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Let us understand yajňa by studying the epithets ascribed
to it in more than one thousand verses. It is a fundamental
mistake to regard yajňa merely as a ritual or rite. Veda
describes yajňa as journey, as climbing a hill, as a battle
and also as worship or rite. The worship or rite is not that done
by a human being. Agni the deva is called upon to perform
the rite; Agni is requested to do all the functions
associated with the various priests. Agni is called upon to
worship on behalf of the rişhi not only the devās
but also the human beings who have attained perfection (1.45.1).
According to the Rig Vedic mystics, a human being performs an
action only because of the assistance s/he gets from the devās
RV
(5.4.10).
As a matter of fact, the contribution of the human to each action
is nominal. Even great poets like the Vedic poets obtained
inspiration from superior planes and their main contribution is in
transcribing the revealed verses in appropriate metres. Yajňa
is any activity which recognises the collaboration between the
deva and the human. Yajňa is not a mere rite or ritual.
A rişhi
is conscious of the Divine's Hand in the performance of all
activities. The later scripture Bhagavad Gīta specifically
mentions the different yajňās by name like yajňa of
obtaining material objects, yajňa of obtaining knowledge,
yajňa involving self-study and so on. The sages are also
conscious of the role of the deva, especially of Agni,
so that they request him to perform the yajňa (or the
activity) on their behalf.
Let us discuss the various epithets assigned to yajňa
beginning with adhvara, journey. Adhvara is derived
from adhva path and ra to move. Ritualists regard
this word as a synonym for rite since one of the principal priests
in the rite is called adhvaryu. The function of the priest
is to direct the rite and this function is in tune with the
meaning assigned to adhvara. What is this journey? Every
action in our life is a step in our journey towards realising the
goal, namely bliss, an all-sided perfection of not only the
physical body, but the vital and mental bodies, not only an
individual perfection but perfection of the entire society. Veda
uses the imagery of voyage for yajňa. Just as merchants go
in their boats to distant countries and bring valuable treasures
from these countries, a person who does yajňa reaches
different states of consciousness, gets priceless experiences and
brings them back to the ordinary living conditions and thus makes
the human life Divine.
The yajňa is also climbing from one peak to another, from
one degree of perfection to another, (1.10.2). It is explicitly
stated that we are not consciously aware of the entire journey. We
can know only of what can be done at that stage. Whenever help is
needed in this climb, the devās again manifest and help us
along.
Yajňa
is also a battle. We have mentioned only helpful powers of the
nature, the devās. There are also the powers that hinder
our journey towards perfection. These powers are called dasyus,
the thieves or destroyers, Vŗtra and Vāla
being prominent among them. These dasyus impede our
progress. They are called ayajvānaĥ, people who do not
recognise the principle of collaboration or yajňa. They
foster in human beings, who come under their influence, qualities
like jealousy, greed etc. The human collaborators call upon the
devās to battle these adversaries. Hence yajňa is also
a battle.
Yajňa
is a rite or ritual too, which is a symbolic physical
representation of the various steps involved in collaboration. The
ritual begins with the invocation of Agni by lighting the physical
fire. The dry fuel samit is fed to the fire as representing
all the qualities which are not necessary or not appropriate. The
fire is nourished by the ghee which symbolises mental clarity. The
Soma herb which stands for the bliss released in all
actions is also offered to Agni as well as rice and grains. These
are some of the steps in the famous Soma rite.
Every rite has four priests namely hotŗ, adhvaryu, udgātŗ
and brahma, whose names indicate their functions. Hotŗ
is the deva who calls all the other devās to come
and participate in the divine activity yajňa. Adhvaryu
lays down the various steps in the successful performance of the
yajňa. Udgātŗ is the deva who chants the
prescribed mantrās in the appropriate metres at requisite
times. In RV there is no mention of the four faced creator-god of
that name, Brahma. In the Veda brahma always stands
for the mantra, the potent Word. Brahma is the priest who
presides over the entire yajňa and makes sure that
everything is performed in the correct manner. In the RV, it is
the deva Agni who performs all these functions in the
psychological yajňa, the collaborative and co-creative
actions of the devās and the humans.
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