[Advaita-l] savayajna

[RAMESH RAMANAN]

Dear Sri Animeshji,
Pranams,

I agree with you about Sri Appayya Deekshita's Goat sacrifice. The Kanchi Acharya Sri Chanrashekarendra Saraswathi has also observed that the Deekshitar got peace of mind after seeing that the pashu went to heaven, after being sacrificed. But he has not said that the Deekshita himself performed the sacrifice. So, that is news to me. When Sri Chandrashekarendra Saraswathi mentioned 'Yaaga Pashu,' i assumed that it must have been the cow sacrifice in the yaaga, but you have said that it was a goat.

But all said and done, I am sorry to say that your attention is being diverted from serious pursuit of advaita vedanta. Life as Sri Venkata Sriramji had pointed out is short and I would definitely urge you to make sure that you spend all your energy in the direct pursuit of advaita vedanta instead of being distracted by all this, though according to Sri Ramakrishna, all devotional paths lead to the ultimate goal, why waste our limited time, energy and resources in reaching the goal in a round-about manner, instead of directly abiding in the bliss of one's true nature? Sorry, please do not mistake me, I am not advising you but as a well-wisher, I would not want you to regret the wastage of time later. Let the scholars dispute their findings. Sri Chandrashekarendra Saraswathi, Sri Chandrashekara Bharathi and Sri Ramana Maharishi did not allow their disciples to get involved in fruitless or needless disputations, but urged them repeatedly to find out their true identity and abide therein, which, in essence, is the single most important goal of life. 

Thanks for your pointers on Sava Yajna. But I think I will stick to my reading of the Ribhu Gita and self-reading as taught by Sri Ramana. 

Pranams,
Ramesh Ramanan. 

     On Wednesday, 28 January 2015, 20:43, Animesh via Advaita-l <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
   

 Namaste ,

Of course use of पिष्ट पशु  instead  प्रत्यक्ष पशु  is a shistAchara. But wasn't it later practice developed by SrI madhavAcharya. 
Has Sri Madhwacharya cited any such authority for the piShTa-pashu practice introduced by him?( I mean sruti vAkya ).
 In an old tread Sri  Subrahmanian.V  wrote 
" Once he went against the practice of killing animals during Vedic
sacrifices. He recommended that offering Pishta pashu or a figure made out
of flour should be practiced instead in this kaliyuga. *He claimed that this
is truly Vedic. He prevailed over the scholars and made his brother
successfully perform a sacrifice using the pishta pashu." 
I came to know another argument by SrI Sriram Nagaraj in a older tread of advaita group.
"
I believe the great Advaitic scholar Sri Appaya Dikshitar once performed the Vajapeya Yajnya and when the sacrificial goat entered the homa, Sri Dikshitar was able to see the jiva attain heaven."  

Do any authority is there on pashu pishtha ? When sruti mentions " अग्नीषोमीयं पशुमालभेत" . 
Please read following article from nambothiri website. 
"
Resentment and opposition to animal sacrifice through Paswaalambhanam in Yaagams were prevalent even long ago. It gained strength with the spread of Jainism and Budhism, with even great emperors like Asokan on their side. Even strong believers in Vedic culture were intimidated and were afraid of performing Yaagams. In those days, in some parts of the country, certain Sroutha-Karmams called Havir-Yajnams, without Paswaalambhanam, were apparently practiced, though unknown in Kerala. This state of affairs continued for over a thousand years, until Mezhathol Agnihothri (Click here) boldly revived the ancient culture (Yajna Samskaaram), in these parts, at least.
Late Erkara Raman Namboodiri (Senior) says in his book "Ekaahaaheena Sathrangal", "...There are numerous explanations in Vedams and related Granthhams as to why Paswaalambhanam in Yaagams do not have the stigma of killing. The Jains and the Budhists believe in absolute "Ahimsa". But what is surprising is that the others who decry Yaagams do not desist from nor oppose animal slaughter for food or for commerce. Is it not far better for animals, not blessed with knowledge faculty to die in five minutes as in Yaagam with the blessings of the gods, than to die a miserable, long and painful death of old age, as occurs to most of them? Objectors do not seem to do anything about such miseries. Ninety five percent of the Vedams deal with Yajnam in some way. The remaining five percent exhorts humankind to perform such Karmams and cleanse the mind. And yet, there are the objectors to such Yajnams which are ordered by Lord Vishnu and are the prescribed rituals enunciated by all the Vedams, Smruthis, Ithihaasams, Puranams, Aachaarams and Anushthhaanams..."

According to modern doctors, the Vapa cannot be collected when the animal dies a natural death, nor when it is killed in any other manner other than by suffocation. Then, at least some portion of the Vapa concentrates in a specific part of the anatomy. But this was known to the ancient seers and sages !

The number of lambs sacrificed varies with ritual as well as Yaagam. Two lambs are needed for Somayaagam and fourteen, for Athiraathram. For "Aagneyam Pasu" and "Agnishomeeyam Pasu" on the 5th day of Somayaagam, one lamb each is sacrificed to Agni.

In Athiraathram, for "Ekaadasam Pasu", "Agnishomeeyam Pasu" and "Maithraavaruneeya Pasu", one lamb each is sacrificed while for "Ekaadasa Pasu", a ritual on the 10th day of Athiraathram, ten male and one female lambs are sacrificed to eleven different gods.

Before the animal sacrifice, the Yajamaanan's wife cleans the lamb. The servants (Adiyaar, the elite Nayar community) kills the lamb by suffocation and stretching the lamb's tongue outside the mouth.

The Adhwaryu, with the help of other Namboothiris, collects the Vapa on a stick (Vapaasrapani) of Kumizhu tree. Each lamb (and thus each Vapa) is numbered. Here, no Rithwik should help Adhwaryu. Vapa, thus collected, is covered with Darbha grass and fried in the fire. This follows the extraction and boiling of eleven other organs of the lamb.

Due to strong protest from the animal lovers, the lambs have been replaced by a special vegetarian preparation called "Pishta Pasu". Animals were not sacrificed (instead, Pishta Pasu was used) in the Athiraathrams conducted at Paanjaal . " 


Regards 
Animesh 
_______________________________________________
Archives: http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l/
http://blog.gmane.org/gmane.culture.religion.advaita

To unsubscribe or change your options:
http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/advaita-l

For assistance, contact:
listmaster at advaita-vedanta.org