In the royal court of Ayodhya, Shri Ram was washing the feet of Vishwamitra who was sitting on a grand seat.

After he was done washing the feet, Shri Ram patted them dry with his own angvastra and gently placing those feet on the footstool.

"Gurudev, yaha aane ka kasht kyu kiya ? Mujhe bula liya hota. Mai aapki sewa mei prastut hone mei der nahi lagata." Shri Ram said with joined hands.

"Karya hi aisa tha ki mujhe swayam ana pada." Vishwamitra said.

"Kaisa karya Gurudev ?" Shri Ram asked.

"Tumne abhi tak apni kanya ka Upnayan sanskaar nahi karaya. Shaashtro ke anusaar yadi santaan mei Brahmin banne ke gun hai toh uska Upnayan 8 varsh mei hona chahiye, Kshatriya banne ke gun hai toh 11 varsh mei aur yadi vaishya banne ke gun hai toh 12 varsh ki aayu mei. Santaan ka Upnayan kab ho, yeh Mata Pita ka chayan hota hai." The Brahmarishi said.

"Gurudev, meri kanya ka Upnayan mai 8 varsh ki aayu mei hi karwa deta kyuki usme ek Brahmin hone ke sabhi gun hai. Kintu maine 11 varsh tak iss liye pratiksha ki kyuki Rameshwari mei Kshatriya gun adhik prabal hai." Shri Ram said.

"Jaise ?" Vishwamitra asked.

"Rameshwari swayam Mahadev ka vardaan hai. Usme aseemit shaktiya hai. Uske mukh par Kshatriyo ke bhaati ek tej hai. Uski ruchi bhi Raj-niti aur praja-hit mei hai. Use shashtro, Ashwo, Ratho ko dekh aur veero ki shaurya-gatha sun anand milta hai. Iss liye mujhe lagta hai, ki meri kanya Kshatriya banne ke yogya hai." Shri Ram said.

"Tumhara chayan uchit hi hai Ram. Tumhari putri koi saamanya kanya nahi apetu swayam Devi Yudh-kaushala ka avatar hai. Wahi Yudh-Kaushala jise Chakravarti Bharat ne, sampoorn Bharatvarsh samarpit kiya tha. Tumhari kanya Akhand Maharani hai. Aur uske jeevan ka jo udeshya hai, woh keval Kshatriya varn mei reh kar hi purn kiya jaa sakta hai." Vishwamitra said.

"Iss liye toh maine 11 varsh tak pratiksha ki hai uske Upnayan hetu." Shri Ram said.

"Kaunse Guru ko chuna hai tumne ?" Vishwamitra asked.

"Abhi tak nahi Gurudev. Rameshwari mei ek shresht shishya hone ke sabhi gun hai. Kintu uske upyukt koi Guru mujhe dhundhna hai. Kyuki meri putri jo hai, use sambhalna, uski urja ko ekatrit kar, sahi disha dikhana, woh koi saadharan Guru nahi kar sakta." Shri Ram said.

Vishwamitra looked at the Kaushalya-nandan with a smile as he kept a hand over his shoulder.

"Kadachit tumhari putri swayam apne Guru ka chayan kare. Ab mai Vasisth ke aashram jaa ata hu." Vishwamitra said and stood up.

"Mai Rath aapki sewa mei sajj kar deta hu." Shri Ram said.

"Uski awashyakta nahi. Mai swayam chala jayunga Ram." Vishwamitra said with a smile.

Shri Ram bowed to him as the Brahmarishi left, to go to Vasisth's Ashram and pay his respect to him as well.

When he left Shri Ram also went to his bhavan to finally retire for the day. He peeked through the doorway of his daughter and saw that she was sleeping peacefully.

He smiled and then went to his own room and stood at the balcony, pondering over the topic about which he just discussed with Vishwamitra.

Leaning onto the railing of the balcony he sighed.

"Kaha milega Rameshwari hetu Guru ?" Shri Ram muttered.

And those words of his echoed throughout the cosmos.

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A/N

According to Manusmriti -

गभायष्टमेऽब्देकुवीत ब्राह्मणस्र्ोिनार्नम्।
गभायदेकादशेराज्ञो गभायत्तुद्वादशेपवशः॥ (2.36)

A child thought to be suitable for brahman varna is ready for upnayan at age 8, a Kshatriya, at 11, and a vaishya, at 12.

आषोडशाद्ब्राह्मणस्र् सापवत्री नापतवतयते।
आद्वापवंशात्क्षत्रबन्र्ोराचतुपवंशतेपवयशः॥ (2.38)

In case of any constraints, upanayana saṁskāra can also be
performed in 16th, 22nd, and 24th year to brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, and vaiśyas respectively.

And if someone is confused whether women underwent Upanayan sanskaar.... Then the answer is yes.

You can see women wearing Janeu in ancient sculptures -

We know that ancient India had great Vedic women scholars, like Gargi, Apala, Maitreyi, Lopamudra, etc. These were highly educated, so it's clear that women had right to education and even right to write Vedas, so it's obvious that women did went Upanayan sanskaar.