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What is Janehu? Well, Janehu is a sacred thread that is worn around the shoulder of a male individual who is ready to soak in profound Vedic Knowledge. It is a sizeable handmade cotton thread worn on the left side of the shoulder’s torso region. The three ends of the thread represent all three Vedic scriptures: Rigved, Yajurvaved and Samaved. Whereas, the three knots in this thread, often known as Brahma Granthi, depict each supreme power: Lord Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh.
But have you ever thought if Brahmacarya prepares boys and young men to live as per Dharma then what about women? A woman neither undergoes Upanayana nor Brahmacaryasram. Why should women not seek the same knowledge as men? If you think an injustice has been done to the female sector of society, then the answer is a big No. First, let us know the importance of wearing a Yajyopavita thread and other benefits one can attain out of it.
The ideology behind wearing a Janehu
Wearing a Janehu is a common practice among the Brahmins or Kshatriyas. At the same time, in Sanathan Dharma, there is a plethora of significance that can be achieved by the people wearing this Upanayana. Sanathan Dharma believes that each person takes two births in their life. One is when they are born on Mother Earth, and the second is when they enter the world of knowledge. Hindus can enter this state by performing the Yajyopavita sanskar ceremony. It has both religious as well as scientific importance.
- Wearing Janehu wards off all the negative energies.
- Improves passion and determination among individuals.
- Helps enhance mental abilities, emotions and logical power.
- Improves functionality of the right side of the brain.
- Quickly allows the energy to flow through the seven chakras
- Creates positive impacts on memory and curbs digestion issues
- Relieves the body from contracting any blood-related issues
Women and their upanayana ceremonies
In our Vedic era, unlike men, girls of the age group 12-15 also underwent Yajyopavita sanskar and received Vedic knowledge. Great saints performed this ceremony in their Bhramacharya Ashram. The girl children who participated in Janeyu were referred to as Brahmavadinis. The sacred thread ties to them illustrated the three goddesses of Hinduism.
- Goddess Saraswati, who bestows the person with the utmost knowledge.
- Goddess Lakshmi grants the person with immense wealth.
- Goddess Durga / Parvati confers the individual with good health and strength.
But later, this manusmrithi was limited to only men as many women lacked interest in learning Vedas. Slowly, as time went through there were no separate upanayans for women. Instead, Marriage itself acted as a Janehu ceremony for them. Like the way a boy dedicates himself to his Guru, the girl dedicates herself to her husband from her childhood and the start of marital life and beyond.
ll “स्त्रीणां उपनयनं -स्थाने विवाहं मनुरब्रवीत” ll
Where the manusmirit says women marry in place of Upanayana. Upanayana itself means “taking near” like it takes a boy close to his Guru for his brahmacaryasrama. Similarly, a womens guru is her husband and being in a wedlock itself is her Janeyu. As per our Hindu shastra, the way a boy child looks upon his Guru is the same way the girl must look upon her husband as her Guru. The woman is also made to marry the same age as the Upanayana so that both of them do not fall prey to kama (lust). Women will be freely able to adopt this attitude when they get married at a younger age to avoid questioning and egoistic feelings.
As per Manu Smriti, this concept of Marriage arose from the Upanayana for boys and Marriage in the case of girls, Where her Dharma lay in serving her husband and doing her yajnas. While leading a life with her husband was like living in the house of a Guru and obtaining spiritual training. But all this eventually vanished the concept of education for women.
Moreover, according to Veda Grihastas, married men were allowed to wear two threads, one for themselves and another for their wives. All that could have been practised for women who had no formal education.
Female Goddesses that wore Janehu
Well, not only women but if you visit certain southern temples, you will see female sculptures of goddesses like Mahisasurmardini (incarnations of Goddess Durga) wore Janehu to indicate their strength and knowledge are equally important to the male god. Statues depicting the Incarnation of Goddess Parvati as Meenakshi and Ganga are seen wearing Janeu along with other ornaments at the Chusath Yogini temple.
Even great female scholars of Indian History like Gargi, Visvavara, Maitreyi, Apala, Indrayani, Urvashi, Ghosha, Sachi and Lopmudra underwent upanayana sanskara to depict their courage and knowledge in terms of Vedas. In fact, there are many references to women wearing Janeu around their neck instead of the Left shoulder torso.
Sandhya Rituals performed by Lord Sita
Somewhere around 3102 B.C., women during the Mahabharata era. Womens used to perform Sandhya (prayer performed on wearing a janeu). In Shrimad Ramayan there are indirect references which suggest Sita Ma performing Sandhya Rites.
One day, in search of Sita Maa in Lanka, Lord Hanumana entered the Ashok Vatika. There, he came across a beautiful mountain surrounded by caves and covered with greenery. Hanuman Ji was sure that Sita Maa, if she were alive, would definitely visit the river that flew from the mountain as he knew she was interested in performing Sandhya Rites,
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