Kuśatarpaṇa

Kuśatarpaṇa · kuśa-tarpaṇa, “propitiation with kuśa”

Kuśa has other meanings too: see all meanings of Kuśa.

Kuśatarpaṇa is a tīrtha on the Gautamī (the Godāvarī), in the Daṇḍaka forest, on the ground of the first yajña that Brahmā performed to create the worlds. When the yajña was done, Brahmā wiped the Praṇītā vessel (the vessel of consecrated water) with kuśa grass, and the spot where the wiped kuśa fell is Kuśatarpaṇa, “propitiation with kuśa”. Beside it the Gautamī joins the river Praṇītā, born of that vessel’s water, at the Praṇītā-saṅgama. Brahmā tells Nārada its account in the Gautamī Māhātmya of the Brahma Purāṇa. The tīrtha gives both bhukti (enjoyment) and mukti (release), and the Purāṇa says it is more excellent even than Vārāṇasī, with no tīrtha its equal.

The place

South of the Vindhya is the great mountain Sahya, from whose feet the Godāvarī, the Bhīmarathī and other rivers arose. The place where the river Ekavīrā arose is Virajā, the stainless, whose greatness no one can tell. What happened on that mountain, Brahmā says, is the secret of secrets, declared by the Vedas, unknown even to ṛshis, devas, pitṛs and asuras; hearing it gives every cherished thing.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 91

Brahmā’s yajña of creation

The supreme Purusha is the Unmanifest (Avyakta) and the Imperishable (Akshara); the lower is the perishable, joined with Prakṛti. From the formless was born the Purusha with form; from him the waters, and from both a lotus, in which Brahmā was born. The elements, earth, wind, ether, water and fire, were there before him. Brahmā saw nothing else, no being and no Veda, not even the lotus from which he was born. As he sat silent he heard a voice: “O Brahmā, perform the rite of creation.”

“How shall I create, and with what?” he asked. The Voice, the Devī who is Oṃkāra, one with the universe and mother of all, answered: “The mother of the universe is Prakṛti, and she works under the guidance of Vishṇu. Perform yajña, and you will gain the power. The eternal śruti says, ‘Yajña is Vishṇu.’ In the Karmabhūmi, the land of holy rites, worship Yajñapati, the Yajña-Purusha: he alone is your means. Hari alone is the yajña, svāhā, svadhā, the mantras, the brāhmaṇas and the havis.” At that time there was no Bhāgīrathī, Narmadā, Yamunā, Tāpī, Sarasvatī or Gautamī, no sea, river or lake. The Voice said that the Karmabhūmi lies south of Sumeru and Himavān, south of the Vindhya and south of the Sahya, and guided Brahmā there: “Go this way. Stay on this side. Sit here alone and make the saṅkalpa (resolve) for the yajña.”

Then the Itihāsas, Purāṇas and all sacred texts came of their own accord to Brahmā’s mouth, and he understood the meaning of the Vedas. He remembered the Purusha Sūkta and prepared the requisites and vessels of the yajña as it describes. The place where he took dīkshā (initiation) became a land of brāhmaṇas, glorified by his name; the place of his yajña is remembered as Brahmagiri, and the yajña ground stretched twenty-four yojanas east of Brahmagiri. In the middle of the vedi (altar) he set up the three sacred fires, Gārhapatya, Dakshiṇāgni and Āhavanīya.

Since, the Veda says, a yajña is not complete without the wife, Brahmā divided his body in two, and one half became his wife. The seasons became the offerings: Vasanta (spring) the ghee, Grīshma (summer) the fuel, Śarad (autumn) the havis, and the rains the kuśa. The Vedas were the seven enclosing sticks; Kalā, Kāshṭhā and Nimesha, the measures of time, were the samidh, the vessel and the kuśa; beginningless and endless Kāla (Time) was the yūpa (the post), and the three guṇas were the halter. But there was no paśu (offering being). At the Voice’s word Brahmā praised Janārdana, his own progenitor, with the Purusha Sūkta. Then he knew that the unchanging Purusha was his father, set him beside the post of Time and bound him with the halter of the guṇas, and the Purusha stood before him.

From the Purusha the whole universe came forth: the brāhmaṇas from his mouth, the kshatriyas from his arms, the vaiśyas from his thighs, and the śūdra and the earth from his feet; Indra and Agni from his mouth, wind from his breath, the quarters from his ear, svarga from his head, the moon from his mind, the sun from his eye, the sky between from his navel; the ṛshis from the pores of his skin, the healing herbs from his hair, the animals from his nails, and the small creatures from the lower parts of his body. The devas were born of Brahmā.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 91

The close of the yajña and the name

The Voice said: “All is done; the creation you desired has come about. Now give all the vessels to the fire, and with due rite release the yūpa, the Praṇītā vessel and the kuśa, the forms of the ṛtviks and of the yajña, the ladle, the Purusha and the halters.” As Brahmā offered into the three fires, meditating on the Purusha, the cause of the universe, Yajñapati, the ruler of the worlds, appeared near the fire-pits. Bhagavān Vishṇu took a white form in the Āhavanīya fire, a dark form in the Dakshiṇa fire and a yellow form in the Gārhapatya fire; he was present everywhere, and nothing was without him.

Reciting the mantras, Brahmā carried forward the Praṇītā vessel, and its water became the river Praṇītā, which gives the fruit of yajñas to one who bathes in it. Bhagavān Vishṇu, bearer of the Śārṅga bow, ever adorns it, and it is the stairway by which all ascend to Vaikuṇṭha. As Brahmā wiped the vessel with kuśa, drops of its water fell in many places, and all of them became tīrthas of great puṇya. The spot where the wiped kuśa fell is Kuśatarpaṇa: “all these were propitiated with kuśa”, and so it is called Kuśatarpaṇam. Later, for another reason, the Gautamī joined the Praṇītā, and that became the Praṇītā-saṅgama.

The yūpa, released with due rite, became a dwelling of Bhagavān Vishṇu, worthy of pūjā by the worlds; free from decay, it became Akshaya Vaṭa, the undecaying banyan, eternal as Time, and remembering it gives the merit of yajñas. The place of Brahmā’s yajña is called the Daṇḍaka forest, and it stretched over twenty-four yojanas. When the yajña was done Brahmā propitiated Bhagavān Vishṇu and, bowing, took leave of him, the one called Virāṭ in the Vedas, from whom Brahmā and all acts of dharma were born. Three fire-pits are there even today, in the form of Yajñeśvara, Vishṇu the bearer of the cakra. Even worms and insects there attain moksha after death. The Daṇḍaka forest is the seed of dharma and the seed of moksha, and the part that touches the Gautamī is supremely meritorious.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 91

The phalaśruti

• One who bathes and gives dāna at the Praṇītā-saṅgama or at Kuśatarpaṇa goes to the supreme abode (parama pada).
• Remembering, reading or hearing this account with devotion fulfils all cherished desires and gives bhukti and mukti.
• The learned say there are eighty-six thousand tīrthas on the two banks.
• Kuśatarpaṇa is more excellent even than Vārāṇasī, and there is no tīrtha equal to it among all that moves and does not move.
• Merely remembering it destroys the pāpa of brahmahatyā (killing a brāhmaṇa) and other pāpas. It is called the gate to svarga on the face of the earth.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 91

Sources

• Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 91