Avabhṛtha Snāna
Avabhṛtha Snāna · ava-bhṛtha snāna, “the closing bath of a yajña”
Dakshiṇā has other meanings too: see all meanings of Dakshiṇā.
Grammar: masculine noun avabhṛtha, from the root bhṛ (to carry, to bear) with the prefix ava (down, away), with snāna (bath): “the bath of carrying away”, the bath that closes the yajña.
Meaning: the sacred bath taken at the end of a yajña and its dīkshā by the yajamāna, with his wife, the ṛtvijas and all who are gathered; it is preceded by the patnī-saṃyāja and its own rites, and frees from pāpa. The Bhāgavata Purāṇa glosses it as “the bath at the end of the yajña”.
In the scriptures: the Bhāgavata Purāṇa tells of the avabhṛtha at the close of many great yajñas.
Maitreya tells Vidura that the prajāpatis performed a satra-yāga for a thousand years, in which Śrī Hari, the deva above all devas, is worshipped; afterwards they took the avabhṛtha snāna at the confluence of the Gaṅgā and the Yamunā, their minds became pure, and they went to their own places (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 4, Chapter 2). When Daksha‘s yajña was restored, Daksha worshipped Śrī Hari with the trikapāla-ishṭi, offered to Bhagavān Śiva the share that remains of the yajña, performed the udavasāna-ishṭi at the very end, and then with the ṛtvijas took the avabhṛtha snāna (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 4, Chapter 7). Pṛthu Mahārāja delighted the devatās with havis in his many yajñas, and the devatās, givers of varas, gave him varas after he had taken the avabhṛtha snāna (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 4, Chapter 19).
Śuka tells Parīkshit that Paraśurāma, having given away the earth as dakshiṇā at the end of his yajña, took the avabhṛtha snāna in the river Sarasvatī, who is of the form of the Veda, and was freed from all pāpas; on that river bank he shone like the sun freed from clouds (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 9, Chapter 16).
At the close of the Rājasūya, Dharmarāja Yudhishṭhira gave abundant dakshiṇās to the ṛtvijas and the sadasyas, honoured all, and took the avabhṛtha snāna according to rule; then he shone among the brāhmaṇas and kings like Devendra (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 74). The avabhṛtha was taken in the river Gaṅgā with a great festival. Maddela drums, conches, drums, naubat kettle-drums, tappeṭa drums and horn trumpets sounded; dancing women danced and singers sang with vīṇās and flutes; the kings went in golden garlands with elephants bearing many-coloured flags, chariots, horses and adorned soldiers; Draupadī and the queens came in palanquins, and Śrī Kṛshṇa and his friends sprinkled coloured water on them. Dharmarāja, with his wives, rode in a chariot hung with golden garlands, as if the Rājasūya itself had taken bodily form. He performed the patnī-saṃyāja and the rites belonging to the avabhṛtha, and the ṛtvijas had him do ācamana and bathe in the Gaṅgā with Draupadī. The dundubhis of the devas and of men sounded together, and devas, maharshis, pitṛs and men rained flowers. Then all the people of the varṇas and āśramas bathed in that Gaṅgā, and the Purāṇa says that by such a bath even a mahāpāpī, one laden with great pāpa, is at once freed from pāpa (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 75).
Balarāma, withdrawing from all strife, came again to Naimisha, where the maharshis joyfully had him perform all the kratus. He taught them pure ātma-jñāna, and then, surrounded by his kinsmen, relatives and friends, he took the avabhṛtha snāna with his dharmapatnī Revatī, shining like the moon with his moonlight (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 79). At Samantapañcaka, when Vasudeva‘s yajñas were done and the dakshiṇās given, the maharshis performed the patnī-saṃyāja and the rites belonging to the avabhṛtha snāna, and then, placing the yajamāna Vasudeva in front, they bathed in the Paraśurāma-kuṇḍa (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 84).
In the Brahma Purāṇa: the avabhṛtha snāna frees King Janamejaya, son of Parīkshit, of the Kuru-vaṃśa. By the force of time he killed the boy son of Garga and incurred the pāpa of brahmahatyā, and because of it his body smelled of iron. Abandoned by the townsfolk and the country folk, burning with sorrow, he ran about like a madman and found peace nowhere, until he took refuge in Śaunaka, best of dvijas. For his purification Śaunaka had him perform an aśvamedha, and as soon as the avabhṛtha snāna was done, his foul smell left him (Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 12).
Related terms: Yajña · Dīkshā · Patnī-saṃyāja · Snāna · Dakshiṇā · Rājasūya
Sources
- Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 4, Chapters 2, 7, 19; Skandha 9, Chapter 16; Skandha 10, Chapters 74–75, 79, 84
- Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 12