Some Vedic sacrifices of this century

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

A brief note in addition to the points discussed in this thread -

In addition to vedic Srauta yajnas, many people conduct yajnas according
to tAntrika or paurANika procedures too. Sometimes, for the same yajna,
there is a vaidika paddhati of doing it and a tAntrika paddhati of doing it.
Generally speaking, the killing of animals in tAntrika yajnas is avoided by
smArta sacrificers, and vegetable symbolic substitutes are used. The reason
is most often that the animal killing tAntrika yajna invokes a malevolent or
a cruel deity who is appeased by blood and flesh, while the symbolic
substitution invokes a pacific deity. For example, in Chandi Homa, instead
of sacrificing animals, pumpkins are cut open, and sprinkled over with
vermilion powder. The symbolism is obvious, but the beheading of an actual
animal is avoided. This flexibility is possible because the purANa and
tantra procedures are themselves flexible, and not as rigid as those set
forth in the vedas. When it comes to performing Srauta sacrifices, the rules
are to be followed, without ad-hoc substitutions.

Vidyasankar

--
bhava shankara deshikame sharaNam

Archives : http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l.html
Help     : Email to listmaster at lists.advaita-vedanta.org
Options  : To leave the list send a mail to
           listserv at lists.advaita-vedanta.org with
           SIGNOFF ADVAITA-L in the body.