Sacrificial Grass: Kuśa
Since the Vedic era, kuśa (कुश), darbha and other types of grass have been upheld to be most sacred of grasses, employed for various purposes during the Vedic sacrifice/yāga. Kuśa grass was used to construct an altar (Vedi), to cover the Vedic altar upon which objects of sacrifice are placed, to make mats to be seated upon, and tied as a ring on the finger of the performer of the Vedic rites as a pavitri or purification.
Kuśa grass is spread out as mats for the persons offering the ritual sactifice to sit upon. It is further imagined that the gods (or ancestors in case of pitṛ shraddha) to whom the sacrifice is being offered are present during the sacrifice and take their seats on the sacred grass. Barhis (बर्हिस्), meaning ‘that which is plucked’ is a bed or a layer of sacrificial grass, that is usually strewed over the sacrificial ground and especially over the Vedi, to serve as a sacred surface on which to present the oblations, and as a seat for the gods and for the sacrificers. Such is the role played Kuśa, and it was imperative to make it sacred.
The Ṛg Vēda (RV) identifies several types of sacred grasses, attested to by ancient seers. Kuśa (Desmostachya bipinnata or Eragrostis cynosuroides) is termed as kushara in the Ṛg Vēda 1.191.3) and is generally equated with Kharadarbha. The Brahma Purāṇa (219.41) says that these grasses have been ‘born’ from body hairs of Lord Viṣṇu for the protection of Shraddha.
Sage Valmīki in his Rāmāyaṇa mentions grass in several contexts — in the Bāla kāṇḍa, as a seat used for sacred purposes:
उपस्पृश्योदकं सम्यग्मुनिस्स्थित्वा कृताञ्जलि: ।
प्राचीनाग्रेषु दर्भेषु धर्मेणान्वेषते गतिम् ।।1.3.2।।
“Having performed ācamana, Valmīki seated on kuśa grass facing east, with folded palms, and searched for the course of past events in the history of Rāma using his powers of penance.”
In the Sundara Kāṇḍa, during Sīta’s narration to Hanumān about Rāma’s valor, she recounts the making of a brahmāstra from a blade of darbha grass.
स दर्भं संस्तराद्गृह्य ब्राह्मेणास्त्रेण योजयत्।।
स दीप्त इव कालाग्निर्जज्वालाभिमुखो द्विजम्। 5.38.30
‘Taking a blade of darbha grass from his mat, Rama invoked the astra of Brahma by reciting the mantra. Then he discharged it, and it blazed like the fire of death and went spearheading towards the crow.’
Valmīki also mentions kuśa grass used for rituals (3.15.5) and for thatching cottages at Pancavati along with kasha and shara (3.15.22).
वन रामण्यकम् यत्र जल रामण्यकम् तथा |
संनिकृष्टम् च यस्मिन् तु समित् पुष्प कुश उदकम् || (3–15–4, 5)
“In which place Vaidehi, likewise you and me too can take delight, where the woodland is scenic and the water is pleasurable, and where a water lake, ritual-firewood, flowers, and the sacred grass kuśa are available in proximity, oh, Lakṣmaṇa, such a place may be searched out.”
Tulasīdāsa in his Rāmāyaṇa states that Sīta speaks to Rāvaṇa only after holding a blade of grass as an intermediary, since according to Hindu etiquette, a lady must not converse with a male stranger without a medium in between. Being forced to violate this rule in a state of captivity, Sīta’s only recourse was to resort to the aforesaid expedient.
“Said Rāvaṇa, “Listen, O beautiful and wise lady: I will make Mandodari and all other queens your handmaids, I swear, provided you cast your look on me only once.” Interposing* a blade of grass between Herself and Ravana and fixing Her thoughts on Her most beloved lord (Śri Rāma), the King of Ayodhya, Videha’s Daughter rejoined: “Listen, O ten-headed monster: can a lotus flower ever expand in the glow of a fire-fly?” “Ponder this at heart,” continued Janaka’s Daughter; “perhaps you have no idea what Sri Rama’s shafts are like, O wretch. You carried me off at a time when there was none by my side; yet you do not feel ashamed, O vile and impudent rogue!”
Tulasīdāsa speaks of inexorable power of fate in order for the scion of the Raghu dynasty to sleep on a bed of kuśa grass in the forest:
“That jewel of Raghu’s line, who is bliss personified and a mine of joy and blessings, sleeps on the ground spreading the Kuśa grass on it! The ways of providence are inexorable indeed.” (Rāmcharitmānas 200)
References:
- Grasses and their Varieties in Indian Literature KG Sheshadri: Asian Agri-History Vol. 17, №4, 2013 (325–334)
- Tradition to therapeutics: Sacrificial medicinal grasses Desmostachya bipinnata and Imperata cylindrica of India, Shankar Subramaniam & Aravind Sivasubramanian
- Three important Vedic Grasses S. Mahdihassan
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