Arya Samaj

Shishya

On the Importance and Sanctity of Yajna in the Vedic Texts
by
Braham Dutt Ukhul

If we look back in Indian history, we find that the ancient Rishis performed Yajnas. In order to ensure uninterrupted Yajna, Rishi Vishwamitra went to the court of king Dashratha to seek the help of Ram and Laxman to guard against evil forces which interfered in the performance of the Yajna. In the Ramayana, we come across various episodes where the warriors took recourse to Yajnas to attain prowess. For example Ram, who guarded the Yajna for Rishi Vishwamitra, was asked to disrupt the Yajna undertaken by Meghnad because he intended to please the goddess Nikumbhala to attain the boon of becoming unconquerable (ajeya) since he was fighting for Adharma, i.e non-virtuous, cruel and characterless ends.

In the same vein, we all are aware of the Rajsuya Yajna, performed by Yudhishthir and the great Mahabharat is a testimony to this - which chronologically goes back about 5000 years, i.e. before the well known and the widely spread religions of the world, namly Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Jainism etc. were founded. So, Yajna is the oldest ritual or invocation known in the world today.

That the Rig Veda is the oldest book on the shelves of the libraries of the world is a universally accepted fact. According to the Vedic thought, the Almighty God, while creating the first humans, also endowed them with the appropriate instructions to conduct their day-to-day life. There was no label of any cast or creed and all were ‘Amritasya Putrah’. If only this aspect would be well understood and grasped, all disputes among various nations and the people all over the world would vanish. Such are the contents of the Vedas.

Dwelling on the subject of Yajna, some select Vedic hymns are quoted below to illustrate its importance.

yajnen yajnamaajant devah (Yajurved –31.16)
"Learned people worship God through Yajna."

yajno hi ta indra vardhano bhooduta (Rg.ved-3.32.12)
"O my soul! Yajna is the instrument of the upliftment of your intellect."

iyam te yajna tanuh (Yajurved 4.13)
"Your body is for Yajna."

yajno vitan sayyah (Rgved-8.68.11)
"Yajna spreads happiness everywhere."

prancham yajnam pra nayataa sakhayah (Rgved-10.101.2)
"O friends! Perform Yajna at the beginning of every task."

eejanah swargam yanti lokam (Atharvaved-18.4.2)
"Performers of Yajna achieve salvation."

Finally, may it be sufficient to quote Shatapath Brahman-1.7.1.5:

yajno vaii shreshthatamam karma
"Yajna is the most sacred deed."

What is Yajna?

The Sanskrit word yajna is derived from the root yaj- and it conveys the following:

Devapooja, i.e. honouring the scholars or the men of knowledge. (Deva is one who renders selfless service.)
Sangatikaran, i.e. the will of co-ordination, leading the people to righteous path and help their elevation.
Daan, i.e parting away with your intellectual wealth, sublime thoughts, your precious time, your strength, your feelings/emotions, your material possessions and so on.
Stuthi, i.e. praise of God through Yajna.

The Rgveda starts with the word yajna and the mantra reads as:

agnimeedhe purohitam yajnasya devam ritvijam hotaram ratnadhatamam

"I praise the all knowledgeable God who has revealed the Yajna karma, who has created all the seasons, whose light illumines the entire universe,who controls the whole world and whose power pervades everywhere."

While defining his firm convictions in his book Satyartha Prakash, Swami Dayanand Saraswati says that the performance of Yajna is most commendable. It consists in showing honour and respect to the wise and learned, in the proper application of the principles of chemistry and other physical sciences to the affairs of life, in the dissemination of knowledge, in the performance of Agnihotra, which, by contributing to the purification of the air and water, and the healthy growth of vegetables, directly tends to promote the well being of all senitient creatures.

Five Forms of Yajnas

Brahmayajna: It encompasses praise or devotion to God, swadhyaya, i.e. self-study, upliftment of will power and attainment of sublime knowledge. It imbibes embedding God within your heart.
Devayajna: Its aim is to impart learning to achieve the element of mutual cooperation.
Bali-Vaishvadevayajna: To cast off the element of pride (abhimana) and expansion of karuna i.e. kindness and purity.
Atithiyajna: To seek knowledge from the learned and rendering service to them.
Pitriyajna: To enhance the element of gratefulness and for attainment of knowledge; to render service to parents and fulfill their desires and requirements.

These Yajnas are performed in a prescribed manner and all its methods and means are laid down in the Vedic texts which need not be elaborated here.

Benefits of Yajna

Yajna helps in the upliftment of the physical, mental and social spheres. Yajna inculcates in us the element of tyaga, i.e.sacrifice or giving away to others, it adds to purity of thoughts and actions, it leads to purify one’s heart and mind and so it eliminates evil thoughts and base elements. The mind gets inspired to perform noble deeds and as a result it becomes full of happiness and the body improves in physical and mental health.

The society gets involved in the tasks of welfare of its constituents and a sense of equanimity pervades within purified hearts. All aim to overcome evils and cast off ill-feelings among human beings. Such a society is bound to achieve progress and prosperity for all walks of life.

Yajna reminds one of one's duties and so it is desirable that Yajna should be a daily routine in one's life as was the practise in Aryavarta. The Yajnas guarantee the purity of environment. We defile the mother earth by all our waste. It therefore behove us to give something back and it would be done best through performance of Yajna by an individual or in a collective manner as in an assembly.

The purpose of Yajna is expansion. When ghee and/or samagri is offered in the fire of Yajna, they spread their ingredients in the environment and benefit the entire neighbourhood by spreading the incense and removing the impurities in the atmosphere. The Vedic prayers inspire the performer of Yajna to awaken his inner noble qualities. Atharvaved 19.63.1 states:

devan yajnen bodhaya

"One should arouse the devas by Yajna."

Through this means, we can discriminate between right and wrong and receive inspiration to work for the welfare of the society.

God Himself is a Manifestation of Yajna

The very mechanism of the universe - encompassing the movement of heavenly spheres, the rising and setting of the sun with precision, the formation of sky, fire, water and earth and the gift of varied vegetation, the constant source of energy, the coolness of the moon, the onset of the seasons in a set cycle, the rainfalls to impart food unto us, etc. - are all part of the Yajna performed by our Creator.

By use of the intellect, man has tried to explore nature and made un-imaginable discoveries and is now in the space age. He is still engaged in this research and astronomers discover more and more about the mysteries of this universe. The real success, however, will reside in the realization of one's own self by way of introspection and commanding prowess through performance of Yajna.

Spirit of Yajna

Performance of yajna should be governed by noble intentions and malice towards none. Yajna does not only imply simply lighting a fire or even the offering of sacrifices. Yajna implies speaking the truth, rendering selfless social service, imparting knowledge and wealth to the less privileged, and in doing one’s duty in a righteous manner. The result will be perfect harmony in society, free of all evils. May we inculcate the spirit of Yajna in our life and perform Yajnas at least on the eve of important markers in one’s life, e.g. birthday, marriage anniversaries etc. to look within and to thank the source of our strenghth i.e. the Almighty God.

Some Misconceptions

It is unfortunate that some people have misinterpreted the Vedic texts to propagate that Yajnas support animal sacrifices and one Mr.D.N.Jha even went to the extent to mention in his book ‘the myth of the holy cow’ that the Vedas endorsed beef eating and the Vedic gods namely Agni, Indra, Soma, Varuna etc.relished such offerings. A detailed write-up to contradict the thesis of Mr. Jha is available in Clouds Over the Understanding of the Vedas. Persons desirous to pursue it further could refer to this source. The Vedas have to be seen in their true light as revealed by Swami Dayanand Saraswati and all organizations/Sabhas believing in the Aryan culture of Rama and Krishna should realize the danger being posed by our adversaries who even objected to the revision of text books containing false information.

(Source)