[Advaita-l] Mundakopnishad

[Animesh via Advaita-l]

Dear sir ,
Srī mātre namah

According to my information and on basis of  kaushika sutra ( commentry of rudrā and bhadrā ) ekarshi is another name for  aupasana agni of atharvans. We posses this special name for aupasana agni and in paddhati texts ( atharvanīya paddhati , prabhā etc ) generally smārta agni is reffered by this name .I will shortly find and reply with reason why it's called so.
The term shiro vrata  is identical with pashupata vrata vidhi .( you may refer to Pashupata vrata vidhi parishistha )
Since it includes the upadesha of core knowledge ( bramha vidya ) by the guru to performer it is known as shiro vrata. 
In comparison with yajur vedic tradtion it is combination of upanishad vratam with shaiva elements.
Devi bhagavatam ( 12 th skanda ) gives another reason why it is called shiro vrata  " since it is described in shiro bhaga of veda i.e. in aranyaka and upnishad portion.
A student optionally performs it before  samapavartan .
Even a  willing grahasta may perform it and get the upadesha of bramha vidya.
In 3rd mantra shaunaka ( mahAshAla term describes him as grahasta ) seeks the upadesha of bramha vidya from AngirA muni.
According to my opinion the mention of these two are qualification for upadesha of mundaka upanishad.
These qualification includes
1) person should have installed smārta agni
2) have performed shiro vrata during bramhacharya.
If he has not performed it he should perform it before upadesha for qualification.

Your assumption is true the shiro vrata includes shaving of head and then guru imparts diksha  but not any reference of agni on head is there in actual vidhi.
For further you may mail me.

Regards 
Animesh 

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On 12:21PM, 21-Aug-2014, at 12:21PM, Animesh <darkdevil114 at rocketmail.com> wrote:
>Srī mātre namah
>
>Namaste 
>
>Dear group members due to question of srī Venkatesh ji ,I got inspired
>and wrote a post on Srauta tradition of Atharvan veda.
>I have given a short introduction of Vaitana srauta sutra which is one
>of few granthas which throws some light on srauta tradition of Atharvan
>veda.
>This post on my blog is dedicated to Srī Venkatesh ji .
>I request you  to visit it
>
>
>Regards 
>Animesh Nagar
>
>http://wp.me/p4M2ms-46