yajna: (Sanskrit) "Worship; sacrifice."

One of the most central Hindu concepts - sacrifice and surrender through acts of worship, inner and outer.

1) A form of ritual worship especially prevalent in Vedic times, in which oblations - ghee, grains, spices and exotic woods - are offered into a fire according to scriptural injunctions while special mantras are chanted.

-       The element fire, Agni, is revered as the divine messenger who carries offerings and prayers to the Gods.

-       The ancient Veda Brahmanas and the Shrauta Shastras describe various types of yajna rites, some so elaborate as to require hundreds of priests, whose powerful chanting resounds for miles. These major yajnas are performed in large, open-air structures called yagashala.

-       Domestic yajnas, prescribed in the Grihya Shastras, are performed in the family compound or courtyard. Yajna requires four components, none of which may be omitted: dravya, sacrificial substances; tyaga, the spirit of sacrificing all to God; devata, the celestial beings who receive the sacrifice; and mantra, the empowering word or chant.

-       While puja (worship in temples with water, lights and flowers) has largely replaced the yajna, this ancient rite still continues, and its specialized priestly training is carried on in schools in India.

-       Yajnas of a grand scale are performed for special occasions, beseeching the Gods for rain during drought, or for peace during bloody civil war. Even in temples, yajna has its Agamic equivalent in the agnikaraka, the homa or havana ceremony, held in a fire pit (homakunda) in an outer mandapa of a temple as part of elaborate puja rites.

-        

2) Personal acts of worship or sacrifice. Life itself is a jivayajna.

-       The Upanishads suggest that one can make "inner yajnas" by offering up bits of the little self into the fires of sadhana and tapas until the greater Self shines forth.

The five daily yajnas, pancha mahayajna, of the householder (outlined in the Dharma Shastras) ensure offerings to rishis, ancestors, Gods, creatures and men. They are as follows.

-       brahma yajna: (also called Veda yajna or rishi yajna) "Homage to the seers." Accomplished through studying and teaching the Vedas.

-       deva yajna: "Homage to Gods and elementals." Recognizing the debt due to those who guide nature, and the feeding of them by offering ghee and uncooked grains into the fire. This is the homa sacrifice.

-       pitri yajna: "Homage to ancestors." Offering of cakes (pinda) and water to the family line and the progenitors of mankind.

-       bhuta yajna: "Homage to beings." Placing food-offerings, bali, on the ground, intended for animals, birds, insects, wandering outcastes and beings of the invisible worlds. ("Let him gently place on the ground [food] for dogs, outcastes, svapachas, those diseased from sins, crows and insects" Manu Dharma Shastras 3.92).

-       manushya yajna: "Homage to men." Feeding guests and the poor, the homeless and the student. Manushya yajna includes all acts of philanthropy, such as tithing and charity. The Vedic study is performed in the morning.

The other four yajnas are performed just before taking one's noon meal. Manu Dharma Shastras (3.80) states, "Let him worship, according to the rule, the rishis with Veda study, the devas with homa, the pitris with shraddha, men with food, and the bhutas with bali."

Mystics warn that all offerings must be tempered in the fires of kundalini through the power of inner yajna to be true and valuable, just as the fire of awareness is needed to indelibly imprint ideas and concepts on one's own akashic window.

See: dharma, havana, homa, puja, sacrifice.

(See also: Yajna , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

adi-yajna:

adi-yajna (adhi-yajna). Pertaining to sacrificial aspects.

(See also: adi-yajna , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Yajna:

1)  A sacrificial fire ritual in which Vedic mantras are recited while wood, fruit, grain, oil, yogurt, and ghee are poured into the fire as an offering to the Lord.

2)  Any work or spiritual practice that is offered as worship to God.

(See also: Yajna , Yoga, Yoga Dictionary, Siddha Yoga, Siddha Yoga Dictionary)

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V X Y Z

 Yajna:

a sacrifice

(See also:  Yajna , Body Mind and Soul)

Yajna:

Yajna: a sacrifice.

(See also: Yajna , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

yajna

Vedic sacrifice, or any work done for the pleasure of the Supreme Lord Vishnu.

(See also: yajna , Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Yajna: Sacrifice; offering; sacrificial ceremony; a ritual sacrifice; usually the fire sacrifice known as agnihotra or havan.

(See also: Yajna , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Yajna:

Yajna. Name for Hayagriva.

(See also: Yajna , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Yajna:

Yajna: Sacrifice, holy ritual, (BV-10), (BV-16), sacrificial rite (RRV-6a) (RRV2-3) Yajna: a name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the goal and enjoyer of all sacrifices.

(See also: Yajna , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

yajna:

yajna. Holy ritual, sacrifice, or rite. Also, personification of rite (when capitalized).

(See also: yajna , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

yajna:

yajna - a sacrifice

(See also: yajna , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Yajna: sacrifice, sacred ritual

(See also: Yajna , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

yajna:

sacrifice, sacred ritual

(See also: yajna , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

YAJNA: sacrifice

(See also: YAJNA , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

dravya-yajna:

dravya-yajna (dhravya-yajna). Ritual sacrifice involving material objects.

(See also: dravya-yajna , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Yajna - a sacrifice in which a deity is propitiated by the chanting of prayers and mantras and the offering of ghee into the sacred fire.

(See also: Yajna , Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Brahma-yajna:

Brahma-yajna. Intense study and observance of the Veda; special daily worship-ritual dedicated to the Supreme.

(See also: Brahma-yajna , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

swadhyaya-yajna:

swadhyaya-yajna (svaadhyaaya-yajna). Self study of scriptures.

(See also: swadhyaya-yajna , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Yajna (Sanskrit). "Sacrifice", whose symbol or representation is now the constellation Mriga-shiras (deer-head), and also a form of Vishnu.

" The Yajna ", say the Brahmans, "exists from eternity, for it proceeded from the Supreme, in whom it lay dormant from no beginning ". It is the key to the Trai-Vidya , the thrice sacred science contained in the Rig -Veda verses, which teaches the Yajna or sacrificial mysteries. As Haug states in his Introduction to the Aitareya Brahmana - the Yajna exists as an invisible presence at all times, extending from the Ahavaniya or sacrificial fire to the heavens, forming a bridge or ladder by means of which the sacrificer can communicate with the world of devas, "and even ascend when alive to their abodes".

It is one of the forms of Akasa, within which the mystic WORD (or its underlying " Sound ") calls it into existence. Pronounced by the Priest-Initiate or Yogi, this WORD receives creative powers, and is communicated as an impulse on the terrestrial plane through a trained Will-power.

(See also: Yajna , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

nama-yajna:

nama-yajna (naama-yajna). Sacrifice only in name.

(See also: nama-yajna , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)