poonool

[psnarasimhan]

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பிராமணர்களில் சைவம் மற்றும் வைஷ்ணவம் என்று இரு பிரிவுகள் இருக்கிறது அவர்கள் எல்லோரும் பூணூல் அணிகிறார்கள். ஆனால் சைவத்தை பின்பற்றுவர்கள் மெல்லிதாக உள்ள பூணூலையும் வைஷ்ணவர்கள் கனமாக் உள்ள பூணூலையும் அணிகிறார்கள். ஏன் இந்த வித்தியாசம் இதற்க்கு சமயம் சம்பிரதாயம் எதிலாவது சொல்லி இருக்கிறதா?

 

[Vaagmi]

Dear Sri Nrisimhan,

The thickness of the thread has nothing to do with sampradhayam. It has only something to do with the kind of fibre used for spinning the thread.

There is a more important difference between the poonool worn by Saivite brahmins and the vaishnavite brahmins. That is about the knot. The knot is called brahma mudichchu. In a saivite brahmin's poonool the knot will be just a small ball concealing the edges of the thread used to make the poonool. In a vaishnavite brahmin's poonool the two edges of the single thread with which the poonool is made will be visible in the knot.

 

[psnarasimhan]

Yes thank u Mr.Vaagmi.I have seen this difference in both type of poonools. I think your version is correct.

 

[yesmohan]

Poonool is a rare thing to be seen with the younger generation.
Only 30 to 40% wear it; the rest wear it on for 2 days then it rest in the nail or cup board.

 

[Vaagmi]

Poonool is a rare thing to be seen with the younger generation.
Only 30 to 40% wear it; the rest wear it on for 2 days then it rest in the nail or cup board.

I have carefully observed the poonool wearer's distribution in the TB population. My finding is this:

In the well to do section of the community poonool is worn if the family's status has become well to do in this or the last generation because of Work, education or business. If the family's wealth is due to fraud, sudden windfall, inheritance or other unethical means the children just do not bother to wear poonool. They live a licentious life. In families which are ultra modern and very rich poonool is rare because it is considered as a tool worn for back scratching (a la Kamal). In that kind of society there are no rules for any one. each on his/her own. So it is a free for all society and a free fall society.

In middle class society there is a large percentage of people wearing poonool. They know the meaning of wearing poonool. They are a prosperous, contented and intelligent group who live their life according to certain rules after questioning and understanding the purpose of every dictat of the community. This is the group which is generally spread all over the world and wherever they are they have a discipline and follow it correctly. They are usually successful in their education, profession and life in general.

There is the poor class in which no one follows any rules. The father and mother goes their way and the children go their way happily. They have nothing to do with poonool and so they do not wear it. As long as man is not brutalized he has value for finer things of life. Once brutalized survival is the only predominant instinct and nothing else is important.

As people go up the scale, they "graduate" into poonool wearing and finally poonool discarding (bottle holding) category. LOL.

 

[yesmohan]

I have carefully observed the poonool wearer's distribution in the TB population. My finding is this:

In the well to do section of the community poonool is worn if the family's status has become well to do in this or the last generation because of Work, education or business. If the family's wealth is due to fraud, sudden windfall, inheritance or other unethical means the children just do not bother to wear poonool. They live a licentious life. In families which are ultra modern and very rich poonool is rare because it is considered as a tool worn for back scratching (a la Kamal). In that kind of society there are no rules for any one. each on his/her own. So it is a free for all society and a free fall society.

In middle class society there is a large percentage of people wearing poonool. They know the meaning of wearing poonool. They are a prosperous, contented and intelligent group who live their life according to certain rules after questioning and understanding the purpose of every dictat of the community. This is the group which is generally spread all over the world and wherever they are they have a discipline and follow it correctly. They are usually successful in their education, profession and life in general.

There is the poor class in which no one follows any rules. The father and mother goes their way and the children go their way happily. They have nothing to do with poonool and so they do not wear it. As long as man is not brutalized he has value for finer things of life. Once brutalized survival is the only predominant instinct and nothing else is important.

As people go up the scale, they "graduate" into poonool wearing and finally poonool discarding (bottle holding) category. LOL.

In my observation nearly 40% of the persons of known middle class are not wearing poonool. Of course it may be an acquired culture in software area.

 

[prasad1]

Actually in the Vedas, there was no sacred thread...

When the child comes to 8 yrs of age if Brahmin, 11 and 13 in case of Kshyatriyas or Vaishyas , they go to guru kula to study Vedas...

This is what is called Upanayana actually... but now it has lost its meaning...

Upa nayana means bringing together teacher and student for the purpose of learning this sacred knowledge...

At that time, the Acharya ties 3 coils around the waist of the disciple with the sacred munja grass... that is the original sacred thread...

the 3 knots represent control of body, mind and speech...

later the sacred thread came into use, but it has the same meaning...

Ofcourse in time, various explanations came ... but this is the actual meaning...

Only Brahmins are wearing it nowadays but actually the first 3 castes must wear it... Others castes gave up the Vedic ways ... atleast Brahmins are wearing the sacred thread even though they may not follow the Vedic teachings... It will remind them to live a pure life atleast...


Swami Vivekananda

Swamiji then continued: "The real Guru is he who leads you beyond this Mâyâ of endless birth and death — who graciously destroys all the griefs and maladies of the soul. The disciple of old used to repair to the hermitage of the Guru, fuel in hand; and the Guru, after ascertaining his competence, would teach him the Vedas after initiation, fastening round his waist the threefold filament of Munja, a kind of grass, as the emblem of his vow to keep his body, mind, and speech in control. With the help of this girdle, the disciples used to tie up their Kaupinas. Later on, the custom of wearing the sacred thread superseded this girdle of Munja grass."

Disciple: Would you, then, say, sir, that the use of the holy thread we have adopted is not really a Vedic custom?

Swamiji: Nowhere is there mention of thread being so used in the Vedas. The modern author of Smritis, Raghunandana Bhattacharya, also puts it thus: "At this stage, the sacrificial girdle should be put on." Neither in Gobhila's Grihya-Sutras do we find any mention of the girdle made of thread. In the Shâstras, this first Vedic Samskâra (purification ceremony) before the Guru has been called the Upanayana; but see, to what a sad pass our country has been brought! Straying away from the true path of the Shastras, the country has been overwhelmed with usages and observances originating in particular localities, or popular opinion, or with the womenfolk! That's why I ask you to proceed along the path of the Shastras as in olden times. Have faith within yourselves and thereby bring it back into the country. Plant in your heart the faith of Nachiketâ. Even go up to the world of Yama like him. Yes, if to know the secrets of the Atman, to liberate your soul, to reach the true solution of the mystery of birth and death, you have to go to the very jaws of death and realise the truth thereby, well, go there with an undaunted heart. It is fear alone that is death. You have to go beyond all fear. So from this day be fearless. Off at once, to lay down your life for your own liberation and for the good of others. What good is it carrying along a load of bones and flesh! Initiated into the Mantra of extreme self-sacrifice for the sake of God, go, lay down for others this body of flesh and bones like the Muni Dadhichi! Those alone, say the Shastras, are the real Gurus, who have studied the Vedas and the Vedanta, who are knowers of the Brahman, who are able to lead others beyond to fearlessness; when such are at hand, get yourself initiated, "no speculation in such a case". Do you know what has become of this principle now? — "like the blind leading the blind"!

https://www.quora.com/Why-do-Brahmans-wear-a-Janeu-Upnayan-Sanskar-thread

 

[prasad1]

In other religion:
The most relevant one is the Navjote ceremony in the Zoarastrian tradition. Upanayanam might have had its origin in this ancient Persian tradition. This is for both boys and girls and is usually performed after the age of 7 and before they attain maturity. In this ceremony the adolescent gets invested with a shirt called sedreh and a waist-band called kushti which they are supposed to wear all their lives. A waist-band akin to kushti made of straw is tied in the Hindu upanayanam but is discarded the same day. The three threads that are given in upanayanam are considered to be a variant of the Zoroastrian sedreh.
http://www.timeforthought.net/2011/10/upanayanam.html

 

[prasad1]

What is the meaning behind the three threads? These threads are made of cotton for brahmins, hemp for the kshatriyas and linen for the vaisyas. Why three threads? There are several explanations. That is understandable knowing that three is such a holy number in many traditions. The three threads represent the three Vedas (Rk,Yajur and Saama), say some. Some say that mind (Gayatri), words (Sarasvathi) and deeds (savith) are represented. Other possibilities are: the three states of wakefulness, dreamless sleep and deep sleep; three gunas,namely sattva, rajas and tamas; the three primordial substances of thejas (fire), aapah(water) and anna (food,earth) and so on. Some ayurvedic people think that the three dosahs, humors of vaada, pitta and kappa are represented.

I prefer the explanation given in Brahmopanishad, one of the minor Upanishads of Atharva veda. I prefer this text because, this Upanishad gives adequate explanations for the upanayanam, names the three threads as trivit sutra and explains the meaning of the word sutra and of the three threads. But the most important reason is that the mantra that is used even now when wearing the scared thread is taken from this Upanishad.

The practice is to wear the thread(s) so that it crosses the left shoulder, middle of the chest and then goes under the right arm. The knot which ties the three threads is placed in front of the heart, on the left side. (Ramana Maharishi says that the vedic heart is not on the left). The idea is that the sacred trivit sutra worn outside the heart is an external symbol of the three primordial principles which are inside the heart with the knot lying just in front of the heart.

In a later passage, this Upanishad says that although this sacred thread is essential for those who want to perform vedic sacrifices, it may be discarded by the realized souls (true gnanis).

After investiture of the sacred thread, the boy is ready to learn the secret of the Vedas, in the form of the pranava mantram (OM) and Gayatri mantra. The first guru is the father who teaches Gayatri to his son. In olden days, the boy went to the house or ashram of a guru after initiation by the father. During those 12 years with the guru, the boy is supposed to learn all the vedas, live simple life on food given as alms by householders. This is not “begging” in the modern sense, but in essence it is. The first person, he asks for food soon after wearing the sacred thread and learning the Gayatri is his own mother. This is still enacted in modern day Upanayanams.

Let me close with a passage from Ramana maharishi on the significance of Upanayanam. I quote: “Upanayanam does not mean just putting around the neck three strands of cotton thread. It means that in addition to the two eyes we all know about, there is a third eye. That is the gnana netram (wisdom eye). Open that eye and recognize your swa –swarupa (own from)”.

http://www.timeforthought.net/2011/10/upanayanam.html

 

[prasad1]

please view this following thread:
http://www.tamilbrahmins.com/showthread.php?t=3151&p=56417#post56417

 

[prasad1]

Brahmanyanji wrote:
[h=2]# Is Poonal only ornamental[/h]




Without going into merits or demerits of wearing Poonul, I wish to state, in today's context Poonul has only symbolic value for Brahmins, who have left their Varnasrama Dharma altogether. When we have left other symbols like Panchakacham, Udhariyam, Kudumi, even applying Vibhudi or Tirumann on the body, I do not understand why we stick on to Poonul alone.

http://www.tamilbrahmins.com/showthread.php?t=3151&p=56524#post56524

 

[yesmohan]

Thanks for the comprehensive information.

 

[psnarasimhan]

All informations furnished by our forum members are very informative and useful not only to older generation but also to the present day youths. As mentioned by Sri Prasad wearing POONOOL by Brahmins is only symbolic.