Agnihotra

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Agnihotra (

Devnagari: अग्निहोत्र) refers to the yajna of offering ghee into the sacred fire as per strict rites, and may include twice-daily heated milk offering made by those in the Śrauta tradition.[1] The ritual has been described by P.E. Dumont as a "fertility charm", and as a "solar charm" which symbolically preserved and created the sun at nightfall and sunrise.[2]

This tradition dates back to the

Upaniṣads as religious performance. The tradition is now practiced in many parts of South Asia in the Indian sub-continent, including primarily India and also in Nepal. The Brahmin who performs the Agnihotra ritual is called an Agnihotri.[4]

Vedic Agnihotra

Preliminaries

Agni, recipient of the evening Agnihotra, with his consort Svaha.

The ritual is conducted twice daily, right before or after

Adhvaryu and a milker.[5][6]

Vedic rituals are typically performed by four priests: the aforementioned adhvaryu, who is responsible for the physical details of the sacrifice and chants the Yajurveda, a hotṛi who recites the Rigveda, an udgātṛi who sings hymns of the Samaveda, and a brahman who supervises the ceremony, and recites the Atharvaveda while correcting any errors that may occur. There are three fires: an eastern offertorial fire called an āhavanīya lit in a square fire pit, a western fire called the gārhapatya lit in a circular fire pit, which represents the householder's fire, and a southern fire simply called the dakṣiṇāgni (Southern fire). During the ceremonies, a poker, a pot called an agnihotrasthālī, a spoon known as a sruva, and a larger ladle called the agnihotrahavani are all used. At the centre of the ritual space is an earthen altar called the vedi where the tools to perform the ritual are placed.[7]

Ritual

When the sacrificial area has been cleaned and the sacrificial fire lit, a cow is brought to the grounds and the milker, an

Rta I have found Satya" and pours water on his head.[5]

Ithihasa

The

Brāhmaṇas explains the origin of agnihotra. In one, Prajapati, after creating Agni, offers the sweat of his brow (which became ghee) or his eye after hearing his voice commanding himself to sacrifice, creating Surya. The origin of the exclamation svāhā, said as offerings are made into the sacrificial fire, is explained as a combination of svā (own) and āha (spoken). In another, the agnihotra is a condensed version of a thousand-year sacrifice Prajapati and the other devas performed to gain divine power.[10]

Agnihotra rituals in Nepal

Sunrise over Shree Antu, Nepal.

Witzel (1992) locates the first Agnishala hypothetically at Jhul (Mātātīrtha), in the western ridge of the Kathmandu valley and later at the southern rim of the palace of Aṃśuvermā at Hadigaon, Kathmandu. The first source of inscription evidence was from Tachapal tole, east part of Bhaktapur city, also shown by a legend that the Maithila King Harisimhadeva would establish the yantra of Taleju Bhavānī in the house of an Agnihotri. From 1600 CE onward, the Agnihotra has been attested to the Agnishala temple in Patan only.

The

Newar Rajopadhyaya Brahmins of Patan, who are the premier Krishna Yajurvedic
Brahmins of Nepal.

Along with these, there are other Agnishalas identified and recently revived, viz.[13]

Arya Samaj

Vedic religion as interpreted by its founder, Dayananda Saraswati. Strongly criticizing the "Puranic" ritual of performing pujas to murtis (religious images such as statues), adherents perform a variation of agnihotra as part of the five yajnas as described in Vedic texts.[14]

Gajanan Maharaj

A modern Agnihotra after Gajanan Maharaj underway in British Columbia.

A simplified variant of the agnihotra ceremony was popularized in the mid-1900s by Gajanan Maharaj,[note 1] and entails the offering of ghee and brown rice into only a single fire lit in a copper pyramid-shaped brazier with cow dung and additional amounts of ghee. Mantras are repeated during this process.[15] Practitioners claim a number of physical and environmental benefits from performing the ritual; however, these are pseudoscientific.[16] In 2007, Sylvia Kratz and Ewald Schaung found that while Agnihotra ash possibly increased the amount of phosphorus in soil, levels were the same regardless of whether the ceremony was done at the prescribed times with mantras or not. The composition of the pyramid was found to be a factor, with ash created in iron pyramids containing significantly less phosphorus than ones made of copper.[17]

Mantras

Like the Vedic Agnihotra, the modern version of Agnihotra perpetuated by Gajanan Maharaj and groups such as Homa Therapy has two variants, one for the evening and one for the morning. At sunset, the practitioner says "Agnaye svāhā idam Agnaye na mama" (Devanagari: अग्नये स्वाहा इदम् अग्नये न मम),[a] offering the first half of the rice or ghee into the fire after "svāhā" is spoken. After the first mantra is said, the practitioner then says, "Prajāpataye svāhā Prajāpataye idam na mama" (Devanagari: प्रजापतये स्वाहा प्रजापतये इदम् न मम),[b] again offering a second portion of rice and/or ghee as soon as "svāhā" is spoken. The morning Agnihotra is identical, save for the fact that Surya is substituted for Agni.[18]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The Gajanan Maharaj who promoted agnihotra was not the 19th century saint, but an identically-named religious leader active in the 20th century
  1. ^ Lit. "[This is] for Agni, svāhā. [This is] for Agni, and not for me."
  2. Prajāpati
    , svāhā. [This is] for Prajāpati, and not for me.

External links

References

  1. ^ Knipe, David M. (2015). Vedic Voices: Intimate Narratives of a Living Anthra Tradition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  2. ^ Bodewitz, H.W. (1976). The Daily Evening and Morning Offering (Agnihotra) According to the Brāhmaṇas (9789004045323 ed.). Leiden: E.J. Brill. pp. 2–3.
  3. ^ Renou, Louis (1947). Vedic India. Susil Gupta. p. 102.
  4. ISBN 978-81-7646-247-1
    .
  5. ^
    JSTOR 985912
    . Retrieved 23 September 2021.
  6. ^ a b Keith, Arthur Berriedale (1925). The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads. Harvard University Press. p. 318.
  7. ISBN 0192835769
    .
  8. ISBN 9788184757637
    .
  9. ISBN 978-81-208-0706-8
    .
  10. ^ Bodewitz 1976, p. 14-29.
  11. ^
    ISBN 9004094679
    .
  12. ^ Rajopadhyaya, Abhas D (2017). Fire Rituals in Newār Community: The Dynamics of Rituals at Agnimaṭha, Pāṭan [MA Thesis]. Kathmandu: Department of Anthropology, Tri-Chandra College (affiliated to Tribhuvan University).
  13. ^ Witzel, Michael (1986). "Agnihtora-Rituale in Nepal" [Agnihotra Ritual in Nepal]. In Kölver, B; Leinhard, Seigfried (eds.). Formen kulturellen Wandels und andere Beirtaege zur Erforschung des Himalaya. St Augustin: VGH Wissenschaftsverlag. pp. 157–187.
  14. ^ Adcock, C.S. (2013). The Limits of Tolerance Indian: Secularism and the Politics of Religious Freedom. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 43.
  15. ^ "'Mass agnihotra' camp conducted". The Hindu. 12 March 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  16. ^ "Pseudo science abounds Krishi Mela 2017". The Hindu.
  17. ^ Kratz, Sylvia; Schung, Ewald (2007). "Homa Farming - a vedic fire for agriculture: Influence of Agnihotra ash on water solubility of soil P" (PDF). Landbauforschung Völkenrode: 207–11. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  18. ^ "Mantras". Agnihotra.org — Agnihotra & Homa Therapy Information. Homa Therapy. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
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