[Advaita-l] Jayaadi Homam (was: Veda Vyasa Ashtothara)

[Ramakrishnan Balasubramanian]

Here's some info on the jayaadi homam.

Apastamba says in his gR^ihya-sUtra 1.2.7:

yathA-upadeshaM pradhAna-AhutIh hutvA jaya-abhyAtAnAn-rAShTrabhR^itaH
prAjApatyAM vyAhR^itIh vihR^itAH sauviShTakR^itIM iti upajuhoti
"yadasya-karmaNaH ..."

[After offering the chief oblations as per instructions, the
sacrificer performs the additional sacrifices; jaya, abhyAtAna,
rAShTrabhR^it, prajApati,the vyAhR^itis separated, and the
sauviShTakR^iti].

This defines the contents of the so-called jayAdi homam. It basically
consists of:

1. The jaya group
2. abhyAtAna group
3. rAShTrabhR^it group
4. One for prajApati with prajApate na tva, etc
5. Three, one each for bhUH, bhuvaH and suvaH.
6. One finally to agni with yadasya karmaNaH etc.

The jaya group consists of 13 offerings starting with citta~nca svAhA
up to prajApatir jayAnindrAya ... svAhA. This is from taittirIya
samhitA 3.4.4.

The abhyAtAna group consists of 18 offerings beginning with
agnirbhutAnAm and ending with pitaraH pitAmahAH, etc. All the mantras
end with asmin brahman ... devahUtyAM svAhA. This is from TS 3.4.5.

The rAshTrabhR^it group consists of 13 offerings beginning with
R^itAShADR^itatAmAgnir, etc. This is from TS 3.4.7. Note that this
group comes in the udakashAnti also.

The 4th, prajApate ... is well known and is found in many places. The
vyAhR^itis are clear also. The last mantra yadasya etc., is not to be
found in the taittirIya samhitA of the shAkhA. It is found only in the
sUtras, and the svaras known only from tradition.

TS 3.4.7 gives the brAhmaNa passages for this group, as does the
latter half of 3.4.5, As I mentioned, any smArta homa should
*necessarily* conclude with this homam. It is not difficult, should
take 15-20 minutes if you know all the mantras. Traditionally a number
of other mantras follow the jayAdi. This varies among various
prayogas, and is known only from tradition, and the particulars for a
specific homa should be learned from a teacher.

Needless to say the passages are pregnant with inner meaning and one
should preferably reflect on that when making the offerings. In the
samhitA passages, the mantras are given in a shortened form and the
word svAhA is omitted, as is typical. So to go from samhitA to
prayoga, you need to split at the right places, duplicate some
sentences, and add svAhA at the end. Needless to say, svara rules must
be observed when doing this.

Rama

On 7/24/07, Ramakrishnan Balasubramanian <rama.balasubramanian at gmail.com> wrote:
> The Shodasha pUjA using the puruSha-sUkta mantras is quite common in
> temples, and you may be able to consult the local priest. The jayAdi
> is a homa, not pUjA, with vedic mantras. I will try to send some
> details later.
>
> Rama
>
> On 7/24/07, Dr. Yadu Moharir <ymoharir at yahoo.com> wrote:
> > Namste Rama-Ji:
> >
> >   Possibly not having recognized the significance of theses rituals Brahmani's may be omitting them.
> >
> >   Could you please provide some details "vyAsa-pUjA and jayAdi" ?  Personally I am not familiar with "jayAdi puujaa" and may benefit the list.
> >
> >   Best Regards,
> >
> >   Dr. Yadu
> >