Posted on: 06 Nov 2020
[Following are the questions asked by devotees to Swami in the satsaṅga held on October 17, 2020]
[Śrī Bharath Krishna asked: Swami, before I started learning spiritual knowledge, I had heard different justifications for conducting a homa, in which food and other materials are burnt. I was told that it has been scientifically proven that conducting a homa will generate a lot of positive vibrations and that it also kills all the microbes in and around the area where it is conducted. Later, I learned from You that doing a homa involving the burning of ghee only produces smoke which causes pollution. Was what I had learned before totally wrong? Also, I have heard that King Daśaratha conducted a big ritual for the sake of having sons. When the ritual was successful, some deity came out of the fire and gave some fruits to Daśaratha, which were supposed to be eaten by his wives so that they may have children. If fire sacrifices are wrong, why was one conducted by Daśratha? Or is the incident I have heard wrong? Swami, You have given the correct explanation of doing a yajña in this Incarnation. Is this the first time You have given it or have You been giving it during every Incarnation of Yours?]
Swami replied: Whatever you have understood about a homa is totally, totally and totally wrong. Homa means offering food with plenty of ghee to the divine preacher and devotees participating in spiritual discussions (satsaṅga). Offering ghee does not mean offering pure ghee. It means offering food cooked in plenty of ghee. The offering of the food is made to the hunger-fire present in the stomachs of the participants. The participants offer the food into their own hunger-fires with their own hands. Here, the possessor of the hunger-fire (Vaiśvānarāgni) is himself assumed to be fire (Āgneyo vai…, Vaiśvānaraḥ praviśyatithiḥ…—Veda). Hence, the ‘fire’ (agni) into which the ‘ghee’ (ghee-cooked food) is offered and the person (hotā) offering the ‘ghee’ to the ‘fire’ are one and the same. This is told in the first hymn of the first Veda called the Ṛg Veda (Agnimīḻe…, Hotāram…—Veda). This hymn says that Agni, which is the fire into which the ghee is offered and the person offering the ghee are one and the same. This is possible only when the hungry person is eating the food cooked in plenty of ghee with his own hands. He is making the offering to the hunger-fire called vaiśvānarāgni present in his own stomach.
The bhautikāgni or laukikāgni is the physical fire lit by burning sticks and it is used only to cook the food containing ghee (Āgneyamaṣṭākapālaṃ caruṃ nirvapati…—Veda). The food associated with the ghee is called ghee, which is a figure of speech lakṣaṇānuvṛtti. It is similar to calling out to the apple-seller, who is the possessor of apples, as ‘O, Apples!’.
In the sacrifice conducted by Daśaratha, several fire altars were lit to cook the food containing ghee. From one of such fire altars, the angel appeared and gave pāyasam as the fruit. The physical fire is lit to cook the food, making the physical fire only instrumental in the sacrifice (Yajña sādhanaṃ laukikāgniḥ). The fire into which the ghee-food is offered, is the hunger-fire called vaiśvānarāgni, which is present in the stomachs of the priests and devotees attending that sacrifice. Hence, homa or sacrifice is offering ghee-cooked food to the hungry guests.
The word yajña, which also means sacrifice comes from the root word yaj, which means worshipping God. It does not mean burning ghee in fire. Ghee is the most precious food and the Veda has declared a rule that no food should be wasted or destroyed (Annaṃ na paricakṣīta tat vratam…—Veda). All this havoc has taken place due to the misinterpretation of these tape-recorder priests, who blindly recite the Veda, without understanding a single word of it. The ancient sages learnt the meaning of the Veda and they conducted the sacrifice in the light of its true interpretation. The Veda itself means knowledge and not the mere sound of words (Vidul-jñāne).
Every Incarnation of God always gave only the correct interpretation. Misinterpretations were only introduced later by ignorant or selfish followers. Such misinterpretations spoil the true spirit of the Vedic knowledge (Yogo naṣṭaḥ…—Gītā). So, God incarnates again and again to bring out the correct interpretation or the true knowledge of the Veda. It is told that God incarnated as fish and recovered the Veda which was stolen by the demon Somakāsura. Somakāsura means wine, which tarnishes the intellect and breeds ignorance. The fish indicates the eye, which is also fish-shaped. It means that the eye or its vision, which in turn refers to the the correct interpretation of the knowledge. The Fish-Incarnation of God recovering the stolen Veda means God restoring the Veda by giving the correct interpretation.
Keywords:
| Shri Datta Swami | Do fire sacrifices purify the air, kill microbes and produce positive vibrations?| Aagneyo vai Vaishvanarah pravishyatithih Vaishvanaragni satsanga Rig Veda Agnimile Hotaram bhautikaagni laukikaagni Aagneyamashtakapalam charum nirvapati Yajna sadhanam laukikaagnih Annam na parichaksita tat vratam Vidul jnane Yogo nashtah