being carried to or brought near his preceptor for initiation into the Veda. He has his first birth from his natural father and mother but his second birth is from Savitri, the Gayatri as mother, and the preceptor, Acharya, as father. The earliest period for the Upanayana is the seventh or the eighth year for a Brahman, the eleventh for a Kshatriya, and the twelfth for a Vaisya, the latest periods being respectively the 16th, 22nd, and the 24th years after which a prayaschita is necessary. The Yagyopavita or sacred thread which the child wears on the day of the Upanayana ceremony consists of three threads and is so called because the person wearing it is invested with the sign of Yagya, another name for Vishnu. The three threads are supposed to represent the three attributes of Satwa, Rajas, and Tamas of which the universe is composed or the three gods Brahma, Vishnu and Siva in one. Its knots represent the pranava with the ardhmatra and it is worn with the formula: "The Yagyopavita is most sacred ; it is the ornament and sign of Brahmanhood. It was produced by Brahma sitting on his seat of lotus and from the threads of the stalk of lotus."
The Vedas.—The Vedas are four in number, viz., the Rig Veda, the Sama Veda, the Yajur Veda and the Atharva Veda. The Rig Veda consists entirely of hymns classified and arranged for worshipping with gratitude and wonder the great and beneficent manifestations and powers of nature. By an ancient
