R
Ramacchandran
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||Sree||
AGNIHOTRA
How to do it
At precisely local sunrise & sunset timings, two pinchfuls of uncooked rice grains, smeared with few drops of cow`s ghee are offered into the Fire. The Fire is prepared in a semi-pyramid shaped copper- pot (havan kund). While offering the two portions to the Fire, two simple Vedic mantras are chanted.
MANTRA The offerings of Agnihotra are to be offered to the fire along with the chanting of following Sanskrit mantras
At sunrise :
SOORYAAYA SWAAHAA,
SOORYAAYA IDAM NA MAMA {First offering}
PRAJAAPATAYE SWAAHA,
PRAJAAPATAYE IDAM NA MAMA [Second offering]
At sunset :
AGNAYE SWAAHAA,
AGNAYE IDAM NA MAMA {First offering }
PRAJAAPATAYE SWAAHAA,
PRAJAAPATAYE IDAM NA MAMA [second offering }
The chanting of the mantras helps create and develop total surrender emotion in the mind. Chant the mantra in such a way that its sound will resonate in the whole home. The pronunciation should be clear and in rhythmic way. The words ‘Soorya’, ‘ Agni ‘, ‘ Prajapati ‘ in the mantras are the synonyms of the Almighty. The feeling of total surrender is developed through the utterance of these mantras.
ACTUAL RITUAL
Check the local sunrise sunset timings from the annual timetable provided for performing Agnihotra. Normally about 5-10 minutes before the actual sunrise time arrange pieces of dry cow dung cakes in the Agnihotra pot.
1. First, take a small piece of cow dung cake and place it at the bottom of the pot just big enough to fit the bottom of the pot.
2. Now arrange 2 small pieces on the front-back sides of the pot.
3. Now, on the above 2 pieces, arrange 2 long pieces on the sides of the pot; ensuring that there is some space in-between.
4. Arrange 2-2 pieces of cowdung cakes in square form so that a hollow space is created in the centre of the pot. Make 1-2 layers.
5. Take one piece of cowdung cake, smoothen it by rubbing on floor, and apply ghee to it.
6. Light this above piece, and put it in the centre of the arranged cowdung pieces in the pot. If needed, one can use Guggul camphor or cotton wick duly soaked in cow’s ghee. If necessary, one can fan; so that all the pieces are fully ablaze.
7. Take two pinchfuls of clean, unbroken rice grains ( akshata ) smeared with cow’s ghee, on the palm of your left hand or in a small dish.
Agnihotra in the morning: Keep an eye on your watch and sooner its needle touches the exact sunrise time, start saying first mantra ‘ Sooryaaya Svaahaa ‘ immediately on saying ‘Svaahaa’ offer one part of the rice grains to the fire and at the continuing the mantra complete the first line uttering ‘ Sooryaaya Idam Na Mama ‘. Uttering the second line of the mantra, offer other part of the rice grains to the fire after saying ‘Prajaapataye Svaahaa‘ and complete the mantra uttering ‘ Prajaapataye Idam Na Mama‘. Sit and concentrate on the fire till the offerings are fully burnt. The morning Agnihotra concludes here.
Evening Agnihotra: In the evening, before the Agnihotra time, remove very carefully the morning Agnihotra ash from the pot and put it in a bag or box specially kept aside for it. Repeating the morning process, prepare a fresh fire from the cowdung cakes in the pot. Also prepare two equal parts of the cow ghee smeared rice grains for the two offerings. Exactly at sunset time, accompanied by the chanting of sunset Agnihotra mantras – ‘ Agnaye Svaahaa ‘ offer the first part after saying ‘Svaahaa’ and complete the mantra by saying ‘ Agnaye Idam Na Mama‘. Similarly, uttering the second line of the mantra offer other part of the rice grains to the fire after saying ‘ Prajaapataye Svaahaa ‘ and complete the mantra uttering ‘ Prajaapataye Idam Na Mama ‘. Concentrate on the fire till the offerings are fully burnt. This concludes the evening Agnihotra.
CLARIFICATIONS ABOUT THE PRACTICE OF AGNIHOTRA :
1. The practice of Agnihotra is simple, easily adoptable and universal. It may be performed by any one
2. There are no barriers like religion, sect, cast, creed, nationality, colour, sex and age.
3. Women & children also can practice it easily.
4. In the world, many people and families are performing this yadnya and deriving its benefits.
5. Agnihotra can be performed in any room or place in the house. If one has an altar or place for meditations, etc., then it is excellent. It even can be performed in the balcony or terrace of the house.
6. While performing Agnihotra in a family at one place, only one person should make the offerings. Other members of the family present at the time of Agnihotra will derive the resultant benefits. If two individuals from the same family are desirous of performing Agnihotra individually, they should either do it at another place or they should prepare separate Agnihotra pots and make the offering saying the mantras.
7. Agnihotra can be performed in a farm or a garden adjoining your house.
8. If the person regularly performing Agnihotra in the home has to go out of station for work or if he is not able to be present in the house at Agnihotra time, any other member of the family can perform Agnihotra. If the entire family has to go out then a friend or a neighbour can be requested to perform Agnihotra in your house. This helps in keeping the ‘welfare cycle‘ of Agnihotra uninterrupted..If the individual has to out of station, he can carry the Agnihotra kit with him so that he can perform Agnihotra wherever he is at the local sunrise/sunset time.
9. If the cycle of daily morning-evening Agnihotra performance is by any chance discontinues on an occasion or two; do not worry about it. Resume the Agnihotra immediately from the next Sunrise/sunset time.
10. Fire should be fully ablaze in the pot before Agnihotra time.It consumes offerings easily. After Agnihotra let the fire subside by itself. Do not try to extinguish it by any other method. Do not extinguish it or put any other material in it.
11. After the Agnihotra is over, if it is possible, lift the pot and put it in safe place so that children in the house do not touch it. Ensure any flammable items or material is kept away from the pot.
12. While lighting the fire a few drops of cow’s ghee can be put over the cakes or cow’s ghee can be applied on the dry cow dung pieces before lighting them. Dry twigs of ‘Vata’ ( Banayan tree ), Pimpal, Audumbara, Sandalwood, Palas or Devdaar trees can be used . These contain medicinal properties. To light fire, one can use Guggul or cotton-wicks soaked in ghee.
13. Keep the Agnihotra place clean and tidy.
14. In the morning, it will be ideal if one takes a bath before Agnihotra time. If evening, if taking bath is not possible, then wash hands-feet before performing the Agnihotra.
15. Before the Agnihotra, remove the ash from the pot and store it in a bag or box. This ash can be used as an effective and very useful fertilizer for your kitchen garden and agriculture. Do not treat this ash as waste to throw in a dustbin. One can immerse Agnihotra ash in lake, rivers and water- reservoirs. It cleans and purifies the water.
16. After making the offerings in the fire of Agnihotra, sit quietly at the same place and try to concentrate our mind at the Divine energy. At this time try to discard all thoughts from your mind and strive to develop the feeling of total surrender.
(Vedvigyan Anusandhan Sanstha, Shivpuri, Akkalkot, Dist – Solapur – 413216)
AGNIHOTRA
How to do it
At precisely local sunrise & sunset timings, two pinchfuls of uncooked rice grains, smeared with few drops of cow`s ghee are offered into the Fire. The Fire is prepared in a semi-pyramid shaped copper- pot (havan kund). While offering the two portions to the Fire, two simple Vedic mantras are chanted.
MANTRA The offerings of Agnihotra are to be offered to the fire along with the chanting of following Sanskrit mantras
At sunrise :
SOORYAAYA SWAAHAA,
SOORYAAYA IDAM NA MAMA {First offering}
PRAJAAPATAYE SWAAHA,
PRAJAAPATAYE IDAM NA MAMA [Second offering]
At sunset :
AGNAYE SWAAHAA,
AGNAYE IDAM NA MAMA {First offering }
PRAJAAPATAYE SWAAHAA,
PRAJAAPATAYE IDAM NA MAMA [second offering }
The chanting of the mantras helps create and develop total surrender emotion in the mind. Chant the mantra in such a way that its sound will resonate in the whole home. The pronunciation should be clear and in rhythmic way. The words ‘Soorya’, ‘ Agni ‘, ‘ Prajapati ‘ in the mantras are the synonyms of the Almighty. The feeling of total surrender is developed through the utterance of these mantras.
ACTUAL RITUAL
Check the local sunrise sunset timings from the annual timetable provided for performing Agnihotra. Normally about 5-10 minutes before the actual sunrise time arrange pieces of dry cow dung cakes in the Agnihotra pot.
1. First, take a small piece of cow dung cake and place it at the bottom of the pot just big enough to fit the bottom of the pot.
2. Now arrange 2 small pieces on the front-back sides of the pot.
3. Now, on the above 2 pieces, arrange 2 long pieces on the sides of the pot; ensuring that there is some space in-between.
4. Arrange 2-2 pieces of cowdung cakes in square form so that a hollow space is created in the centre of the pot. Make 1-2 layers.
5. Take one piece of cowdung cake, smoothen it by rubbing on floor, and apply ghee to it.
6. Light this above piece, and put it in the centre of the arranged cowdung pieces in the pot. If needed, one can use Guggul camphor or cotton wick duly soaked in cow’s ghee. If necessary, one can fan; so that all the pieces are fully ablaze.
7. Take two pinchfuls of clean, unbroken rice grains ( akshata ) smeared with cow’s ghee, on the palm of your left hand or in a small dish.
Agnihotra in the morning: Keep an eye on your watch and sooner its needle touches the exact sunrise time, start saying first mantra ‘ Sooryaaya Svaahaa ‘ immediately on saying ‘Svaahaa’ offer one part of the rice grains to the fire and at the continuing the mantra complete the first line uttering ‘ Sooryaaya Idam Na Mama ‘. Uttering the second line of the mantra, offer other part of the rice grains to the fire after saying ‘Prajaapataye Svaahaa‘ and complete the mantra uttering ‘ Prajaapataye Idam Na Mama‘. Sit and concentrate on the fire till the offerings are fully burnt. The morning Agnihotra concludes here.
Evening Agnihotra: In the evening, before the Agnihotra time, remove very carefully the morning Agnihotra ash from the pot and put it in a bag or box specially kept aside for it. Repeating the morning process, prepare a fresh fire from the cowdung cakes in the pot. Also prepare two equal parts of the cow ghee smeared rice grains for the two offerings. Exactly at sunset time, accompanied by the chanting of sunset Agnihotra mantras – ‘ Agnaye Svaahaa ‘ offer the first part after saying ‘Svaahaa’ and complete the mantra by saying ‘ Agnaye Idam Na Mama‘. Similarly, uttering the second line of the mantra offer other part of the rice grains to the fire after saying ‘ Prajaapataye Svaahaa ‘ and complete the mantra uttering ‘ Prajaapataye Idam Na Mama ‘. Concentrate on the fire till the offerings are fully burnt. This concludes the evening Agnihotra.
CLARIFICATIONS ABOUT THE PRACTICE OF AGNIHOTRA :
1. The practice of Agnihotra is simple, easily adoptable and universal. It may be performed by any one
2. There are no barriers like religion, sect, cast, creed, nationality, colour, sex and age.
3. Women & children also can practice it easily.
4. In the world, many people and families are performing this yadnya and deriving its benefits.
5. Agnihotra can be performed in any room or place in the house. If one has an altar or place for meditations, etc., then it is excellent. It even can be performed in the balcony or terrace of the house.
6. While performing Agnihotra in a family at one place, only one person should make the offerings. Other members of the family present at the time of Agnihotra will derive the resultant benefits. If two individuals from the same family are desirous of performing Agnihotra individually, they should either do it at another place or they should prepare separate Agnihotra pots and make the offering saying the mantras.
7. Agnihotra can be performed in a farm or a garden adjoining your house.
8. If the person regularly performing Agnihotra in the home has to go out of station for work or if he is not able to be present in the house at Agnihotra time, any other member of the family can perform Agnihotra. If the entire family has to go out then a friend or a neighbour can be requested to perform Agnihotra in your house. This helps in keeping the ‘welfare cycle‘ of Agnihotra uninterrupted..If the individual has to out of station, he can carry the Agnihotra kit with him so that he can perform Agnihotra wherever he is at the local sunrise/sunset time.
9. If the cycle of daily morning-evening Agnihotra performance is by any chance discontinues on an occasion or two; do not worry about it. Resume the Agnihotra immediately from the next Sunrise/sunset time.
10. Fire should be fully ablaze in the pot before Agnihotra time.It consumes offerings easily. After Agnihotra let the fire subside by itself. Do not try to extinguish it by any other method. Do not extinguish it or put any other material in it.
11. After the Agnihotra is over, if it is possible, lift the pot and put it in safe place so that children in the house do not touch it. Ensure any flammable items or material is kept away from the pot.
12. While lighting the fire a few drops of cow’s ghee can be put over the cakes or cow’s ghee can be applied on the dry cow dung pieces before lighting them. Dry twigs of ‘Vata’ ( Banayan tree ), Pimpal, Audumbara, Sandalwood, Palas or Devdaar trees can be used . These contain medicinal properties. To light fire, one can use Guggul or cotton-wicks soaked in ghee.
13. Keep the Agnihotra place clean and tidy.
14. In the morning, it will be ideal if one takes a bath before Agnihotra time. If evening, if taking bath is not possible, then wash hands-feet before performing the Agnihotra.
15. Before the Agnihotra, remove the ash from the pot and store it in a bag or box. This ash can be used as an effective and very useful fertilizer for your kitchen garden and agriculture. Do not treat this ash as waste to throw in a dustbin. One can immerse Agnihotra ash in lake, rivers and water- reservoirs. It cleans and purifies the water.
16. After making the offerings in the fire of Agnihotra, sit quietly at the same place and try to concentrate our mind at the Divine energy. At this time try to discard all thoughts from your mind and strive to develop the feeling of total surrender.
(Vedvigyan Anusandhan Sanstha, Shivpuri, Akkalkot, Dist – Solapur – 413216)
