Sattra
Sattra · sat-tra, “the long yajña”
Grammar: neuter noun, from the root sad (to sit): “a sitting, a session”, a long yajña. Also written satra. The Bhāgavata often says sattra-yāga (satra-yāga).
Meaning: a yajña that lasts many days or years and is performed together by many brāhmaṇas, each of whom is a yajamāna, so that all who take part share the fruit.
In the scriptures: the Bhāgavata Purāṇa itself is told at a sattra.
The sattra at Naimisha. In Naimishāraṇya, the kshetra of Śrī Mahāvishṇu, Śaunaka and the other maharshis performed a sattra-yāga lasting a thousand years, desiring to reach Śrī Mahāvishṇu, who is sung in svarga and always meditated on by his bhaktas. The ṛshis said to Sūta Maharshi: “Knowing that Kali has arrived, we have resolved on a long sattra-yāga in this Vaishṇava puṇya-kshetra and sat down for it. We have now the chance to hear the kathās of Śrī Mahāvishṇu” (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapter 1). Among the munis gathered for that long sattra the eldest, the kulapati Śaunaka, a scholar of the Ṛgveda, then put his questions to Sūta (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapter 4).
Sūta tells the ṛshis that they took the dīkshā of the sattra-yāga while Parīkshit was ruling (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapter 17). The ṛshis tell Sūta that they have no confidence the sattra will carry them across, and that their bodies are darkened by the smoke of the yajña (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapter 18). Sūta addresses Śaunaka as one for whom the sattra-yāga is the shelter (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 6, Chapter 18). When Balarāma came to Naimisha, the ṛshis told him of Balvala, a terrible rākshasa who spoils the sattra every pūrṇimā and amāvāsyā, raining pus, blood, filth, urine, liquor and meat (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 78).
The sattra in Vraja. When the brāhmaṇa wives brought food to Śrī Kṛshṇa and Balarāma, Śrī Kṛshṇa sent them back: “Go to the yajña ground. Through you, your husbands the brāhmaṇas, being gṛhasthas, will complete their sattra-yāga.” Śuka tells Parīkshit that the wives went back, their husbands did not blame them, and the brāhmaṇas completed the sattra-yāga together with their wives (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 23).
Other sattras. Brahmā tells Nārada that Śrī Hari appeared as Hayagrīva at his sattra-yāga (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 2, Chapter 7). The Pracetas worshipped Śrī Hari, master of every yajña, in a sattra-yāga (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 4, Chapter 13). Once Pṛthu took dīkshā for a great sattra-yāga; devatās, brahmarshis and rājarshis gathered there, and all the worthy guests were honoured each as was fitting (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 4, Chapter 21). Antardhāna gave up royal authority on the pretext of a long sattra-yāga (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 4, Chapter 24). The Āṅgirasas were performing a sattra-yāga when Nābhāga came to them (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 9, Chapter 4). Nimi began a sattra-yāga and chose Vasishṭha as his ṛtvik (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 9, Chapter 13). The maharshis performed a sattra-yāga on the bank of the Sarasvatī (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 89).
At the sattra of the devatās. Nārada tells Yudhishṭhira that once the Prajāpatis, at a sattra-yāga of the devatās, invited the gandharvas and apsarases to sing the gāthās of Śrī Hari, and he, then the gandharva Upabarhaṇa, came surrounded by women, singing songs of pleasure (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 7, Chapter 15).
The joints of Varāha. In their stuti to Bhagavān Varāha, the ṛshis say that all the sattra-yāgas are the joints of his body (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapter 13).
Its fruit goes to all. When the strong among the asuras carried off the kalaśa of amṛta and quarrelled over it, the weaker asuras, out of envy, argued that as the fruit of a sattra-yāga goes to all, the devas who laboured equally with them must give them a share, and that this is sanātana dharma (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 8, Chapter 8).
Related terms: Yajña · Yāga · Dīkshā · Ṛtvik · Naimishāraṇya · Kulapati
Sources
- Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapters 1, 4, 17–18; Skandha 2, Chapter 7; Skandha 3, Chapter 13; Skandha 4, Chapters 13, 21, 24; Skandha 6, Chapter 18; Skandha 7, Chapter 15; Skandha 8, Chapter 8; Skandha 9, Chapters 4, 13; Skandha 10, Chapters 23, 78, 89