Also called: sacrificial stake · eight-sided post · yupa

Where on the hand: Palm surface; named in both the Bṛhat Saṃhitā's women's list and the Garuḍa Purāṇa's.

What it looks like: A single tall, straight vertical line with a short horizontal collar-stroke near its top and a slight widening at the base — a fixed post. The eight-sided form is drawn with two closely parallel verticals joined by short cross-strokes at top and bottom to suggest a faceted shaft.

The yūpa is the post to which the sacrificial animal is tethered in Vedic rite — a mark of ritual authority. Bṛhat Saṃhitā 70 gives it in its eight-sided form among the queen-making marks; the Garuḍa Purāṇa lists 'sacrificial stake' among the marks of royalty for women.