Viprusha
Viprusha
Meaning: a substance named in the Brahma Purāṇa among the things forbidden at śrāddha, the rite for the pitṛs. The text gives no gloss of it.
In the scriptures: teaching the munis the rule of śrāddha, Vyāsa twice names viprusha among the things that must not be offered.
Forbidden on the pitṛ-tithi. On the tithi of the pitṛs these are forbidden: rājamāsha (cowpeas), chickpeas, masūra (lentils), koradūshaka, viprusha, markaṭa and kodrava (Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 220).
In the Vārāha śrāddha-kalpa. The rule of śrāddha that Vārāha saw is famed as the Vārāha śrāddha-kalpa, and what it forbids must neither be given to brāhmaṇas at śrāddha nor eaten. Among its naraka-giving substances, whose offering makes the yajamāna fall, together with the pitṛ-devatās, into the naraka called Pūyavaha, are kusumbha greens, jambīra, sigruka, kovidāra, piṇyāka (oil-cake), viprusha, masūra, guñjana, śaṇa (hemp), kodrava, kokilāksha and the palmyra fruit. Rather than offer and eat these, the text says, it is better to eat one’s own flesh; if they are offered or eaten unknowingly, prāyaścitta must be performed (Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 220).
Related terms: Śrāddha · Pitṛ · Pūyavaha · Naraka · Prāyaścitta
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 220