Bhaktivedanta Academy Mayapur: Today seven boys received upanayam here at Gurukula. Upanayanam is a kind of initiation in the Vedic system, where students receive the Brahma-gāyatrī and are then allowed to learn pūjā and yajña. We request all the devotees to please bestow their blessings on these boys for their advancement in Krishna consciousness.
Śrīla Prabhupāda says:
“This upanayana, the sacred thread… Upa means near, and nayanam means bringing. Anayanam, coming or going, like that, nayanam. So ‘to go near the spiritual master,’ upanayana.
“And that sacred thread is the certificate that he has accepted a spiritual master. That is our Vedic system, identity, thread, sacred thread… The saṁskāra is called upanayana-saṁskāra. Upanayana means he has gone near the spiritual master; therefore he is now dvija, second birth. When a person goes to the spiritual master, that is his second birth, because he is born foolish.
“Take birth by the combination of father, mother—that is material birth—that is a birth of ignorance, just like animals. The animals also take their birth in that way. There is no different process, the sex life. So what is the difference between animal and man? Therefore upanayana, dvija.” (17 Jan 1971)