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The UPAKARMA
(or upaakarma or
aavani
avittam) is nearing for
all the brahmins. This is
a very important KARMA in every
brahmin's life. It is basically the change or renewal of
the holy thread (Poonal)
which is soaked in the divine mantra (The
Gayathri). This is
collectively performed by the
brahmin community in the month of august /September
on a full moon day which is august 16th
of this year.
Now, let me explain First, why
POONAL? The holy thread? Then what about the
Sandhyavandanam
and aavani
avittam and the
innumerous formalities
that are tied with this thread?.
Enough of questioning done, lets shoot some answers here.. The
Holy Thread is the licence for a
brahmin boy to learn
Veda. The father of the boy teaches him the
Gayathri
mantra and takes him
near to the teacher,
who in turn performs
the upanayana(acceptance
of the holy thread) for the boy and takes him near to
Vedas which
in turn take him near
God. So this journey cannot happen without the
poonal.
The change of holy thread is vital because it becomes dirty ; and
actually ,in olden days the
Vedas were thought from the period of August to January (aavani
to thai) so its necessary
to get a new licence for every class passed.Ideally its the
respect you pay for your new season of enchantment by
Vedas.
On some digging, its a very beautiful setup. A boy has his first
set of threads when he starts his studies on
Veda. This ideally
soaks him with knowledge about
dharmas and righteousness which is essentially showing
respect to the world he lives in.So the first set of threads
indicate that.Now, when the boy grows to a man and gets married,
one more set of threads is added. This is beautiful.. it seems
that this thread is to remind him that he is not the only sufferer
of his activities , there is another soul which depends on him
.Also the other set when he gets his first child tells him that he
has more responsibility.In essence, the threads show you your
responsibility.Like badges show our responsibilities when we were
students.
Meaningful and very elaborate procedures are adopted for all the
ceremonies told above.And the
Gayathri mantra..
how can i finish without telling about it? Its the king of all
mantras.Its says that
the visible God, the
SUN shall deviate your knowledge towards everlasting illumination
that will form the basement of the generations to come. This is
the mantra in which the magical thread is soaked on.I feel the
vibrations this mantra can produce has the key to its importance
its pronounciation is difficult and the vibrations are unique.And
with the kind of belief that goes into reciting this mantra can
really change things.I mean : MOVE MOUNTAINS
Its good always to involve in something and to
expect something coming. So in case u are a
brahmin try this one time
reciting mantras more
clearly.. Really ,its worthwhile and it can be Challenging too...
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