brahmacarin

…of (1) the student (brahmacari), marked by chastity, devotion, and obedience to one’s teacher, (2) the householder (grihastha), requiring marriage, the begetting of children, sustaining one’s family and helping support priests and holy men, and fulfillment of duties toward gods and ancestors, (3) the forest dweller (vanaprastha), beginning after…

…become a chaste student (brahmacharin); then become a married householder (grihastha), discharging his debts to his ancestors by begetting sons and to the gods by sacrificing; then retire (as a vanaprastha), with or without his wife, to the forest to devote himself to spiritual contemplation; and finally, but not…

…life of a student (brahmacharin) and his acceptance as a full member of his religious community. The ceremony is performed between the ages of 5 and 24, the wide variance reflecting the different educational requirements of the three upper classes—Brahmans (priests and teachers), Kshatriyas (warriors and rulers), and Vaishyas…