

On this particular day the Guru conceals the young disciple with their personal sacred mantra, upon which the vows of Dharma and the devotion between the master and the student are sealed.

The barer of the sacred string (Yagnopaveeth Janeu) devotes their lives to the principles of Vedic science and knowledge of the sacred ideals and Ishwara (God), living in Dharma.

In ancient times both woman and man were wearing the holi thread. Woman often wore the string around their neck as a neckless and was later after marriage replaced by a golden neckless made out of three strings with ornament representing the Brahma Ghranthi.

The thread hanging around the chest, of the left shoulder, covering the body signifying:

  • Purity of thought, words and actions (three Guna’s)

  • Brahma Ghranthi, the knod represents, the knot of Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the preserver) and Maheshwar (the destroyer).They are represented by their three Goddesses being Gayatri (Goddess of mind); Goddess Saraswati (Goddess of word); Goddess Savitri (Goddess of deed).

  • Three depts that must never be forgotten: to one's teachers (Guru); to the parents and ancestors, who have nurtured and made the wearer’s life exist to the sages, who discovered knowledge, both spiritual and secular, over the ages, which now enriches the wearer's life.

The Janeu inspires the wearer to break the bondage of the three gunas* of Maya (illusion) and leads a sinless life devoid of any fear or temptations for animalistic pleasures by immersing oneself in the endless flow of holy determinations and actions.

  • Sattvik = purity and knowledge ~ One who lives with no expectations, recognition or awards

  • Rajasik = pleasures and action ~ one who lives to attain, gain and achieve

  • Tamasik = ignorance and inertia ~ one who has no problem with causing harm to the society

Hari Om Tat Sat.

Photocredits: https://www.kalapuri.com/

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