Prādeśa
Prādeśa · pra-ādeśa, “a span, thumb to forefinger”
Grammar: masculine noun: a span, a measure of length.
Meaning: the length from the tip of the stretched thumb to the tip of the forefinger (tarjanī), a measure used in rites. It is distinct from pradeśa, a region or place.
In the scriptures:
- In the rite of setting up the fire, which Maheśvara teaches Skanda, the prādeśa is defined as the length from the tip of the stretched thumb to the tip of the index finger. To purify the ghee, the performer holds two kuśas of a prādeśa’s length between the thumb and the ring finger and, uttering the astra mantra (phaṭ), moves the ghee toward the fire; when the ghee has been purified, he keeps in his hand a knotted kuśa of a prādeśa’s length (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 75).
- In the kośa, among the words for the human body, prādeśa is the span of the stretched hand from the thumb to the tip of the forefinger; the vitasti that follows it is the span from the thumb to the tip of the little finger, twelve aṅgulas (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 364).
In the Bhavishya Purāṇa. Bhūrjapatra, śamī and samidhā should be of one prādeśa in length (Bhavishya Purāṇa, Madhyama Parva, Bhāga 1, Chapters 17–18). The golden kumbha of the Mahābhūtaghaṭa-dāna is from one prādeśa up to one hundred aṅgulas in size (Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 183).
Related terms: Vitasti · Aṅgula · Hasta · Kuśa · Homa
Sources
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 75, 364
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Madhyama Parva, Bhāga 1, Chapters 17–18; Uttara Parva, Chapter 183