BarhiSh

Source: TW

Vedic use

Some variations in the Indo-Iranian world of the use of barhiSh:

  • Indo-Aryans use darbha grass as barhiSh.
  • they strewed (dhAtupATha: stR^I) long blades of this grass as the seat of the gods.
  • Among them, the atri-s seems to have used wool alongside the grass in certain rituals.
  • Certain clans seem to have used it more than others.

barhiSh is mentioned 100 times in the RV, but the collection of vAmadeva gautama mentions it only once, which is atypically rare for a collection of that size. The context suggests that these gautama-s used it only in the animal sacrifice.

Twisting

27 of the 100 mentions of barhiSh specify that the grass is twisted (vR^ikta-barhiSh). Today this form is most commonly seen in the pavitra, though some suppliers specifically give you the long twisted version. The creation of this twisted version appears to have been a key act in the old ritual; whether it simply implied the making of pavitra or twisting of the strewn barhiSh is not immediately clear. The latter possibility is suggested in the RV Apri of the bhR^igu-s where they say that they twist the grass at dawn, laying it facing east like the strewn barhiSh.

baresman

barhiSh has an approximate Zoroastrian Iranian equivalent in baresman: In the IndoAryan world there were many transformations of the grass:

  1. the strewn barhiSh;
  2. the twisted barhiSh and/or pavitra;
  3. the fire barhiSh (also the divya nabhas oblation);
  4. the soma barhiSh;
  5. prastara.

Of the the Iranian term stereto-baresman correponds to stIrNa-barhiSh (1),
while in extant Zoroastrian practice the primary equivalence of the baresman is to the prastara (5).

However, even in the Parthian period it seems to have not been grass but a bundle of myrtle twigs. Subsequently, it became tamarisk twigs and pomogranate twigs.
The Zoros left behind in Iran under Islamic tyranny appear to have used the former and their India cousins the latter.

Extant Iranians use metal wires instead of twigs.