2Vedic Rituals: Punyāha-vācanam(Declaring the Sacred Day)
Hinduism, be it Śaivism, Vaiṣṇavism, Sāktism or Smārta rituals, is rooted in Vedic-sacrifice, which means offering simply melted butter with dried twigs of trees like pipal or palāsa trees in a specially prepared Vedic fire altar to the accompaniment of Vedic hymns called mantras. These hymns are generally addressed to nature's forces that are given a mental imagery (or what we may call verbal Imagery). As these are mental imagery they are called man-tras i.e of the mind (the word mana and mind are synonymns). Such offerings are called homa, yajña, karma, kratu and so on. All Hindu worship, including domestic and public rituals, are accompanied by homas. The temple rituals in which the worship is offered to a sculpture or painting or metal images, also include daily offerings in fire for it is believed that it is Agni who carries the offerings to the Devas. (F.C. 8) There are some common hymns and some specific hymns depending upon the nature of prayers and their fulfillment. These hymns are collected from the vast body of Vedic literature and compiled into texts by the sages for use in rituals. They are of remote antiquity of not less than 3500 years of unbroken continuity. These are prescribed in what are called kalpa sūtras, gṟhya sūtras and the like. The term kalpa means to create as in the term kalpana. An imagery is created by this process for the purpose of offerings and is a highly creative image that remains so long as the ritual lasts. A careful study of these rituals do show that the elaborate temple imagery and worship developed to very great heights. A study of vedic homa is required for a proper study of temple art and culture.
There is also another important, but misconceived notion about the term “dvija”. dvija means “twice born” which is generally rendered as Brahmin and Hinduism itself is called Brahminism. It is a wrong perception, for the word “dvija” denotes Brahmaṇa, Kṣatirya, and Vaiśya castes, who learned the Vedas and performed Vedic sacrifices. Some mixed castes also followed the same Vedic rituals. Even the Sūdras, the fourth varas though did not learn the Vedas, they performed the same rituals through Brahmaṇas who officiated them. Similar is the case of women also who performed Vedic rites through officiating Brahmins. Thus over nearly 90% of the Indian Society were deeply involved in Vedic rituals and used Sanskrit in religious matters that there was no conflict among different sections of the society that speaks of the popularity of Vedic and Sankritic concepts among all.
The Homa rituals can be understood in three parts. 1) Purificatory rites, 2) The specific offerings required by the desired prayers, and 3) The Chants of fruition. The first and the last ones are common to all while the second specifically chosen is dependent on the prayer. For example one may be a prayer for a child, or the health of the child or prosperity, marriage etc.
I give below the English version the rituals of the first part. The English renderings are not exact translations of the mantras but, never the less close renderings to understand the content and feeling of the poems expressed. I give below the meaning and also notes.
Any Hindu ritual is begun with a “purifying act” called “Proclamation of sacred day” called in Sanskrit “punyāha vācanam” it consists of purifying waters, invoking deities and sacred chants and at the end of it sprinkling the sacred water on the performer and all assembled, the material used and the place, generally the whole house. A pot full of pure filtered cold water is kept on a spread of grains and rice over a cleaned and decorated space. A bunch of mango leaves are placed inside the mouth of the pot and coconut is placed over it along with a bunch of darbha grass. The pot and the coconut are decorated with sandal paste, turmeric powder and saffron powder and flowers and new cloth. Varuṇa (F.C. 3, 5, 6) the Lord of Waters is invoked in this water pot for according to Vedas “Waters are the abodes of all Gods”. (āpo vai sarvā devatās). The deities are invoked in the waters. According to popular concept the tips of the darbha grass catches the vibrations of the sound of Vedic chants and carry them to the waters. So the Waters now represent the divine powers. At the end of the chanting the sanctified water is sprinkled with the darbha grass, and the mango leaves, on the performer, and on all assembled. As not all men are learned in the Veidc mantras and also the mode and sequence, Pundits well versed in Vedas are invited to officiate as priests and guide the ritual.
Proclamation of Sacred Day (Punyāha)
This rite is a continuation of the rite mentioned earlier. Four Brahmin priests are invited to recite the Vedic chants and these priests are called ṛtviks. The performer seeks the approval of the priests and gets the purifying chants recited. The priests are expected to pronounce their approval loudly. On their approval the performer requests the Vedic reciters to declare the following:
1.Let the day be declared auspicious for the rituals. (The priests will say “let it be so”)
2.The priests are requested to declare their blessings on all the acts performed in this ritual. The priests will say “we bless as requested”.
3.That everything should be performed in full without any shortcoming. The Priests will say “yes we shall”.
4.The priests are requested to pronounce that the day be auspicious on all counts. The priests would say “yes that it is so”.
5.The priests should declare that the ritual is auspicious and they will say “yes”.
6.They must say that there must be peace everywhere. They would say “yes”.
7.They must say that all people must be healthy and the priests would say “they would be so”.
8.The priests are requested to declare that there will be happiness everywhere. And they say “yes”.
9.They must say that there will be prosperity everywhere and they say “yes”.
10.The priests are requested to declare that there shall be no obstacle to any act and the priests would say “yes”.
11.All sins that exist must be extinguished in the South Eastern direction and the priests will respond saying “they are gone”.
12.The Priests are requested to vouchsafe that there will be wealth everywhere and they say “yes”.
13.The priests are requested to say that there will reign all auspiciousness everywhere, and they concur with that.
14.The Brahmin priests will declare that all these prayers will be fulfilled.
It may be seen that the first requisite for performing the purificatory rite is that the day should be auspicious and there must be peace and prosperity, health, wealth and no obstruction while doing the acts. The Brahmin priests must say that all these will prevail. This seems to be a community approval for the performance of the rite.
The next stage is what is called reciting the Vedic poems that are called “Purifying hymns”. They are said to purify the chants as well and are called “pavamāna sūkta”
1.Let that Supreme being, from whom the Sun, the witness to all acts emanated, From whom Indra emanated, Who is pregnant with all the powers of Agni (fire), That Omnipresent being golden in colour, pure, and Who purifies the waters, Bless us with happiness and auspiciousness
2.Let that Supreme being resting in whom the king Varuṇa witnessing truth and falsehood moves among men Whose nature is to bestow sweetness, Who is pure and who purifies That Omnipresent being bless us with happiness and good things
3.Let that Supreme being by whose power the Celestials shine in heaven who shines in the intermediate space in divergent forms, who fertilizes the earth with water, the life support, That Omnipresent Supreme bless us with all comforts and good things. (These hymns are addressed to Varuṇa the deity of Waters.)
4.Be pleased to bestow your gracious sight at me
5.Be pleased to purify all my limbs by pervading through out my body
6.Be pleased to stabilize on me all the brightness, godly qualities, beauties and will power
7.Let that god who purifies all things Who knows all that purifies, Who is capable of purifying,Who will make me achieve heaven purify me
8.Let those born in heaven purify me
9.Let the thoughts purify me with grace
10.Let all the great men born in this world purify me
11.Oh Agni! please purify me with thy purity
12.Oh Agni! shining with brightness of purity, purify this offering of mine
13.Oh Agni! we get this offerings of ours purified by thy illumination that shines in the midst of glowing forms
14.Oh Lord Savita! we get our actions purified both by thy purity and actions (savana — The offering is here called Brahma)
15.Let the Goddess who embodies all gods and who purifies all that exist, manifest to purify us. By the blessings of her who has blemishless appearances, we happily engage in good acts and acquire lordship over all wealth.
16.Let the god Sūrya-Agni who does good to all men purify me by his brightness.
17.Let the god Vāyu (Air) enter all parts of my body in the form of Prāṇa (Vital breadth) increase my happiness.
18.Let the everlasting heaven and earth (dyāvā pṛthvī) purify my waters, milk and the like for the sake of this sacred offering.
19.We shall purify this sacred act by all those purifying and divine methods through which the gods purified our ancestors and through which the gods of waters purified the path to heaven.
The Supreme Power - Parā-ŚaktiIt may be seen that all the prayers upto this point are addressed to Lord Varuṇa, the deity of waters, Agni (fire), Sūrya (Sun), Vāyu (Air), and the Goddess to purify the performer and all the people. The purification is meant for the strength obtained through vital breadth (prāṇa) happiness, good for all and for prosperity in this world and for heavenly bliss. What is striking here is all the prayers are addressed to nature's forces that are vital to the existence of man. It is the nature's forces that are deified and no other superhuman deity is invoked. The second point that deserves great attention is that among the deities we find a deified Goddess who is the power to act in all men. She is said to embody all Gods. It is a clear indication that the adoration Śakti-deified as Goddess was well established in the Vedic period itself. There are some speculative scholars who claim that no adoration of Goddess was known to the Vedic people. In the very first act of Vedic ritual the Vedic Goddess is invoked that shows worship of goddess is foremost in Vedic tradition. To deny that is to distort factual history. Not only the worship of Feminine power is essential it recognizes that goddess manifests in manifold forms, which shows that multiplicity of Goddesses were adored in Vedic times. She is worshipped as giver of wealth and knowledge as may be seen in the sequence. The concept of parā-śakti, Vital breadth as the Supreme goddess, was fully established in Vedic times. By performing this rite the performer is longing for good health, prosperity and purity and achievement of heaven for all people and thus expresses the highest form of classical civilized life. What is further interesting is that the hymns that follows are in praise of these purifying hymns themselves.The hymns are called pavamāni hymns (pavamāni) that point to a strong adoration of nature poetically personified as divine beings. The Hindu civilization is deeply rooted in the beauty and power of nature. It is not wrong to say that nature is looked at with poetic vision and beauty given a personality. The following are the hymns in praise of pavamāni poems.One who recites all these pavamāni poems preserved for us by the great sages (ṛṣis) as the very essences and made delectable by the god Vāyu, enjoy all immortality.The Goddess Sarasvati bestows immortality on the person who recites these pavamāni hymns, collected and preserved for us. She makes milk, ghee, honey, and waters as nectars.These pavamāni hymns are capable of showing us the auspicious path. They are the cows that give good milk. These were essences collected by the ṛṣis. They are the nectars for the BrāhminsThese pavamāni hymns bestow this and other world.These should fulfill all our desires.These Devis (goddesses - Poems) are adored by the celestials.These pavamāni hymns lead us to goodness. Like ghee they confer health and purity.These are the essences collected by the sages. They bestow happiness and immortality. The divine beings get themselves purified always by these pavamāni hymns.These purifying hymns purify me with their thousands of streams.A few hymns following these are in praise of the hymns themselves. The main gods and goddesses addressed are Varuṇa, Vāyu, Sūrya, Agni, and Āpaḥ and all energies personified as goddesses (śakti devis). The prayer is not even addressed to Indra thus pointing to a strong adoration of Nature, poetically personified as divine beings.Prājāpatya hymnsThen the rite introduces an offering called prājapatya offering i.e. the offering addressed to gods for the sake of all men and living beings (prajās).The prājapatya offering performed by spreading hundreds of darbha grass, with gold, is a pure sacrifice. By this prājapatya homa we become learned in brahma-vidya (karma). We purify this brahma (action) which is pure.Indra with Sunīti devi should purify me.Soma with Svasti should purify me.Varuna with Samichi devi purify me.Yama with Mrityu deities purify me.Agni with Urjayanti purify meWe pray for peace for the present and future sufferings.We pray for the good of the sacred offering and the performer(These are the prayers of the Priests)Let there be divine blessings on usLet there be good for all human beingsLet vegetations that sustain us growLet there be good for two footed beings (dvipad)Let there be good for four footed animals (catuşpad)Peace. Peace. Peace. (om śānti śānti and śānti)At the end of this rite the God Varuṇa, who remained invoked in the pot of water all the while, is given leave to depart to his abode.The priests then with the mango leaves and darbha grass sprinkle the sanctified water in the pot on the performer, his relatives and all those assembled, on the material collected and all the the place which is the whole house or the mandapa. While sprinkling the waters on all, the priests recite the following hymn.“By the imprecation of the God Savitā, the twin deities Aśvins reside in thy shoulders, the god Pūṣa reside in your hands, Goddess Sarasvati in thy speech, by the leader in thy movement, and Agni with all leadership”.(This is said by the priest.)“The performer says that by thy oblation I should be relieved from all sins, like the one who is relieved from the fetters, like the one who is cleaned of all the perspiration and like the ghee by purification”.“He (performer) says that the sanctified waters are like the medicines and let them become medicines to me”.With this ends the punyāha.CommentsThe praise of the Pavamāni hymns give us a glimpse into the essence of Vedic religion. They again and again tell us that they are the essence collected by the ancient sages (ṛṣis), and are meant for purification. Final achievements are possible only by purification. The Poems are personified as Goddesses. The sacred offerings are called Brahma. The performer prayed for happiness, prosperity, good health, wealth and peace in this and other world for all beings including men and animals. The four Gods mentioned here as Indra, Yama, Varuṇa and Soma are the four directions east, south, west, and north deified respectively and suggest thus invocation of all the space around. It may be seen that these deities are invoked not individually but in the company of their consorts, whose names are also mentioned. This shows that in Vedic religion women were as much deified and worshipped as male gods to bestow good things. The term “brahmavid” is used in the sense of “knowledgeable in Vedic rituals”.(After these proclamation the Fire worship follows.)
