Yajñopavīta

Yajñopavīta · yajña-upavīta, “the sacred thread worn for the yajña”

Grammar: neuter noun; a compound of yajña (the sacred rite) and upavīta (the thread worn over the left shoulder, from upa and the root vye, to cover): “the thread worn for the yajña”.

Meaning: the sacred thread, received at the upanayana and worn in every rite. Worn over the left shoulder it is upavīta; worn over the right shoulder, for the rites of the pitṛs, it is prācīnāvīta, and the wearer is prācīnāvītī.

In the scriptures: the Agni Purāṇa names the yajñopavīta in the rite of tarpaṇa, in the rules of āśauca and in dāna.

In tarpaṇa. In the daily snāna and tarpaṇa which Parameśvara teaches Skanda, tarpaṇa is first given to the devatās through the deva-tīrtha of the hand. Then, wearing the yajñopavīta round the neck like a garland, one gives tarpaṇa through the ṛshi-tīrtha to the ṛshis Atri, Vasishṭha, Pulastya, Kratu, Bharadvāja, Viśvāmitra, Pracetas and Marīci, and then to the munis beginning with Sanaka. Then, wearing the yajñopavīta over the right shoulder (prācīnāvītī), one offers water with tila three times each, from the root and tip of kuśa folded in two, with “svadhā”, to the divine pitṛs: Kavyavāhana, Anala, Soma, Yama, Aryaman, the Agnishvāttas, the Barhishads and the Ājyapas; and after them to one’s own father, grandfather and great-grandfather and to all the pitṛs (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 72).

In the rules of āśauca. In the purity after a death which Pushkara teaches, if a boy dies before his teeth come, purity is immediate; if after the teeth have come but before the cūḍākaraṇa, the āśauca (ritual impurity) is one night; if before the wearing of the yajñopavīta (the upanayana), three nights; and after that, ten nights (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 157).

In dāna. In the trirātra vrata for Janārdana, by which one reaches Vaikuṇṭha with a hundred generations of his line, at the completion one feeds brāhmaṇas and gives them cloth, a bed, a seat, an umbrella, a yajñopavīta and vessels, saying: “Whatever faults arose from me while keeping this difficult vrata, may they all be removed by your grace” (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 197).

Related terms: Upanayana · Tarpaṇa · Prācīnāvīta · Pitṛ · Āśauca · Dāna

Sources

• Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 72, 157, 197