[Advaita-l] Yajna and Homa

[Umashankar V]

Dear Friends,

I have read through the mail chain and by-and-large the message I get it
Yajna and homa are same (or) similar. Yajna has a collective good as its
collective activity.

In which case, I have a query - Vajapeya Yajna, or for that matter what
Janamejaya did - Sarpa Yajna in order to get Swarga prapti for his father.
There was a king who was propted by Sage Narada to also do a "mlechha Yajna"
as the King's father was killed by Mlecchas and he was in Yamaloka, he did
the Yajna to send his father to Swarga. How can they be called "collective"
or for "collective good"  ? Were they not a kamya karma of an individual?

Kindly clarify. I am awed and pleasantly shocked to see this discussion
because only last week I discussed my doubts with some learned scholars.
They also expressed similar views.

Thanks for this good discussion. I feel its time we revive some of the most
wonderful aspects of our tradition.

On Mon, Aug 3, 2009 at 9:41 PM, Michael Shepherd <
michael at shepherd87.fsnet.co.uk> wrote:

> Krishna ji,
>
> If you wish to pursue this matter of yajna further, you will find a
> magnificent and full article in the online Hindupedia. Homa is mentioned
> there also.
>
> Michael
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: advaita-l-bounces at lists.advaita-vedanta.org
> [mailto:advaita-l-bounces at lists.advaita-vedanta.org]On Behalf Of Uma and
> Ramakrishna
> Sent: 03 August 2009 15:40
> To: 'A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta'
> Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] Yajna and Homa
>
>
>
> hOma is fire offering and is generally associated with a kAmya karma.
> Yajna is more general; it can be a fire offering or need not be.
> Bhagavad giTa (chapter 4) talks of many different types of yajna -
> Dravya yajna (this is a fire offering of material - ghee, cooked rice
> etc.),
> tapO yajna (performing austerities), japa yajna, yOga yajna (karma yOga),
> jnAna yajna (imparting knowledge) etc. Yajna is generally not considered
> a kAmya karma - it is a collective undertaking for collective good, like
> the entire village participating in a yajna for rain; gAyatri yajna
> is performed for the welfare of a whole community or country atlarge.
> In yajna, the fire offering is preceded by collective japa - many people do
> japa over a period of time, each doing a large count of japa, say 10,000.
> Then the fire offering (which can be called hOma) is undertaken to a count
> Of 10% of the total japa count. In this yajna also, we see collective
> Participation and collective effort for the collective good.
>
> With Regards,
> K. Ramakrishna.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: advaita-l-bounces at lists.advaita-vedanta.org
> [mailto:advaita-l-bounces at lists.advaita-vedanta.org] On Behalf Of Krishna
> Subrahmanian
> Sent: Sunday, August 02, 2009 4:01 PM
> 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?
>
> With regards,
> Krishna
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Archives: http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l/
> http://blog.gmane.org/gmane.culture.religion.advaita
>
> To unsubscribe or change your options:
> http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/advaita-l
>
> For assistance, contact:
> listmaster at advaita-vedanta.org
>
> _______________________________________________
> Archives: http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l/
> http://blog.gmane.org/gmane.culture.religion.advaita
>
> To unsubscribe or change your options:
> http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/advaita-l
>
> For assistance, contact:
> listmaster at advaita-vedanta.org
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Archives: http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l/
> http://blog.gmane.org/gmane.culture.religion.advaita
>
> To unsubscribe or change your options:
> http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/advaita-l
>
> For assistance, contact:
> listmaster at advaita-vedanta.org
>



-- 
Regards,
Umashankar.V