विस्तारः (द्रष्टुं नोद्यम्)
altekar’s description of the wooden yūpa and how the stone yūpa-s differed from it.
Sacred texts declare that yupas should be made of wood. The Katyayana-Srautasutra vividly describes the expedition for securing a suitable stump for this purpose how the tree is to be felled, how its superfluous branches are to be chopped, etc. Different results are promised to the sacrificer according to the tree that may be selected for making the yupa. The Aitareya-Brūh- mana lays down that the yupa itself was to be offered as an oblation at the end of the sacrifice." No wooden yupas have, however, been so far discovered. The stone ones, that we have come across so far, begin from the 2nd century A. D., and seem to be an innovation introduced for commemorative purposes by the advocates of the Vedic revival, probably with a view to emulate Buddhist pillars like those of Aśoka. We have so far discovered only four complete stone yūpas, besides the present three. In the early centuries of the Christian era the stone yūpas, com- memorating different sacrificers, must have been fairly common; otherwise the word yupa would not have acquired the sense of a jaya-stambha.5
It is interesting to note that the practice of erecting commemorative yupas runs counter to the sentiments expressed in this connection by the authors of the Grihyasutra and Dharmasūtra literature. Their writers probably flourished just after the time of the Upanishadic and Bud- dhist revolt against the practice of slaughter of animals in sacrifices. Many of them like Vasi- shtha, Baudhayana,’ Vishnu and Asvalayana’ declare that the touch of a yupa is as polluting as that of a funeral pyre or a woman in her courses; the Hiranyakēsi-Gṛihyasutra says that by touching a yupa one brings upon oneself the guilt of whatever faults may have been committed in the sacrifice.10 It would appear that with the revival of Vedic sacrifices, the leaders of society and of the new movement ceased to subscribe to the above views of the Dharmasastra writers and began to encourage the construction of stone yupas as a triumphant and enduring testimony to the revival of the old Vedic religion. Yupa is a veritable thunderbolt, says the Aitareya-Brāh- mana. Hindu champions of the revival of the Vedic religion were obviously a proud of their commemorative stone yupas as Indra was of his thunderbolt.
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Detailed instructions have been given in the Vedic literature about the shape and size of the sacrificial post.
- The height was rigidly fixed only in the case of the Vajapeya sacrifice, where the post had to be made 17 cubits high; in the case of other sacrifices it could vary from five to fifteen cubits.
- After the leaves and branches of the stem were cut off, it was to be given an octagonal shape, for that was the shape of the thunderbolt of Indra, and yupa is a thunderbolt."
- The stem was not to be straight, it was to be curved both at the top and the centre, the concavity in either case facing the same side.
- It was never to be made tapering at the top, for such a post was supposed to hasten the death of the sacrificer.
- At a distance of two to eight inches from the top of the post was to be slipped in a ring or kaṭaka, technically known as chashata, which also had naturally to be octagonal in shape.
- Yupa resembled in its external appearance a Brahmacharin; so it had a girdle at its centre and a triple upavita across it. It was to be covered by a number of cloths.
These detailed instructions about the nature of the yupas do not seem to have been known to the sculptors responsible for the construction of the stone yupas of King Mulavarman of Borneo ; for they are roughly dressed stones of irregular shape.
In India, however, the Hindu revivalist tried to conform to the requirements of the sacred texts as far as possible. Thus none of the com- plete and undamaged yupas discovered so far is pointed at the end. They all bend at the top. The yupas on the Asvamedha coins of Samudragupta show a bend at the middle also; the omission of this feature in the case of stone yupas-for we do not find it on a single yupa so far discovered is probably to be attributed to a greater regard being paid to artistic beauty than to the injunctions of the sacred texts. A stone pillar showing a bend in the middle and at the top would be hardly graceful.
The portion above the ground of the three yupas at Baḍvā is octagonal; the underground shaft of two of them is, however, square. The shafts of the yupas discovered at Isäpur and Bijayagadh’ are, however, square at the bottom and octagonal above. This departure from the requirements as laid down in the sacred texts also seems to be due to architectural considerations.
A pillar square at the bottom and octagonal above was probably regarded as more graceful than one octagonal throughout.