Chapter XVIII. Pancha Mahāyajnas

Volume II: Part I pp. 696–704

Chapter XVIII. Pancha Mahāyajnas

PĀÑCA MAHĀYAJÑAS

Pāñca Mahāyajñas:—(the five daily great observances or sacrifices).

From early Vedic times five daily observances called mahāyajñas were prescribeḍ The Śat. Br. (XI 5. 6. I)¹ says ‘there are only five mahāyajñas, they are like great sacrificial sessions, viz. the sacrifice to beings, the sacrifice to men, the sacrifice to the Fathers, the sacrifice to the gods, the sacrifice to brahman (Veda)’. These are then briefly defineḍ In the Tai. Ār. II. 10 we read ‘these five mahāyajñas indeed are spread out continuously, viz. devayajña, pitṛyajña, bhūtayajña, manusya-yajña, brahmayajña. That is fulfilled as devayajña when one makes an offering in fire, even if it be a mere fuel-stick; when one offers svadhā (śrāddha repast) to the fathers, even if it be mere water, that becomes pitṛyajña; when a man offers a bali (a ball of food) to the beings it becomes bhūtayajña, when he gives food to brāhmaṇas that becomes manusyayajña. When one studies svādhyāya even if it be a single ṛk or yajus formula or a sāman, it becomes brahmayajña’.²

The Āśv. gr. (III 1. 1-4) speaks of the five mahāyajñas and defines them in practically the same words as the Tai. Ār. II. 10 and enjoins that those yajñas must be performed every-day. Nārāyaṇa on Āśv. gr. III. 1. 2 expressly asserts that the basis of the five yajñas is the Tai. Ār. ¹⁰⁶⁶ The Āp. Dh. S. (I. 4. 12. 13–15 and I 4. 13. 1) names and explains them simi-larly and states that they are called (in the Tai. Ār. II. 10) ‘great yajñas’ and ‘great sacrificial sessions’ by way of lauda-tioṇ The word ‘yajña’ applied to these five daily duties is figurative and the adjective ‘great’ is applied only for belaud-ing ⁴ theṃ Gaut. V. 8 and VIII. 17, Bauḍ Dh. S. II. 26 and numerous smṛti texts speak of the same five yajñaṣ Gaut. VIII. 17 includes them among saṁskāras as stated above (p. 193 ).

It will be noticed from the description of the five yajñas given below that they are distinguished from the solemn śrauta sacrifices in two respectṣ In these five the chief agent is the householder himself, he does not need the help and ministration of a professional priest, while in the śrauta sacrifices the priests occupy the most prominent place and the householder is more or less a passive spectator or agent in the hands of the priests who direct everything. In the second place, in the five yajñas the central point is the discharge of duties to the Creator, to the ancient sages, to the Manes, and to the whole universe with myriads of creatures of various grades of intelligence. In the śrauta sacrifices the main-spring of action is the desire to secure Heaven or some object such as prosperity, a son &c. Therefore the institution of the five sacrifices is morally and spiritually more progressive and more ennobling than that of the śrauta sacrificeṣ

The sentiments that prompted the performance of these five observances appear to have been as follows: Every man could not afford to celebrate the solemn śrauta rites prescribed in the Brāhmaṇas and Śrauta sūtraṣ But every one could offer a fuel-stick to fire that was deemed to be the mouth of the great Gods ⁵ of Heaven and thus show his reverence and devotion to theṃ Similarly everyone could show his reverence for and gratitude to the great sages that had bequeathed a glorious heritage of sacred literature by repeating at least one verse and one could propitiate his deceased ancestors by offering in loving memory and filial devotion a mere handful or vessel-ful of water (which costs nothing). The whole world human and non-human is one creation and there must be a spirit of live and let live or give and take. Therefore one must offer what one can afford to a guest and also have something for all beings (including even such shunned animals as dogs, crows and insects). These feelings of devotion, gratitude, reverence, loving memory, kindliness and tolerance seem to have been the springs that prompted the Aryans of old to emphasize the importance of the five daily yajñas and to have led sūtra writers like Gautama and legislators like Manu (II. 28) to look upon them as saṁskāras, as ennobling the soul by freeing it from mere selfishness and elevating the body to become a fit vehicle for higher thingṣ ⁶ Later on it appears that other purposes came to be attributed to the institution of the five daily yajñaṣ According to Manu III. 68-71, Viṣṇu Dh. S. 59. 19-20, Śaṅkha V. 1-2, Hārīta, Matsyapurāṇa 52. 15-16 and others every householder causes injury or death to sentient beings every day in five places, viz. the hearth, the grinding mill, broomstick, winnowing basket and similar household gear, mortar and pestle, and water-jar. The five daily yajñas were devised by the great sages as atonements for the sins arising from these five sources of injury to life. These five are: brahmayajña which consists in the study and teaching of the Veda, pitṛyajña which consists of tarpaṇa, daivayajña which consists in offerings made into fire, bhūtayajña which consists in honouring guestṣ He who performs these daily according to his means is never tainted by the sin of the injuries arising from the five places mentioned above. Manu (III. 73-74) further ⁷ says that former sages had a different nomenclature for the five yajñas i. e. ahuta, huta, prahuta, brāhmya-huta and praśita, which were the same respectively as japa (or brahmayajña ), homa (devayajña ), bhūtaya jña, manusyayajña and pitṛtarpaṇa (pitryajña ). In the Atharvaveda VI. 71. 2 four out of these seem to be alluded to ' what came to me as huta or ahuta or given by pitṛs and assented to by men '.⁸ Huta and prahuta in the sense of homa to gods and bali to bhūtas occur in Br. Up. I. 5. 2. But in some gṛhyasūtras different meanings are attached to these very words e. g. Sāṇ gṛ. I. 5 and Pār. gṛ. I. 4 say that there are four pākayajñas viz. huta, ahuta, prahuta and praśita and Sāṇ gṛ. I. 10. 7⁹ explains that they are respectively the same as agnihotra (or daivayajña ), bali (bhūtaya jña ), pitṛ- yajña and brāhmya-huta (or mānuṣyayajña ). The Hārita- dharma-sūtra has a very interesting passage on this point. ' We shall now explain the sūnās (places of injury) which are so called because they kill moving and immovable sentient beingṣ They are five. The first (sūnā) is caused by actions like sudden entrance in water, plunging into water, whirling water, splashing it in various directions, taking water without straining it through a piece of cloth and driving vehicles; the second by walking about in the dark or away from the beaten path or in quick jerks or by treading upon insects &c. ; the third by striking (a tree with an axe &c.), by plucking flowers &c., by tying with a rope &c., by crushing (in a mortar), by splitting (wood &c.); the fourth by cutting crops, by rubbing or grinding; and the fifth by ignition (of fire-wood ), heating (of water ), by roasting, frying and cooking. These five injuries that lead to Hell are committed every day by people. Brahma- cārins get rid of the first three by attending on fire and on their teacher and by the study of the Veda ; householders and forest hermits purify themselves from these five by performing the five yajñas; ascetics get rid of the first two injuries by sacred knowledge and contemplation, but the injury caused by crushing cooked seeds under the teeth cannot be removed by any of these '.¹⁰ Although in the Āp. Dh. S. and others the five yajñas are enumerated in the order of bhūta-yajña, manusya-yajña, devayajña, pitṛyajña and svādhyāya, still the proper order from the point of view of the times of performance is first brahmayajña (japa &c.), then devayajña, then bhūtayajña, then pitṛyajña and lastly manuṣyayajña.¹¹ Therefore they will be dealt with in the same order here. But some matters have first to be noteḍ Various views were entertained about the time and nature of brahmayajña¹² and pitṛyajña. According to Gobhila-smṛti II. 28–29 quoted above (ṇ 1663), japa prescribed in saṃdhyā adoration may be looked upon as brahmayajña, that the latter may be performed before tarpaṇa and after the morning homa or after vaiśvadeva. Nārāyaṇa on Āśv. gṛ. III. 2. 1 says that brahmayajña may be performed before or after vaiśvadeva. According to the Snānaśūtra of Kātyāyana, brahmayajña precedes tarpaṇa and Āśv. gṛ. as stated above (p. 695) appears to regard tarpaṇa as part of it. Manu III. 82 ( Viṣṇu Dh. S. 67. 23–25) enjoins upon a man the performance of daily śrāddha with food or water or with milk, roots and fruits and thus to propitiate and please the Manes of his deceased ancestors; while Manu (III. 70 and 283) says that tarpaṇa (done after bath) constitutes pitṛyajña. Therefore Gobhila says that śrāddha, tarpaṇa and the bali offered to pitṛs constitute pitṛyajña and even when one of them is gone through, the performance of pitṛyajña is effected and it is not necessary to perform all three.¹³ In the bali-haraṇa (described below) the remnants of bali are offered to pitṛs (Āśv. gṛ. I. 2. 11, Manu III. 91 ).

Brahma-yajña. Probably the earliest description of this is to be found in the Śat. Br. XI. 5. 6. 3–8. That Brāhmaṇa, after stating that brahmayajña is one’s own daily study of the Veda, compares several elements required in the ordinary sacrifice to certain elements of brahmayajña, viz. the juhū spoon, upabhṛt, dhruvā, sruva, avabhṛtha (the solemn bath at the end of a sacrifice) and heaven are said to be represented by the speech, the mind, the eye, mental power, truth and the conclusion (that are present in brahmayajña).¹⁴ Then it says that 'whoever studies day by day his Vedic lessons gains an imperishable world which is thrice or more of the world that one may secure by making a gift to priests of the whole earth replete with wealth. Then 4-7 compare ṛk, yajus, sāman and Atharvāṅgiras (Atharvaveda) texts respectively to offerings to gods of milk, ghee, soma and fat and it is stated that the gods being delighted and satisfied with these, bestow on the man who performs brahmayajña affluence and security, life-breath, seed, his whole self and all auspicious blessings and streams of ghee and honey flow for his departed pitṛṣ The Śat. Br. XI. 5. 6. 8 enumerates other works that may be recited in brahmayajña, the recital of which is like honey offerings to gods who being delighted and gratified bestow on the reciter the boons stated above, the works being Anuśāsanas (Vedāṅgas), vidyās (such as sarpa and devajana vidyā mentioned in Chāndogya VII. 1. 1), vākovākya (theological discourses called brahmodya, as in Vāj. S. 23. 9-12 and 45-62), Itihāsapurāṇa (traditional history and legends), Gāthās, Nārāśaṃsīs (i. e. stanzas in praise of heroes).¹⁵ The Tai. Ār. (II. 10-13) has a more lengthy passage on brahmayajña; Tai. Ār. II. 10 is almost ¹⁶ the same as Śat. Br. except in two respects, viz. in the Tai. Ār. Atharvāṅgirasaḥ are said to be honey offerings and brāhmaṇa texts, itihāsas, purāṇas, kalpas ( works on śrauta ritual ) and Gāthā Nārāśaṃsīs are said to be fat offerings and the rewards, bestowed by the gods when delighted by the brahmayajña, are long life, brilliance, lustre, prosperity, glory, spiritual eminence and fooḍ Tai. Ār. II. 11 describes how and where brahmayajña is to be performed 'one who desires to offer brahmayajña should repair to a place so far away to the east, north or north-east of his village that the thatch covering houses is not visible and when the sun rises he should wear his sacred thread (in the upavīta form) under his right arm, should sit down (on a pure spot), should wash both his hands with water, should sip water thrice, should wipe his hand twice with water, should once sprinkle his lips with water, and touch his head, eyes, nostrils, ears and heart; he should spread out a large seat of darbhas, should be seated facing the east with his legs crossed over each other ( the left foot being underneath and the right foot on the left thigh ) and then should repeat his Veda ; ( it is said that ) the darbhas are indeed the flavour ( or sweetness ) of waters and herbs; he (by sitting on darbhas) makes his Veda full of sweetnesṣ Placing his left hand on the right knee with the palm turned up and covering it with the right hand the palm of which is turned down and placing pavitras (blades of darbha) between both hands, he should begin with the syllable 'om' which is a yajus, which is the representative of the three Vedas, which is all speech, and is the highest syllable; this has been declared by ṛk ( Ṛg. I. 164. 39 is quoted ). He recites the syllables bhūh, bhuvah, svaḥ ; he thereby ( by repeating the vyāhṛtis ) employs the three Vedaṣ This is the truth ( quintessence ) of speech; he thereby has employed the truth of speech. Then he recites thrice the Gāyatrī verse, which is addressed to Savitṛ, by its feet separately, then by half of it, then the whole verse without stopping. The sun is the creator of glory, he secures glory itself ; then he begins (the next day ) the repetition of the Vedic texts from that point which he had noted ( the previous day ).¹⁷ Tai. Ār. II. 12 states that if a man is unable to go out of the village he may perform brahmayajña by revolving in his mind in the village itself the Veda by day or even by night; or if he cannot seat himself, then he may perform the brahma- yajña even standing or lying down, since the principal matter is the recitation of the Veda ( time and place being quite subordinate ). Tai. Ār. II. 13 says that he should conclude the brahmayajña by repeating thrice the verse ‘Adoration to Brahma ( Veda or Prajāpati ), to Agni, to the Earth, to herbs, to speech, to the Lord of speech ( Bṛhaspati ), I offer adoration to the great Viṣṇu¹⁸ Then he should sip water and return home; thereafter whatever he gives becomes the fee of the sacrifice (i. e. of brahmayajña).

The procedure of svādhyāya (or brahmayajña) in Āśv. gr. III. 2. 2-III. 3. 4 is practically in the same words as in the Tai. Ār. quoted above. One or two points may be noteḍ The Āśv. gr. ¹⁹ prescribes that one should recite gazing at the horizon or one may close one's eyes or one may look in such a way that one feels that one can concentrate one's minḍ According to the Āśv. gr. the shortest brahmayajña would be : om bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ; the Gāyatrī verse repeated thrice; then at least one ṛk verse and then the verse ‘ namo brahmaṇe ’ (quoted above) repeated thrice. The Āhnikaprakāśa p. 329 says that one who knows only a portion of the Veda should recite as brahmayajña the Puruṣasūkta (Rg. X. 90) and other hymns and one who knows only the Gāyatrī should repeat 'om' as brahmayajña every day. ²⁰ Āśv. gr. (III. 3. 1) mentions the following works for svādhyāya, Ṛgveda, Yajurveda, Sāmaveda, Atharvāṇ- gīrasah, Brāhmaṇas, Kalpas, Gāthās Nārāśaṁsis, Itihāsas, and Purāṇaṣ But it adds that one may recite only as much as one feels that one can afford to do with a concentrated minḍ

The Śāṅ. gr. I. 4 prescribes several hymns and verses of the Ṛgveda for reciting in brahmayajña. Others following different Vedas and Śākhās differ as to the content of the brahmayajña. Vide Āhnika-prakāśa pp. 328-336 for brahmayajña according to Kātyāyana and according to the followers of Sāmaveda. Yāj. I. 101 prescribes that as time and ability allow one may include in brahmayajña the Vedas together with the Atharva- veda, Itihāsa and philosophical textṣ

Brahmayajña is very rarely performed every day (except by the most orthodox vaidikas and śāstris) in modern times and a fixed formula of brahmayajña has been decided upon, which is recited once a year in Śrāvaṇa by most brāhmaṇas in the Deccaṇ The formula for students of the Ṛgveda is as follows: After reciting 'om bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ' and the sacred Gāyatrī, he recites Rg. I. 1. 1-9, then the first sentence of the Ait. Br., the first sentences of the five sections of the Ait. Ār.; the first sentences of the Black and White Yajurveda, of the Sāmaveda, of the Atharvaveda; the first sentences of the Nighaṇṭu and the six Vedāṅgas viz. Āśv. śrauta, Nirukta, Chandas, Nighaṇṭu, Jyotiṣa, Śikṣā, Pāṇini's grammar in order; the first ‘pāda’ of Yāj. I. 1 and of the Mahābhārata (I.1.1), the first sūtra of the Nyāya, Pūrvamīmāmsā and Uttaramīmāmsā; then a benedictory formula ('tacchamyor... catuṣpade') and lastly the verse ‘namo brahmaṇe’ is repeated thrice.¹⁶⁸⁴ After this brahmayajña, tarpaṇa of devas, sages and pitṛs followṣ

The Dharmasindhu ( III. pūrvārdha p. 299 ) says that brahmayajña is to be performed once either after morning homa or after midday samdhyā or after Vaiśvadeva, but those who study the Āśvalāyanasūtra should perform it only after midday samdhyā. After ācamana and prāṇāyāma one should make the saṁkalpa ( śrīparameśvaraprītyartham brahmayajñam kariṣye tadaṅgatayā devarṣyācārya-tarpaṇam kariṣye ) and if one's father is dead one should add in the saṁkalpa ( pitṛtarpaṇam ca kariṣye ). It then sets out how it is to be performed by various people, such as those who have studied all vedas or one veda or only a portion or when one has no time. It says that the followers of the Taittirīya śākhā repeat ‘the words ‘vidyud-asi vidya me pāpmānam-ṛtāt satyam-upaimi’ at the commence-ment and the words ‘vṛṣṭirasi vṛṣca me pāpmānam-ṛtāt satyam-upāgām’ at the enḍ If a man is unable to repeat brahmayajña sitting he may do it even when lying dowṇ

The Dharmasindhu notes that according to the followers of the Taittirīya śākhā and of the Vājasaneya saṃhitā tarpaṇa is not a part of brahmayajña and so tarpaṇa may be performed by them either before brahmayajña or even some time after brahmayajña.