[Advaita-l] Fwd: Shodashopachara during Homa/Havan

[Bhaskar YR]

The  belief is that agni is the messenger of the gods ("agniM dUtaM
vR^iNImahe") and he carries our offerings to the gods. Or, he also brings gods to the yajna for the purpose of accepting our offerings, as the very second mantra of the Rigveda says (sa devAn iha A vakShati).  So it appears that agni undertakes the responsibility of bringing the gods and ensuring the offerings reach them. We don't have to specifically invite the gods into agni.

praNAms
Hare Krishna

I have seen this practice of doing shOdashOpachAra Pooja to rudra (by saying yajneshwarAntargata AdityAtmaka rudra) before rudra hOma and likewise devi Pooja to agni before chandi hOma.  In srinigeri published rudrObhishikta book also there is a suggestion to do Pooja to adiyAtmaka rudra in agni before the actual commencement of rudra hOma with Ajya mishrita tila vreehi dravya.  And sometimes some priests would do anga nyAsa karanyAsa also before offering the Pooja to agni with the name of pradhAna devata...purusha sUkta nyAsa before sUkta hOma, vishNu sahasranAma nyAsa before doing the vishNu sahasranAma hOma etc. :-)  I always wonder if this is required when yagneshwara is the havya vAhana who dispatches the havya through his wife 'svAha' :-)

Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
bhaskar