Reference has already been made to certain ceremonies connected with pregnancy, and the early life of a child. There are three further important ceremonies, called Upanayana, Samavartana and Upakarma, concerning which Mr. Subramani Aiyar writes as follows. "Upanayana may be called the Brahmanising ceremony. An oft-repeated Sanskrit verse runs to the effect that a Brahman is a Brahman by virtue of his karmas or actions in this life, or the lives preceding it. The meaning of the term Upanayana is a ceremony which leads one to god, i.e., to a realisation of the eternal self through the aid of a guru (preceptor). This ceremony takes place in the seventh, eighth, or ninth year of a boy's life. As ordinarily understood, it is a ceremony for males only, as they alone have to observe the four asramas. But, in ancient days, it seems to have been performed also by females. Marriage was not compulsory, and a girl might take to asceticism at once. Sita is said to have worn a yagnopavitam (sacred thread). A Brahman is not born, but made by the karmas. In other words, a Brahman boy is, at the time of his birth, only a Sudra, and it is by the performance of the necessary karmas--not merely the ceremonial rites, but the disciplinary and preparatory process in view to spiritual development--that he becomes a Dviga or twice-born. The word Upanayana is composed of upa, meaning near, and nayana, leading. What the youth is led to is, according to some, Brahmaggnana or the realisation of the eternal and universal self, and according to others only the teacher or guru. A Nambutiri Upanayana begins with the presentation of a dakshina (consolidated fee) to the Ezhuttachchan, or the Nayar or Ambalavasi teacher, who has been instructing the youth in the vernacular. The boy stands on the western side of the sacrificial fire, facing the east, and the father stands beside him, facing the same way. The second cloth (uttariya) is thrown over the boy's head, and his right hand being held up, the sacred thread, to which a strap made from the skin of a Krishnamriga (antelope) is attached, is thrown over his shoulders and under his right arm, while he stands reverently with closed eyes. The thread and skin are wrapped up in the cloth, and are not to be seen by the boy. He is then taken to an open place, where the priest introduces the new Brahmachari to the sun, and invokes him to cover his pupil with his rays. The boy next goes to the sacrificial altar, and himself offers certain sacrifices to the fire. Saluting his preceptor and obtaining his blessing, he requests that he may be initiated into the Savitrimantram. After a few preliminary ceremonies, the guru utters in the right ear of his disciple the sacred syllable Om, and repeats the Gayatri mantram nine times. He then instructs him in certain maxims of conduct, which he is to cherish and revere throughout the Brahmacharya stage. Addressing the boy, the guru says,