[Advaita-l] vedic yajna

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

> This is a question for those who are experts in the procedures of vedic
> yajna. In Brihadaranyaka Upanishad verses leading up to 6.4.18, there is a
> reference to eating rice mixed with milk, curd etc. to get a son
> well-versed in one, two, three and four vedas. I would like to know the
> references to corresponding yajna procedures. I am keen to understand if
> these procedures involve killing a cow or only partaking ghee. The text can
> be more appropriately translated as taking ghee given that the previous
> verses talk about curd, milk etc.

Ghee is a common element in all these cases - sarpishmantam aSnIyAtAm...
The specific additions to the odanam (cooked rice) are kshIra (milk), dadhi
(curd), udaka (water), tila (sesame seeds) and mAMsa (meat) of ukshA or
Rshabha.
 
SAnkarabhAshya says, "mAMsa-miSram odanaM mAMsaudanam. ... auksheNa
vA mAMsena, ukshA secanasamarthaH pungavaH, tadIyaM mAMsam. RshabhAs
tato'py adhika-vayAH, tadIyam ArshabhaM mAMsam".
 
Please note that Sankara bhagavatpAda lived very much in the kaliyuga and he
does not talk of any substitutions for ukshA and Rshabha here.
 
Vidyasankar