Yūpa
Yūpa, “the post of a yajña”
Grammar: masculine noun: the post or pillar set up for a yajña.
Meaning: the sacred post of a yajña, made of the wood of a tree fit for the yajña and installed with mantras; the Agni Purāṇa also sets a yūpa in the middle of a new water-body at its consecration.
In the scriptures: in the rite for consecrating kūpas (wells), vāpīs (step-wells) and taṭākas (ponds and tanks), which Hayagrīva teaches Brahmā, the image of Varuṇa is bathed, honoured and placed in the middle of the water. Then the yajamāna bathes and meditates: he contemplates that the creation called the Brahmāṇḍa is burnt by the agni-bīja “raṃ”, that its heap of ash is flooded by water, and that the whole world has become water; in that water he meditates on Varuṇa, the lord of the waters. Having done this dhyāna of Varuṇa in the middle of the water, he installs the yūpa there.
The yūpa is good if it is four-cornered, eight-cornered or round. It bears the emblems of the upāsya-devatā (the devatā who is worshipped), it is made of the wood of a tree used in yajña, and a golden plate is placed at its base. Its length follows the kind of water-body: ten hastas for a kūpa (well), fifteen hastas for a vāpī (step-well), twenty hastas for a pushkariṇī (lotus pond) and twenty-five hastas for a taṭāka (tank).
In the yajña courtyard the yūpa is installed with the mantra beginning “yūpa brahma”. Cloths are wound around it and a pilāka (a top-piece) is made on its upper part. It is worshipped with gandha (sandal) and the other offerings, and śānti-karma (the rite of peace) is done for the good of the whole world. Then the ācārya receives his dakshiṇā, the water is released for all beings from Brahmā down to the blade of grass, and the one who builds even a single water-body gains a puṇya a thousand times greater than that of a lakh of aśvamedha yajñas, reaches svarga and never goes to naraka (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 64).
In the rite for the close of the māsopavāsa and similar vratas, which Hayagrīva teaches in the same section, homa is offered to Śrī Hari and to the lords of the months, twelve brāhmaṇas and the ācārya are honoured with thirteen kalaśas and other gifts, and, with the words “May the cows be pleased; may they roam happily”, a pasture for cows is released and a yūpa-stambha ten hastas high is set up (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 66).
At Gayā, in the pilgrimage of the pitṛs, śrāddha done between the well called Brahmatīrtha and the yūpa lifts up a hundred generations. On the third day, after bathing in Brahmasarovara, one who desires the fruit of the vājapeya yajña should do pradakshiṇa of the yūpa set up by Brahmā (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 115).
Related terms: Yajña · Varuṇa · Kūpa · Vāpī · Taṭāka · Hasta · Śānti-karma
Sources
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 64, 66, 115