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Written by Swami Chandrashekarendra
Saraswati |
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I spoke about the glory of the Vedas, about the features that contribute
to their greatness as a scripture. One such feature yet to be dealt with
is
yajna or sacrifice.
What is a yajna? It is the performance of a religious duty involving
Agni,
the sacrificial fire, with the chanting of the mantras. The word itself
is
derived from the root "yaj" meaning "to worship", to evince devotion.
The performance of a yajna is meant to please the Paramatman and the
various deities. Yajna is also called "yaga".
We have already seen the definition of the word "mantra”: "mananat
trayate iti mantrah" (that which protects us by being repeated and
meditated upon). "Tranam" means to protect. All of you must be familiar
with the words in the gita: "paritranaya sadhunam" (to protect the
virtuous). "Mananam" means repeating, turning over something in the
mind. There is no need to vocalise the words of the mantra. Even if it
is
repeated mentally, healthy vibrations will be produced in the nadis. If
the
same --the Vedic mantra -- is chanted loudly ("Vedaghosa") it will give
divine joy to the listeners even if they do not understand the meaning.
Such a sound has the power to make mankind happy.
Mind, speech and body are dedicated to the Vedas when you mutter a
Vedic mantra mentally and vocalise it outwardly during the performance
of a rite involving the body. Of the Vedic rites of this kind yajna or
yaga is
the most important.
(See Chapter 5, Part Nineteen, for a detailed account of the various
sacrifices.) |
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