west and south of the GangesRiver,
which the Yamuna finally joins at
Allahabad in the state of Uttar
Pradesh. The Yamuna is traditionally
considered one of the seven sacred
rivers of India, along with the Ganges,
Godavari, Saraswati, Narmada,
Indus, and Cauvery. The Yamuna
flows through the Brajregion south of
Delhi, which is traditionally associat-
ed as the homeland of Krishna, and
his devotees (bhakta) revere it even
more than the Ganges. For his devo-
tees, places throughout the Braj
region carry strong associations
with the life of Krishna, but the most
important sites are at Mathura
and Brindavan.
Yamunotri
Sacred site (tirtha) in the Himalayas
at the headwaters of the Yamuna
River. Ritually speaking, Yamunotri is
considered to be the source of the
Yamuna, although the actual source
lies farther upstream, at the foot of the
Bandarpunch Mountain. Its high alti-
tude also means that it is only accessi-
ble between late April and October,
after which it is closed for the winter
months—a pattern echoed at
Gangotri, Kedarnath, and Badrinath,
the other three major Himalayan pil-
grim sites. One ritual center in
Yamunotri is the river itself, in which
pilgrims bathe (snana), braving the
frigid waters. There are also several
temples—the oldest built by one of
the kings of Nepal—but the temples at
Yamunotri are quite modest com-
pared with those at Gangotri, and the
only large one was built in the 1980s.
Aside from the holy river and its tem-
ples, Yamunotri is also noted for sev-
eral hot springs from which water
emerges almost boiling; some of these
hot springs have been channeled into
a tank, and many pilgrims take advan-
tage of the hot baths.
Yantra
(“instrument”) In astrology (jyotisha),
and in tantra, a secret, ritually based
religious practice, the word yantra
most commonly refers to a symbolic
diagram, often believed to confer
magicor spiritual power on those
who know how to use it. In some cases
such yantras are considered to be an
aniconicform of a deity, as is the case
of the most famous yantra, the
Shriyantra or Shrichakra, which is
used in ritual for the worshipof the
goddessTripura Sundari. The most lit-
eral meaning of the word is “device for
restraining,” and in an astrological
setting the yantras of the various
planetsare used in rituals to change
their effects, usually to restrain or
diminish the power of planets judged
to be malefic or inauspicious.Yashoda
In Hindu mythology, the god
Krishna’sfoster mother, who receives
him on the night he is born, and cares
for him until he is old enough to
return to Mathurato claim his throne.
Yashoda is a paradigm for selfless
devotion, who loves Krishna as if he is
her own biological child. Her mythic
example of loving, motherly care has
provided the model for vatsalya
bhava, one of the five modes of devo-
tionmost prominently articulated by
Rupa Goswami, a devotee (bhakta) of
the god Krishnaand a follower of the
Bengali saint Chaitanya. In the vat-
salya mode of devotion, devotees con-
sider themselves as God’s parents,
lavishing love and care on the deityas
a cowcares for her calf.Yaska
(5th c. B.C.E.?) Traditionally cited as
the author of the Nirukta, a text giv-
ing etymological explanations for
archaic words in the Veda. Almost a
quarter of the words in the Veda
appear only once. Even by Yaska’sYamunotri