Tāṭāka Pratishṭhā

Tāṭāka Pratishṭhā, “the consecration of a tank”

Tāṭāka Pratishṭhā is the consecration of a tank (tāṭāka), and of wells (kūpa), stepped reservoirs (vāpī), lakes (saras) and other bodies of water, for public use. The Matsya Purāṇa (Chapter 58) gives the whole rite. It names the ṛtviks (officiating priests) needed, the building of the vedi, the rites over four days, the dānas and the phala for each season. The merit of having the water used by living beings through all six seasons is set beside the highest yajñas, in rising order.

The Agni Purāṇa (Chapter 64) gives its own rite for consecrating wells (kūpa), step-wells (vāpī), lotus ponds (pushkariṇī) and tanks (taṭāka). There Bhagavān Hayagrīva teaches it to Brahmā. Śrī Hari himself, in the form of water, became Soma and Varuṇa, so the rite centres on a golden mūrti of Varuṇa: he is bathed with eight kinds of water and many mantras, worshipped, carried in procession, and placed in a kalaśa in the middle of the water. A yūpa (post) is set up there, the water is released for every thirsty being, and the one who builds even a single water-body gains a puṇya a thousand times that of a lakh of aśvamedha yajñas.

How it was taught

Manu asked Bhagavān Matsya Nārāyaṇa for the rules of Tāṭāka Pratishṭhā. He asked about the ṛtviks, the vedis, the dakshiṇās, the balis, the time, the place, the ācārya and the materials. The full vidhi was then told, as it stands in the itihāsa parts of the Purāṇas.

Time and place

• Time: Uttarāyaṇa, the śukla paksha, and an auspicious day fixed by brāhmaṇas are the best (praśasta). The rite begins only after svastivācana is done by brāhmaṇas.
• Place: a spot that slopes towards the east or north, close to the tank, is ideal.

Building the vedi

• A four-faced maṇḍapa is built, sixteen cubits on each side.
• Inside it a four-sided vedi is built, four cubits on each side.
• Around the vedi, seven or nine or five kuṇḍas (fire-pits) are dug. Each is half a cubit on each side and has three mekhalās (encircling ridges).
• Four more kuṇḍas in the shape of a yoni are made. Each is twelve aṅgulas long and eight aṅgulas wide.
• The entrance is decorated with bright flags, garlands and toraṇas (arches) made of branches of the aśvattha (pīpal), the udumbara (gular) and the banyan.

The ṛtviks and the ācārya

• There are eight dvārapālas (gate-keepers), eight hotās and eight japakartās (reciters). All are learned in the Vedas.
• There is one chief ācārya. He knows the mantras, he is self-controlled, and he is of noble lineage and conduct.
• All the ṛtviks receive gold kuṇḍalas (earrings), arm-ornaments, wrist-bands and fine clothes. The ācārya receives twice what each ṛtvik receives.

Materials and ritual objects

• Sacred earth is gathered from holy places and put into the kalaśas. These places are where elephants, horses, chariots and cattle stand, ant-hills, river meetings, places where a river joins the sea, and large gathering places.
• To these are added pañcagavya, gold, gems, fragrant substances and purified water.
• Brass figures of the makara, matsya, kūrma and śiśumāra are made.
• The yūpa (sacrificial post) should be three cubits tall, or as tall as the yajamāna (the one who performs the rite).

The night before

On the day before, earth gathered from many places is put into the kalaśas. Varuṇa is bathed (snapana) with pañcagavya, gorocanā, barley (yava), white mustard (siddhārtha), gandha, guggulu and fragrant herbs, with the Vāruṇa mantras.

The day of pratishṭhā

1. At the auspicious muhūrta fixed by the astrologers (jyotishikas), a cow (kapilā) decorated with gold is led into the new water. She is then given to a brāhmaṇa who recites the Sāma Veda.
2. A gold vessel is made ready. It holds five gems and figures of the makara, matsya and others. Four Veda scholars hold it, fill it with river water, curds and akshatas (unbroken rice), and, facing north, lower it into the water.
3. With the Ātharvaṇa soma mantras and with the mantras “Punarmāmā” and “Āpohishṭhā”, the vessel is cast into the water.
4. Bali is offered in all directions.
5. Four days of homa follow, one after the other. On the fourth day the karma is completed.
6. Varuṇa is pleased with kshamāpaṇa (a plea for pardon). All the ritual tools, vessels and maṇḍapa equipment are shared equally among the ṛtviks. The homa-pātra (homa vessel) and the bed (śayyā) go to the ācārya.
7. Brāhmaṇas are fed (brāhmaṇa-bhojana): 1000, 108, 50 or 20 of them, by the means of the giver.

The phala through the seasons

The consecrated water serves living beings in every season. In each season a yajña’s merit is gained.

The general phala

The giver who consecrates a body of water with a pure heart lives in Śivaloka for countless kalpas. In the end he rises to Maharloka, Janarloka and Tapoloka, and finally reaches the parama-pada (supreme abode) of Bhagavān Vishṇu. The same rite applies to wells, stepped reservoirs and other water bodies (jalaśayas). Only the particular mantras may differ.

Per Agni Purāṇa

How it was taught

Bhagavān Hayagrīva said to Brahmā: “Brahmā Deva! Now I shall tell the method of consecrating kūpas (wells), vāpīs (step-wells) and taṭākas (tanks).”

Śrī Hari himself, in the form of water, became Soma, the best of the devas, and Varuṇa. The whole world is made of Agni and Soma (agnīshomamaya), and Nārāyaṇa in the form of water is its cause.

The mūrti of Varuṇa

The mūrti of Varuṇa is made of gold, of silver or of gems. He has two arms and rides a haṃsa (swan). The rivers and streams attend him. His right hand shows the abhaya-mudrā (the gesture that gives freedom from fear), and in his left hand shines the nāga-pāśa, his divine noose of serpent.

The maṇḍapa and the kalaśas of the doors

1. In the middle of the yajña-maṇḍapa a vedi with a kuṇḍa is built.
2. At the east door of the toraṇa a Varuṇa-kalaśa with a kamaṇḍalu (water-pot) is set up.
3. Varuṇa-kalaśas are also set up at the south door, called Bhadraka, at the west door, called Ardhacandra, and at the north door, called Svastika.
4. Fire is set up in the kuṇḍa and the pūrṇāhuti (the full offering) is given.

The first bath of Varuṇa

1. With the mantra ye te śataṃ varuṇa the mūrti of Varuṇa is placed on the snāna-pīṭha (bathing seat).
2. Reciting the mūla-mantra, the ācārya anoints the mūrti with ghee.
3. With śaṃ no devī it is washed, and with śuddhavālaḥ and sarvaśuddhavālaḥ it is bathed with pure water.

The eight waters

Kalaśas are placed around the bathing seat, each with its own water:

If these waters cannot all be had, river water alone is placed. All the kalaśas are consecrated with the mantra yāsāṃ rājā. The learned purohita sprinkles and churns the water with the mantra sumitriyā. With the mantras citraṃ devānām and taccakshur devahitam, the eyes of the mūrti are opened with the madhura-traya, the three sweet things: honey, ghee and sugar. The jyoti (light) is worshipped on the golden mūrti, and a cow is given to the ācārya.

The abhishekas of Varuṇa

The ācārya bathes Varuṇa with the water of each kalaśa and its mantra:

• With samudrajyeshṭhā, the sea water of the east.
• With samudraṃ gaccha, the Gaṅgā water of the south-east.
• With somo dhenum, the rain water of the south.
• With devīrāpaḥ, the spring water of the south-west.
• With pañca nadyaḥ, the river water of the west.
• With udbhidyaḥ, the springing-up water of the north.
• With the Pāvamānī ṛks, the tīrtha water of the north-east.

Then the yajamāna bathes Varuṇa:

• With āpo hi shṭhā, with pañcagavya (the five products of the cow).
• With hiraṇyavarṇām, with water in which gold has been placed.
• With āpo asmān, with rain water.
• With the vyāhṛtis (bhūḥ, bhuvaḥ, svaḥ), with well water.
• With āpo devī, with tank water.
• And with the water of the Varuṇa-kalaśa at the toraṇa.

Last, reciting varuṇasyottambhanamasi, he bathes Varuṇa with eighty-one kalaśas filled with the water of mountain streams.

The upacāras

1. Arghya (water of welcome) is given with tvaṃ no agne varuṇasya.
2. Madhuparka (the honey offering) is given with the vyāhṛtis.
3. Cloth is given with bṛhaspate ati yad aryo.
4. The pavitraka (sacred ring of thread) is given with imaṃ me varuṇa.
5. The upper cloth is given with the praṇava.
6. Reciting the Varuṇa Sūkta, flowers, the cāmara (whisk), a mirror, a parasol and a flag are offered.
7. With the mūla-mantra and the word uttishṭha (“rise”), the mūrti is raised, and the adhivāsana (the night’s dwelling in the rite) is done that night.
8. With the mantra varuṇaṃ vā Varuṇa’s presence is invoked (sannidhīkaraṇa), and he is worshipped with the Varuṇa Sūkta.
9. With the mūla-mantra the mūrti is enlivened (sajīvīkaraṇa) and worshipped with sandal and the rest.
10. Worship is done on the maṇḍala in the way taught before.

The homa and the bali

1. In the fire-pit homa is done with samidh (sacred fuel sticks).
2. With Vedic mantras, four cows, Gaṅgā and the others, are milked.
3. A caru (offering of cooked grain) made with barley is placed in every direction, and homa is done with it. The caru is consecrated with the vyāhṛtis and the Gāyatrī, or with the mūla-mantra.
4. Then bali is given, saying each name with “svāhā”, in this order: Sūrya, Prajāpati, Div (the sky), Antakanigraha, Pṛthvī, Dehadhṛti, Svadhṛti, Rati, Ramatī, Ugra, Bhīma, Raudra, Vishṇu, Varuṇa, Dhātā, Rāyaspośa, Mahendra, Agni, Yama, Nirṛti, Varuṇa, Vāyu, Kubera, Īśa, Ananta, Brahmā and Varuṇa.
5. Oblations are offered with idaṃ vishṇuḥ and tad viprāsaḥ; six oblations with somo dhenum and the mantras that follow it; one with imaṃ me varuṇa; and more with the three mantras beginning āpo hi shṭhā and with imā rudrā.
6. Bali is given in the ten directions, with worship with fragrance and flowers.
7. The mūrti is lifted, set on the maṇḍapa, and worshipped with fragrance, flowers and golden flowers.

The eight pools and the 108 homas

The ācārya makes, in the eight directions, small pools two spans across, and eight vedis of sand. Reciting the mantra varuṇasya, he offers 108 oblations of ghee and 108 of the barley caru. The śānti water (water of peace) is brought, Varuṇa‘s head is bathed with it, and the mūrti is enlivened.

Varuṇa placed in the water

1. The ācārya meditates on Varuṇa together with his dharmapatnī Gaurī, surrounded by the rivers.
2. With the mantra oṃ varuṇāya namaḥ he invokes Varuṇa’s presence.
3. Varuṇa Deva is raised and, with auspicious articles, set on the back of an elephant or another carrier and taken in procession.
4. Reciting āpo hi shṭhā mayobhuvaḥ, the mūrti of Varuṇa is placed in a kalaśa holding honey, ghee and sugar, and Varuṇa with the kalaśa is set safely in the middle of the water-body.

The dhyāna of the waters

The yajamāna bathes and meditates on Varuṇa. He contemplates that all creation, called the Brahmāṇḍa, is burnt by the agni-bīja “raṃ” and that its heap of ash is flooded by water. Seeing the whole world as water, he meditates in that water on Varuṇa, the lord of waters. Having so meditated on Varuṇa in the middle of the water, he sets up the yūpa there.

The yūpa

• The yūpa may be four-cornered, eight-cornered or round.
• It is made of the wood of a tree used in yajñas and bears the emblems of the devatā worshipped.
• A golden plate is placed at its foot.
• Its length depends on the water-body: ten hastas (cubits) for a well, fifteen for a step-well, twenty for a lotus pond and twenty-five for a tank.
• It is set up in the yajña-courtyard with the mantra yūpa brahma. Cloths are wound around it and a pilāka (top-piece) is made at its head.
• It is worshipped with fragrance and the rest, and a śānti-karma (rite of peace) is done for the good of the world.

The dakshiṇā and the release of the water

1. The ācārya is given land, a cow, gold, a water-vessel and other gifts as dakshiṇā (the fee of the rite). Other brāhmaṇas receive dakshiṇā, and all who come are fed.
2. Releasing the water, the yajamāna says: “From Brahmā down to the blade of grass, down to the insect, may all who are thirsty be satisfied by the water of this tank.”
3. Pañcagavya is poured into the water.
4. Reciting the three ṛks beginning āpo hi shṭhā, the śānti water made by the brāhmaṇas and holy tīrtha water are poured in, and cows and bulls are given to the brāhmaṇas.
5. Food is given to all, with no one turned away.

The phala

The puṇya of one who builds a single water-body is a thousand times the puṇya of one who has performed a lakh of aśvamedha yajñas. He reaches svarga and rejoices there in a vimāna (celestial car), and he never goes to naraka. Because cows and other beings drink its water, the builder is freed from pāpa. One who gives water gains the fruit of every gift and goes to svarga.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 64

A work of pūrta

In its teaching on dāna, the Agni Purāṇa calls the founding of step-wells, wells, tanks, temples and houses of free food, and the making of gardens, pūrta, a kind of dāna that gives mukti. (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 209)

Sources

• Matsya Purāṇa, Chapter 58.
• Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 64, 209