उपनयन [ upanayana ] [ upa-nayana ] n. the act of leading to or near , bringing Lit. R. Lit. BhP. Lit. Vikr.

  employment , application Lit. Car.

  introduction (into any science) Lit. Prab.

  leading or drawing towards one's self

  that ceremony in which a Guru draws a boy towards himself and initiates him into one of the three twice-born classes (one of the twelve Saṃskāras or purificatory rites ( prescribed in the Dharma-sūtras and explained in the Gṛihya-sūtras ) in which the boy is invested with the sacred thread ( different for the three castes ) and thus endowed with second or spiritual birth and qualified to learn the Veda by heart ; a Brāhman is initiated in the eighth year ( or seventh according to Hiraṇyakeśin ; or eighth from conception , according to Śāṅkhāyana ) , a Kshatriya in the eleventh , a Vaiśya in the twelfth ; but the term could be delayed)

  see Lit. IW. p.201 Lit. RTL. p.360seqq. Lit. ĀśvGṛ. i , 19-22 Lit. ŚāṅkhGṛ. ii , 1-6 Lit. PārGṛ. ii , 2-5 Lit. Gobh. ii , 10 Lit. HirGṛ. i , 1 seqq. Lit. Mn. ii , 36 Lit. Yājñ. i , 14.