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Bhagawan Shri Krishna says in Bhagavadgītā “यज्ञो दानं तपश् चैव पावनानि मनीषिणाम्” (18.5) – The yajña (deeds of the nature of giving up of one’s wealth in propitiation of the Gods and also of the nature of meditations referred as jñāna yajña), dāna (giving up in charity to the qualified recipients) and tapas (penance) are purificatory for those who perform them without the desire for the fruits therefrom. These are illustrative for the whole of the nitya and naimittika karmas.
Nitya karma (obligatory deeds, those which are enjoined upon the qualified persons to be performed as a matter of duty throughout the lifetime, regardless of the fruits therefrom) and naimittika karma (contingency deeds, those that are required to be performed on the event of certain contingencies) primarily refer to those deeds that are performed by the householders with the tretāgni i.e., the three sacred fires. The performance of the nitya and naimittika karmas as an enjoined duty, with the only purpose that “may God be pleased with this performance”, purifies the mind of the performer and leads him nearer to God. Even those deeds prescribed for attaining the desires, if performed devoid of desires, become purificatory deeds. Persons so purified can without any hurdle intuit the knowledge of the Unity of God and Self which is the only means of moksa (liberation).
Shri Bhagawan also classifies the yajñas etc according to three gunās – sāttvik (noble in nature), rajasik (mediocre) and tamasic (degraded). That yajña which is performed by those who desire not the fruits, nay that which is performed in accordance with the vedic injunctions, performed purely as a duty and with the equanimity that there is nothing else to be achieved by the performance is called a sattvik yajña. That which is performed for specific fruits and that performed with vanity is called a rajasik yajña. That which is performed with lack of faith, in opposition to the vedic injunctions, without distribution of food, that in which mantras are chanted incorrectly and in which the prescribed daksina (wealth given to the officiating priests) is not given is called a tamasic yajña (BG 17-11,12,13). Thus performance of the yajñas as prescribed by the astras is the principal measuring scale for determining the nobility or otherwise of a yajña.
Eons ago, the great seers of the Vedas like Vasistha etc, being possessed of utmost purity of mind as a result of high degree of mental austerities comprehended in the Rig veda etc, the deeds of Agnihotram etc as revealed by the mantra portion itself of the Vedas – so says the Mundakopanisad “मन्त्रेषु कर्माणि कवयो यान्यपश्यन्” (1.2.1) [The karma kānda (the portion dealing with the deeds) of the Vedas is broadly classified into two – Mantra portion (incantations contemporaneous with action, primarily of the nature of hymns in praise of Gods) and the Brāhmanam portion (containing the injunctions proper, eulogies etc)]. By implication, those with lesser purity of mind had to refer to the Brāhmanam portion to ascertain the karmas revealed by the Vedas. As yugas rolled on, due to the decline in the standards of mental ability because of increase in desire for material things, the Vedas (both the mantra and brāhmanam portions) by itself was found not to be intelligible enough for performance of the prescribed deeds. Therefore, the seers like āpastamba etc, had to compose the kalpa sūtras– wherein the procedural aspect of the yajñas was rendered in the form of aphorisms. These works, capable of being committed to memory, served as ready reference and thus facilitated the performance of yajñas as per the vedic injunctions. However, as time passed on, commentaries on these aphorisms had to be composed for correct understanding of these very aphorisms. Further decline in mental abilities due to growing extroversion necessitated some work, simpler and easily intelligible, in the form of spoken language used in common parlance. That is when the works called “Prayoga” came into being, composed by the then adepts in performance of the yajñas. Vāchaspatyam, a lexicon defines “prayoga” as “यज्ञादि-क्रिया-कलापेतिकर्तव्यता–बोधकायां समुच्चय-प्रतिपादके पद्धत्य्-अपरपर्याये ग्रन्थे इति याज्ञिकाः” – According to the performers of yajñas, prayoga otherwise known as paddhati, refers to the work which makes known the “how it should be done” aspect of the set of actions comprising the yajña ascertained cumulatively. The prayoga for a particular deed is not a totally new set of procedure. It does not compromise on any of the act prescribed in the vedic injunctions. The existing procedure as spelt out in the aphorisms (kalpa sūtras) is rendered in simple sentences in Sanskrit (of the spoken style) easily comprehensible, spelling out sequentially the “how to do” (इतिकर्तव्यता) of the deed. The relevant mantras and sūtras are also included mostly verbatim in the respective places.
For many centuries now these prayogas, being committed to memory have been transmitted orally from teacher to pupil in succession in the same way as the Vedas. They were also transcribed in palm leaves etc from time to time to preserve the antiquity. On the basis of these prayogas, thus come down to these present days, the performance of yajñas take place these days. Though minor variations are to be found in the prayogas prevalent in different parts of the country depending upon certain customs and traditions peculiar to the respective regions, the overall methodology remains uniform throughout.
The present publication is probably the first of its kind wherein the prayoga for the nitya karmas prescribed directly in the Vedas is being brought out in printed book form. The karmas right from the setting up of the sacred fires (अग्न्याधानम्) up to the somayaga (अग्निष्टोमः) are dealt with in this work as spelt out in the āpastamba Śrauta Sūtra. The order of the deeds set out in this work follow the order in which those sūtras are rendered.
Manuscripts
The present work is based on the text traditionally handed down by the preceptors adept in performance of these deeds, who in turn had acquired the same from the unbroken lineage of teacher and pupil. In editing the prayoga for somayaga six manuscripts were collated. Brief particulars of the manuscripts are given below –
i. Palm leaf manuscript written by Br.Shri. Lakshmikanta Upadhyaya of Mattur village, Shimoga, Karnataka; dated 1860-61 A.D.
ii. Palm leaf manuscript procured from Mattur Village; this is incomplete; folios subsequent to the Mādhyandhina Pavamāna Stotra of Mādhyandhina Savanam are missing; particulars of the scribe, date etc, are not known.
iii. Paper manuscript written by Br.Shri. Chintamani, son of Ahitagni Br.Shri. Krishna, Khetaka village near Ratnadurg, Maharashtra; written in śāka 1723 (1802 A.D); procured from Pune.
iv. Paper manuscript written by Br.Shri. Narayana Vajapayee, banks of Krishna River, Maharashtra; written in śāka 1751 (1830 AD), procured from Pune.
v. Paper manuscript written by Br.Shri. Ram Jhere, son of Br.Shri. Linganna Bhatta, Kundgol koti, Gadguli; written in śāka 1737 (1816 AD), procured from Shrowti Br.Shri. Ramachandra Bhatta, Kodlekere, Gokarnakshetra, Karnataka.
vi. Paper manuscript written by Br.Shri. Vishwanatha, son of Br.Shri. Rama Shastri and grandson of Br. Shri. Giri Dikshit, Guharanya Kshetra; written in śāka 1761 (1840 A.D), procured from Br.Shri. Seetarama Shrowti of Hanegal.
Special features
Special features of this edition are –
i. Detailed page wise subject index under major heads of each karma.
ii. Checklist of things used in various karmas.
iii. Sketches of the vihāras for different karmas.
iv. Informative introduction in Sanskrit about the various karmas in brief.
Acknowledgement
It goes without saying that but for the strenuous efforts of many it would not have been possible for us to bring out a work of this kind. We take this opportunity to place on record our gratitude to all of those who have generously shared their knowledge, time, money etc which have helped us immensely in bringing out this work. First and foremost, we are much obliged to Br.Shri.(late) Seetarama Shrowti of Hanegal, for having taught the prayoga up to the cāturmāsya. He made available to us a copy of paper manuscripts of prayogas for Paśubandha & Agnistoma. He also officiated in the setting up of the sacred fires (अग्न्याधानम्) in our village, where the performance of agnihotram was revived after a gap of over a century and a half. We stand in obligation to Br.Shri.(late) Mānikka Dikshit of Bidar for imparting the knowledge of Adhvara prayoga of somayaga. Br.Shri.(late) Vishwanatha Shrowti of Nellore, who during his times was acclaimed as the most knowledgeable in śraūta karmas, during his visits to Mattur, taught us the many nuances in the performance of different yajñas. He also presided over the setting up of the sacred fires in our village. We are greatly indebted to him for having enriched our knowledge in this field. Our thanks to Br.Shri.(late) Ramachandra Shrowti of Gokarna for making available to us a paper manuscript of somayaga prayoga.
This publication owes a lot to the contribution by Ved. Br. Shri. sundararama Dikshitar Vajapayee, Sengalipuram, Tamilnadu. He is a Salakshana ghanapathi honoured with the title “ Śrauta Vidya Bhaskara”. He spared no efforts to go through the original and make necessary corrections and offer useful suggestions. We are deeply indebted to him for the amelioration of the quality of this edition through in-depth knowledge and experience in Śrauta Prayoga.
We record our appreciation and gratitude to our erstwhile students notably Shri. Raghavendra Bhatt, Shri. Pramoda Avadhani, Shri Nagaraja Bhatt and Shri. Girish Bhatt, who took great pains in typesetting the entire work and in reading the proofs etc. We thank all the donors for their substantial contribution towards the cost of bringing out this work. Last but not the least we thank all the users of this work, but for whom, this would not have seen the light of the day.
With the hope that this endeavour may please the Vedātman Bhagawan Shri Krishna, the bhokta (recipient) and the prabhu (lord) of all yajñas, we remain ever in the service of yajñeśvara.
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