Yajna and Homa

Dear members,
 
I have a question.  
 
What is the difference between a yajna and a homa?  Is it the scale?  Or is it the type of offering
(ghee versus others) or the mantras or purpose (kaamya karma versus loka kalyana)?  Yajna seems to
have a broader meaning than fire ritual, but homa is strictly a fire ritual.
 
If this has been discussed before, can you please forward me the link?
 
With regards, 
Krishna

      

Re: Yajna and Homa

Krishna,

Namaste. While yajna is defined as 'worship, sacrifice', extended to the
five great obligatory sacrifices of the dvija, the prime definition of homa
is 'pouring into the fire'. The older, more formal ceremony of offering
oblations as in the RgVeda was the 'hotra' with its designated classes of
priest.

Michael

-----Original Message-----
From: advaita-l-bounces@...
[mailto:advaita-l-bounces@...]On
Behalf Of Krishna
Subrahmanian
Sent: 02 August 2009 21:01
To: Advaita-L Mailing List
Subject: [Advaita-l] Yajna and Homa

Dear members,
 
I have a question. 
 
What is the difference between a yajna and a homa?  Is it the scale?  Or is
it the type of offering (ghee versus others) or the mantras or purpose
(kaamya karma versus loka kalyana)?  Yajna seems to have a broader meaning
than fire ritual, but homa is strictly a fire ritual.
 
If this has been discussed before, can you please forward me the link?
 

Re: Yajna and Homa

Dear Michaelji,
 
Namaste,
 
Yes in the Vedatrayee there is yajna and the priests are differently called in each of the three vedas. In the
fourth Veda ie. the Atharva Veda where Lord Brhma himself is the priest. In the fifth veda, ie. in the
puranas, there is, of course, no priest. May be some of the scholarts of our forum may like to throw more
light on this.
 
Regards,
 
Sunil K. Bhattacharjya

--- On Sun, 8/2/09, Michael Shepherd <michael@...> wrote:

From: Michael Shepherd <michael@...>
Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] Yajna and Homa
To: "A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta" <advaita-l@...ta.org>
Date: Sunday, August 2, 2009, 4:12 PM

Krishna,

Namaste. While yajna is defined as 'worship, sacrifice', extended to the
five great obligatory sacrifices of the dvija, the prime definition of homa
is 'pouring into the fire'. The older, more formal ceremony of offering
oblations as in the RgVeda was the 'hotra' with its designated classes of
priest.

Michael

Trayee vidyaa

sarvebhyo namah!

I used to wonder about the usage ''trayee vidyaa" (knowledge of the three, if at all this phrase requires a
translation on this forum) which refers to Vedas, while the Vedas are well known to be four in number. Where
this term is not used, others like ''rigyajussaamapaaragah'' (master of the rik, yajus and saaman, used
in the 13th sloka of Aditya Hridayam, itself a part of the Yuddha Kanda, Ramayana to described the Sun god)
seem to convey a similar meaning. All this seemed to make the fourth veda, the Atharvan, slightly
inferior, or like an appendage. (*Foortnote 1*)

Yesterday, I attended a sabha on the topic "Vedagangatarnaginee" at The Sanskrit Academy, Hyderabad,
where Br. Sri. Kuppa Srinivasa Sastryavadhani (a kramaantasvaadhyaayin and teacher at the Keesara Veda
Pathashala), speaking on the influence of Vedas on literature dropped a hint suggesting that Veda
mantras are of three types - rik, saaman, yajus; and that each of the three vedas Rigveda, Samaveda and
Yajurveda are a mixture of all the three types of mantras but with a preponderance of a particular type. The
Atharvanaveda cannot be characterised by a preponderance of any such types of mantras. 

By rights, such an explanation should close the matter, but the Atharvanaveda does have a preponderance of
riks, or rik-like hymns, that is songs of praise. I wonder if the learned members of this forum could throw
more light on the subject.

budhajanavidheyah
Senani

Footnote 1: Two Upanishads from the Atharvanaveda - Mundaka and Prasna - are included in the list of Ten
Upanishads commentated by Sri Sankaracharya. So, in the tradition of Advaita, the Atharvanaveda is on
the same footing as the other three.

      

New member introductions (and a couple of older ones I forgot.)

Kaustubh

I am pursuing Masters in Mechanical Engineering at the University of
Florida, Gainesville, FL USA. I hail from India.

I am 26. All these years I had been interested in the nature of life and
gradually I was drawn towards knowing it through the Sanatan Dharma.
I have been exploring on the different philosophies and trying to trace back
their developments. I stopped tracing back when I learned that these are
basically two philosophies, Advaita Vedanta and others. These days I am
trying to read as much possible about Vedanta, esp. Advaita. Also I am
seeking learned individuals who can guide my in this journey.

Karthik Narayanan

Currently a student of Business Administration at IIT Madras,I am here to 
learn Advaita.My other interests include Hatha Yoga,Biking(the one without 
engines) and Trivia.

bkmahapatro

Retired Eenior Excecutive of a Navaratna public sector in India. fascinated
in the subject. No great seeker of any particular philosophy.

Jayasankar Vattekkat

I am Jayasankar, now working in Dubai. I want to learn about advaita, 
sanathana dharma, hinduism. I am a student of these subject. So kindly please 
allow me to join in your email list

Yoga Vasishta discourses (in Hindi)

This was forwarded to us and may be of interest to readers.

-- 
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar@...>

Live paath of Shri Yog Vasisht Maharamayan daily ? experience moksha alive

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It is undoubtedly, the crest-jewel of all the works on Vedanta. A study of 
the book raises a man to the lofty heights of divine splendor and bliss. 
It is really a vast storehouse of wisdom. Those who are bent to the ways 
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mind, solace and consolation.

Re: Yajna and Homa

On Sun, 2 Aug 2009, Krishna Subrahmanian wrote:

> Dear members,   I have a question.    What is the difference between a 
> yajna and a homa?  Is it the scale?  Or is it the type of offering 
> (ghee versus others) or the mantras or purpose (kaamya karma versus loka 
> kalyana)?

According to katyAyanashrautasUtra (1.2.5-7) yajna is marked by the verb 
yaj (yajati) and the oblation is given standing up with the exclamation 
vaShaT.  Homa or havan is marked by the verb hu (juhoti) and the oblation 
is given sitting down with the exclamation svAhA.

But this is actually a rather academic distinction.

>  Yajna seems to have a broader meaning than fire ritual, but 
> homa is strictly a fire ritual.

For all practial purposes the two terms are synonyms.  Even in the veda 
they are sometimes mixed.  (I'm thinking of the rk tasmAdyaGYat... in the 
purushasukta for instance.)  I guess you could say yajna is used more 
often for non-agni related "sacrifices" but this is not a technical 
difference.

--

-- 
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar@...>

On Sun, 2 Aug 2009, Krishna Subrahmanian wrote:

> Dear members,   I have a question.    What is the difference between a 
> yajna and a homa?  Is it the scale?  Or is it the type of offering 

Re: Yajna and Homa

On Sun, 2 Aug 2009 Michael Shepherd wrote:

> Namaste. While yajna is defined as 'worship, sacrifice', extended to the
> five great obligatory sacrifices of the dvija, the prime definition of homa
> is 'pouring into the fire'. The older, more formal ceremony of offering
> oblations as in the RgVeda was the 'hotra' with its designated classes of
> priest.
>

Actually it is the other way round.  It is the Yajna with Vashatkara which 
makes up the shrauta sacrifices which require atleast 4 Brahmanas.

The homas with svahakar are typically less elaborate and are either 
auxilliaries of the shrauta rites or make up the grhya or "household" 
rites which require either one Brahmana or are done by the sacrificer 
himself.  (And to add to the confusion these include the panchamahayajnas 
you mentioned.)

On Sun, 2 Aug 2009, Sunil Bhattacharjya wrote:

> Yes in the Vedatrayee there is yajna and the priests are differently 
> called in each of the three vedas. In the fourth Veda ie. the Atharva 
> Veda where Lord Brhma himself is the priest.

Brahma or brAhmaNa in this context has nothing to do with brahma 
prajApati.  Perhaps it should be translated as "wielder" or "director" of 
sacred speech.

--

-- 
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar@...>

Re: Trayee vidyaa

Namaste,

It is not proper to sat that Atharva Veda has a lower status. In fact Lord Rama had told Hanuman that if one has
to read only one Upanishad then that must be the Mandukya Upanishad, which belongs to the Atharva Veda.
Mundak Upanishad has told of the Brahman positivelty and I think anybody must read the Mundaka Upanishad.
I feel that in no way the Atharva Veda can be considered to be below the other three Vedas..

Regards,

Sunil K. Bhattacharjya

--- On Sun, 8/2/09, Siva Senani Nori <sivasenani@...> wrote:

From: Siva Senani Nori <sivasenani@...>
Subject: [Advaita-l] Trayee vidyaa
To: "A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta" <advaita-l@...ta.org>
Date: Sunday, August 2, 2009, 10:46 PM

sarvebhyo namah!

I used to wonder about the usage ''trayee vidyaa" (knowledge of the three, if at all this phrase requires a
translation on this forum) which refers to Vedas, while the Vedas are well known to be four in number. Where
this term is not used, others like ''rigyajussaamapaaragah'' (master of the rik, yajus and saaman, used
in the 13th sloka of Aditya Hridayam, itself a part of the Yuddha Kanda, Ramayana to described the Sun god)
seem to convey a similar meaning. All this seemed to make the fourth veda, the Atharvan, slightly
inferior, or like an appendage. (*Foortnote 1*)

Yesterday, I attended a sabha on the topic "Vedagangatarnaginee" at The Sanskrit Academy, Hyderabad,
where Br. Sri. Kuppa Srinivasa Sastryavadhani (a kramaantasvaadhyaayin and teacher at the Keesara Veda
Pathashala), speaking on the influence of Vedas on literature dropped a hint suggesting that Veda

Re: Trayee vidyaa

The term "veda trayii" indeed refers to the 3 types of vaidika
mantra-s - R^ik, yajush and saaman.

As the names of the first 3 Veda-s are associated with the mantra type
dominant in them, there has arisen a misconception that the term term
"veda trayii" excludes the Atharvaveda but it is not so. It is
actually a reference to the 3 types of vaidika mantra-s rather than 3
Veda-s per se.

<< Two Upanishads from the Atharvanaveda - Mundaka and Prasna - are
included in the list of Ten Upanishads commentated by Sri
Sankaracharya. >>

Add the Mandukya too.