14. Samāvartana
Graduation — returning home
Samāvartana (“returning”) marks the end of student life. After a ceremonial bath (snāna) the student becomes a snātaka, takes the teacher's blessing, gives dakṣiṇā, and returns home ready for the householder's life. The Taittirīya Upaniṣad preserves a famous parting teaching: “speak the truth, follow dharma, do not neglect study.”
Today it is usually a symbolic part of the Upanayana day or of the wedding preparations — the Kāśī-yātrā in South Indian weddings echoes it.
End of studies