[Advaita-l] Maha Rudra Yajnam in California, USA

[S Jayanarayanan]

Aravinda Rao karavind09 at gmail.com wrots:
 
> 
> Namaskars,
> 
> Great news. Great to see that so many ritwiks are available.
> 
> A small suggestion may be considered. Usually at the time of havanam
> several families (husband and wife) would be sitting, offering oblation
> into the homa-kunda. Some temples restrict this to one community only,
> leaving a bad taste in others.
 
Firstly, I don't believe anyone at all is excluded from participating in a Yajna.
 
The community of dairy farmers can donate ghee to the Yajna.
The community of flower sellers can donate flowers to the Yajna.
The community of grocers can donate uncooked vegetables to the Yajna.
The community of woodcutters can donate "Samit" to the Yajna.
 
...and so on.
 
It's a major mistake to imagine that anyone at all is barred from a Yajna.
Everyone is welcome to serve the Yajna to the best of their limited ability.
 
Now, the recitation of Mantras and offer of Havis, etc. in the Yajna comes
with certain pre-requisites: e.g. the ability to chant the Rudram, not eating
out at restaurants, taking a ritualistic bath, etc. In fact, here's a webpage
delineating all the rules that have to be followed by a person who wants to
recite the Mantras at a Maha Rudra Yajnam that was conducted a few years ago:
 
--------------------------
 
https://www.srimaharudram.bayareahindutemple.org/ritwik_guidelines.html
 
Sri Maha Rudra Yagna
 
Three Day Event June 21 / 22 / 23, 2019 at Bay Area Hindu Temple
 
Sri Maha Rudra Yagna Rithvik Guidelines
 
1. Must Perform Sandhya Vandanam and Gayatri Japam daily. Must do a minimum of 5000 Gayatri Japams before the Maharudram.
2. Learn the required Mantras (Mahanyasam (at least Laghunyasam), Sri Rudram, Chamakam, Purusha Suktam, Durga Suktam and Sadhyojatam) from a Guru and should preferably be able to chant the mantras without the help of a book.
3. Report on Friday June 21st evening (requested); be present from 7 am Saturday till the end of japam; 7am Sunday until the end of all celebrations (8 PM).
4. DO NOT SHAVE on all the 3 days of the event.
5. The dress code for the event will be the traditional Pancha Kachcham with angavastra for married ritwiks and regular dothi with angavastra for bachelors. 6. Deeksha vastram will be provided and the ritwiks should wear only this vastram during the event.
7. Please eat only the food offered to Ritwiks during and at the end of the event
8. Always wash your feet and hands and do Achamana before entering the Yagashala, if you happen to use the restroom or after you eat or drink anything during the event.
 
--------------------------
 
To tell the truth, I want to be a Ritwik for the event, and I'm struggling
to follow the above rules as much as possible. The privilege to be a Ritwik
doesn't follow from birth alone, but by a serious adherence to the codes of
conduct as well!
 
Regards,
Kartik
 
> I persuaded my local temple authorities (in
> Hyderabad) to allow people from all sections so that such discontent is
> avoided. And also the temple gets more resources. This may be particularly
> important in view of the discrimination laws which are promoted in the
> state of California. Someone can even deliberately create a situation.
> 
> Regards,
> Aravinda Rao
> 
> On Tue, Mar 28, 2023 at 12:26 AM 'S Jayanarayanan' via advaitin <advaitin at googlegroups.com> wrote:
> 
> > A Maha Rudra Yajnam is planned to be conducted on April 15th, Saturday, by
> > the Vaidica Vidhya Ganapathi Center
> > at Sri Vallabha Maha Ganapathi Temple in San Martin, California, USA. This
> > involves 121 Ritwiks reciting
> > the Sri Rudram 11 times for a total of 1,331 times along with Rudra
> > Abishekam with eleven kinds of Dravyams.
 
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