Vidyarambha (विद्यारम्भः)

Vidyarambha (Samskrit: विद्यारम्भः) also described as Aksharasvikarana, was performed, as the name suggests at the commencement of the primary education. Fifth year after birth is regarded as suitable for the beginning of the primary education. It is a rite to make the child familiar with the basics of learning or education or even the language. Introduction to the alphabet was the primary entry point to learning and Vidyarambha marked the first cognitive development stage in the child's life.

परिचयः ॥ Introduction

After marking the different developmental stages in a child's life we now come to the cognitive development stage. Vidyarambha marks the intellectual progress of a child. Dr. A. S. Altekar opines that Vidyāraṁbha is the earliest Saṁskāra in the students’s educative life but unlike the Upanayana, it does not go back to hoary antiquity. The authorities which prescribe and describe this ritual are much later to the Vedic and Itihasa times. We do not find any details of Vidyarambha mentioned in the Grhyasutras or Dharmasutras, which have so elaborately laid out the rituals for relatively smaller samksaras such as Nishkramana and Chaulam.

He explains that Upanayana Samksara which existed even in the Vedic age, marked the beginning of education in pre-historic times. There was thus no necessity to prescribe a different Samskara like Akshara-svikarana (learning of the alphabet) for the simple reason that the alphabet was then probably unknown. Education therefore naturally commenced not with the learning of the alphabets, but with the memorization of the Vedamantras which were transmitted orally.

Vidyarambha Samskara

Vidyāraṁbha or Aksara-svikarnam as educational rite appears in the later works like Viramitrodaya Saṁskāraprakasa, Apararka on Yajnvalkya Smriti, Smritichandrika Samskarakanda, Samskara-ratnamala of Gopinatha Bhatta. Visvamitra suggests that this Saṁskāra should be performed in the fifth year of the child which is regarded as appropriate for the education of the child; Altekar confirms to it and cites few more authorities who have similar opinion. It could be delayed owing to circumstances but not until the Upanayana Saṁskāra. The suitable months were from Margasirsa to Jyeṣtha and suitable time was when sun was in Uttarayana (Northern Hemisphere). On the chosen day, Vinayaka, Saraswati, family goddess and Bṛhspati were worshipped. The child was customarily handed over to teacher who made him write few letters. The ceremony concluded with the sacrificial fee and offering feast to the Brāhmaṇas.

Thus, it shall be appropriate to mention that though Upanayana marked the beginning of education in early period, in later times Vidyāraṁbha had taken its place and it was the earliest Saṁskāra in the life of a student, though the practice was started very recently.