Yogapīṭha
Yogapīṭha · yoga-pīṭha, “the seat of yoga”
Grammar: neuter noun; a compound of yoga (union) and pīṭha (seat): “the seat of yoga”.
Meaning: the seat, first meditated on in the heart and then set on the maṇḍala, on which the devatā is invoked and worshipped. Its feet are Dharma and the other powers, it rests on Ādhāraśakti, Kūrma and Ananta, and it bears the lotus and the maṇḍalas of the sun, the moon and fire.
In the scriptures: the Agni Purāṇa describes the yogapīṭha in the pūjā of Vishṇu, of the Śālagrāma, of Sūrya and of Śiva.
In the pūjā of Vishṇu. In the rule of pūjā which Nārada teaches, on the yogapīṭha one meditates on Dharma, Vairāgya, Aiśvarya and Jñāna at the south-east and the other corners, and on Adharma and the others as its limbs; on the pīṭha, Kūrma and Ananta and the maṇḍalas of Sūrya and the others; Vimalā and the other śaktis in the places of the filaments, and those in the pericarp. One meditates on them first in one’s own heart, then invokes them on the maṇḍala and worships them, and then offers Bhagavān Vishṇu arghya, pādya and the other upacāras. In the worship of the nine vyūhas, one establishes the nine vyūhas and nine pīṭhas on a single pīṭha, invokes the nine mūrtis in nine lotuses, and worships Vāsudeva in the middle (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 23). In the snāna before pūjā, after arghya and japa of the twelve-syllable mantra, tarpaṇa is given in order to the yogapīṭha first and the other devatās, to the mantras, to the devatās up to the dikpālas, to the ṛshis, the pitṛs, men and all beings down to the unmoving ones (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 22).
Its colours in the maṇḍala. In the rite of the maṇḍala, the pericarp is yellow, the lines and the lotuses white, the joints black or blue, the filaments red and yellow, and the yogapīṭha is decorated with all colours as one likes; the path is drawn with creepers and leaves, the gate of the pīṭha is white, and the conches at the corners are drawn white (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 30).
In the pūjā of the Śālagrāma. In the pūjā of the cakra-marked Śālagrāmas which Bhagavān Hayagrīva teaches, Ādhāraśakti, Ananta, Pṛthivī, the yogapīṭha, the lotus, the maṇḍalas of the sun and the moon and the fire-maṇḍala whose nature is Brahman are worshipped (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 47).
The yogapīṭha of Sūrya. In the mantras that remove the grahas, Agnideva teaches that one constructs the yogapīṭha and imagines its feet as Prabhūta, Vimala, Sāra, Ārādhya and Paramasukha, invoking and worshipping them with “namaḥ” at the four corners from the south-east and in the middle. On the yogapīṭha, in the heart-lotus, one establishes the śaktis beginning with Dīptā, and worships eight śaktis on the filaments, Dīptā, Sūkshmā, Jayā, Bhadrā, Vibhūti and Vimalā and the others, the last being Sarvatomukhī; then the seat itself with “vaṃ pīṭham” (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 300).
In the pūjā of the mantra-syllables and of Śiva. In the pūjā of the aṅgākshara, on the deva-pīṭha one places Dharma and the others at the corners and Adharma and the others each in its place, and on it the lotus with its petals and filaments and the maṇḍalas of the sun, the moon and fire (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 303). In the pañcākshara dīkshā, one contemplates the feet of the pīṭha, Dharma and the others, at the corners from the south-east in red, yellow, dark and white, and Adharma and the others in the directions; then the yogapīṭha, with the eight-petalled lotus, the Sūrya, Soma and Agni maṇḍalas and the three guṇas. On the Ananta yogapīṭha one invokes Bhagavān Śiva, who dwells in the heart-lotus: crystal-bright, four-armed, five-faced and three-eyed (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 304).
Related terms: Pīṭha · Ādhāraśakti · Ananta · Maṇḍala · Āvāhana · Pūjā
Sources
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 22–23, 30, 47, 300, 303–304