Mutual help - bhojanam (part 4)

[Guest guest]

SRIMATHE RAMANUJAYA NAMAHA.

 

Athithi dEvO bhava.

 

Why is a person, who happens to be athithi treated as god?

Let us see some scriptural explanation.

 

The special status to athithi arises owing to his being considered as

an embodiment of an Agni called VaishvAnara. This has been stated in

katohpanishad.When Yama sees Nachiketas waiting at his doorstep, he

realises that it is the biggest sin to make the athithi who also

happens to be a brahmin wait at the doorstep without being offered

food. For, when the athithi enters the house, it is VaishvAnara who

entersthe house. A difference is thus made between the athithi and

others in the name of VaishvAnara who is supposed to reside in the

athithi.

 

Before going into the details on this, let me begin with why agni

comes to be associated with man or athithi in the first place. The

very meaning of the term shareeram(body) in sanskrit is closely

associated with agni."AgnayOhathra shreeyanthE", this became

shareeram,says Garbhopanishath. By virtue of it being pervaded by

agni, our body is known as shareeram.

 

According to Garbhopanishad which details the formation andgrowth of

the body in the womb, our shareeram is pervaded by 3 types of agni,

namely, Gyanaagni,Dharshanaagni and koshtaagni.

Koshtaagni helps in digestion and assimilation offood.

(achita-pIta-lEhya-shoshyam pachathi)

Dharshanagni helps us in seeing the rupam. (rupaaNaamdharshaNam)

Gyanaagni helps us in understanding good and bad andgood from bad.

(shubha shubhancha karma vidanthi)

This Gyanaagni is positioned in 3 places in our body,in the face as

Ahavaneeaagni, in the stomach as GArhapathyaagni and in the Hridayam

as DhakshiNaagni.

 

By means of these agni, constant yajna is taking place in our body.

Again we find in Katohpanishad (verse 5-9)."agni-yathaikO bhuvanam

pravishtO rupam rupam prathirupO babhuva" (Just as how agni enters all

bodies and takes up the shape of the respective bodies as its shape)

"thatha sarva bhootha antharaathma rupam rupamprathi rupO bahishcha"

(the antharyami enters all bodies and takes up the rupam of the

respective bodies.)

 

The inference is that all bodies are nothing but embodiment of agni.

For our better understanding, let us call this as internal agni.

Now about the external agni. This includes all agni-related vaidhiha

karma. I don't want to elaborateon this as I assume the readers are

well aware of this.

Suffice it to remind ourselves that this external agni (this is so

called for our understanding only) is to be governed throughout one's

life as per the Taittriya injunction, "Agnayascha

swaadhyaayapravachanEcha".

 

It is interesting to note that a sanyasi who is supposed to have given

up or discarded everything (except his mother) including agni, in

effect is not giving up agni. Before taking up sanyasa, he swallows up

the agni (external agni) asking it to unite with his Prana by saying

"PrANam gachcha swAhA" (JaabaalOupanishad 4-2) This is known as the

Viraja Homa andthe details of how this is to be done is explained in

this upanishad.

 

>From the above, we further deduce that while the body (shareeram) of a

person contains only internal agni,that of the sanyasi contains both

internal and external agni.

 

Let us go on further to analyse the import of the version in

Katohpanishad which says that there is agni in athithi.

This agni is VaishvAnara which issupposed to be present in the one who

comes as an athithi. What is this VaishvAnara? Gitacharyan says that

He, as VaishvAnara, the gastric juice is pervading all beings.

 

Jaimini says, "Narayana is the agni(VaishvAnara) which is none other

than the Brahman"."This VaishvAnara Self extending from Heaven to the

earth," says Chandogya (V-XVIII-1). Though Brahman is present in every

being, a difference is being made by texts by a qualifying statement

that VaishvAnara, the'agni' which is none other than Brahman Himself

is present.

 

In whom?In athithi, says katohpanishad. "Vaishvanara agni enters the

house as athithi" Because the athithi comes hungry. "He who knows this

agni Vaishvanara.. abiding in man" (Satapata Brahmana) treats him with

reverence and satisfies the agni with food.

 

Therefore those around Yama tell him to bring water to wash the feet

of Nachiketas, a boy much younger thanYama himself, and offer food to

him.(Kato -Verse 1-8 ) "They tell Yama, 'in whose house,the athithi

stays without food, his desires, sankalpa,goodwill of others, his own

good deeds and words, the worship he has done to gods, his children

and his wealth (cattle) are all destroyed by the agni present in the

athithi."

 

On the other hand, those who satisfy the VaishvAnara in athithi with

food stand to be benefited.When an athithi is offered food as a

sacrificial act,all the created worlds receive the offering by virtue

of its being offered to Brahman in the form of VaishvAnara. This is

made out in Brahma sutras.Jaimini says that VaishvAnara must be

worshipped as in Agni hotra sacrifice where Prana is worshipped.

 

"...as the fibres of the Iseeka reed when thrown in fireare burnt,

with this (offering to VaishvAnara) all his sins are burnt". (Chando

–V-XXIV-3).

 

Here a question arises –since VaishvAnara is present in all beings, is

it not enough if we offer food to anyone from among ourselves who is

hungry and get the phalam?

 

It is replied here that the athithi is special. Because the texts say so.

 

"The first food which a man takes is an object of oblation" that is it

must be offered to some one else,not himself or his own family. And

the first food which is to be offered must go to the one who is in

dire need of it in such a way it gives him his life-force back by

satisfying his VaishvAnara which is waiting for long for the havis

(the food). "and he who offers that first oblation should offer it to

PrANa,saying 'swaha'." (Chan- V-X-1)

 

(Further elaboration ofthis can be found in Ramanuja's Bhashya to

Brahmasutra , 1-2-27) It is said that the PrANA mentioned above is the

abode of VaishvAnara and the offering made to PrANa is the offering

made to Vaishvanara.

 

That is why the grihastha has to wait for an athithi (who fulfills the

meaning of the term as said in earlier mails) to offer the first food

before he and his family take food.

Such an athithi would be possessed of the VaishvAnara in him

expecting the havis. Thus athithi bhojanam was considered as a homa or

sacrifice. When the grihastha finds an eligible athithi, he offers

food with the realisation that he is offering food to Brahman.

 

This is how the athithi came to be regarded as god.

Now coming to further fine-tuning of our understanding– any man with

VaishvAnara is also possessed of the internal agni (discussed

earlier).

 

But a sanyasin scores above this man in having swallowed the external

agni within himself. In the former case, the results occur visibly or

invisibly or as apurva. But in the case of a sanyasi, the results are

almost instantaneous.

 

This is what we find in Kanaka-dhara on the poor lady who offered amla

fruit to Adi Shankara.The opposite happened in Shakuntala's case when

she ignored the sage. In all, what is required is how sincere and

concerned one is in athithi bhojanam. If the situation warrants

supreme sacrifice, one must do that. (Outlined in stories in previous

mails).

 

The conclusion is that one must wait for an athithi (atleast one)

everyday to offer him the first food before taking one's meals. To get

a sanyasi-athithi is all the more great as the offering is made to one

with 3 agni (VaisvAnara, internal agni and external agni) in him.

 

Regards,

 

Jayasree saranathan.

 

(concluded)

[Guest guest]

see some scriptural explanation.The special status to athithi arises owing to

his being considered asan embodiment of an Agni called VaishvAnara. This has

been stated inkatohpanishad.When Yama sees Nachiketas waiting at his doorstep,

herealises that it is the biggest sin to make the athithi who alsohappens to be

a brahmin wait at the doorstep without being offeredfood. For, when the athithi

enters the house, it is VaishvAnara whoentersthe house. A difference is thus

made between the athithi andothers in the name of VaishvAnara who is supposed

to reside in theathithi.Before going into the details on this, let me begin

with why agnicomes to be associated with man or athithi in the first place.

Thevery meaning of the term shareeram(body) in sanskrit is closelyassociated

with agni."AgnayOhathra shreeyanthE", this becameshareeram,says

Garbhopanishath. By virtue of it being pervaded byagni, our body is known as

shareeram.According to Garbhopanishad which details the formation andgrowth

ofthe body in the womb, our shareeram is pervaded by 3 types of agni,namely,

Gyanaagni,Dharshanaagni and koshtaagni.Koshtaagni helps in digestion and

assimilation offood.(achita-pIta-lEhya-shoshyam pachathi)Dharshanagni helps us

in seeing the rupam. (rupaaNaamdharshaNam)Gyanaagni helps us in understanding

good and bad andgood from bad.(shubha shubhancha karma vidanthi)This Gyanaagni

is positioned in 3 places in our body,in the face asAhavaneeaagni, in the

stomach as GArhapathyaagni and in the Hridayamas DhakshiNaagni.By means of

these agni, constant yajna is taking place in our body.Again we find in

Katohpanishad (verse 5-9)."agni-yathaikO bhuvanampravishtO rupam rupam

prathirupO babhuva" (Just as how agni enters allbodies and takes up the shape

of the respective bodies as its shape)"thatha sarva bhootha antharaathma rupam

rupamprathi

rupO bahishcha"(the antharyami enters all bodies and takes up the rupam of

therespective bodies.)The inference is that all bodies are nothing but

embodiment of agni.For our better understanding, let us call this as internal

agni.Now about the external agni. This includes all agni-related vaidhihakarma.

I don't want to elaborateon this as I assume the readers arewell aware of

this.Suffice it to remind ourselves that this external agni (this is socalled

for our understanding only) is to be governed throughout one'slife as per the

Taittriya injunction, "AgnayaschaswaadhyaayapravachanEcha".It is interesting to

note that a sanyasi who is supposed to have givenup or discarded everything

(except his mother) including agni, ineffect is not giving up agni. Before

taking up sanyasa, he swallows upthe agni (external agni) asking it to unite

with his Prana by saying"PrANam gachcha swAhA" (JaabaalOupanishad 4-2) This is

known as theViraja Homa andthe details of how this is to be done is explained

inthis upanishad.From the above, we further deduce that while the body

(shareeram) of aperson contains only internal agni,that of the sanyasi contains

bothinternal and external agni.Let us go on further to analyse the import of the

version inKatohpanishad which says that there is agni in athithi.This agni is

VaishvAnara which issupposed to be present in the one whocomes as an athithi.

What is this VaishvAnara? Gitacharyan says thatHe, as VaishvAnara, the gastric

juice is pervading all beings.Jaimini says, "Narayana is the agni(VaishvAnara)

which is none otherthan the Brahman"."This VaishvAnara Self extending from

Heaven to theearth," says Chandogya (V-XVIII-1). Though Brahman is present in

everybeing, a difference is being made by texts by a qualifying statementthat

VaishvAnara, the'agni' which is none other than Brahman Himselfis

present.In whom?In athithi, says katohpanishad. "Vaishvanara agni enters

thehouse as athithi" Because the athithi comes hungry. "He who knows thisagni

Vaishvanara.. abiding in man" (Satapata Brahmana) treats him withreverence and

satisfies the agni with food.Therefore those around Yama tell him to bring

water to wash the feetof Nachiketas, a boy much younger thanYama himself, and

offer food tohim.(Kato -Verse 1-8 ) "They tell Yama, 'in whose house,the

athithistays without food, his desires, sankalpa,goodwill of others, his

owngood deeds and words, the worship he has done to gods, his childrenand his

wealth (cattle) are all destroyed by the agni present in theathithi."On the

other hand, those who satisfy the VaishvAnara in athithi withfood stand to be

benefited.When an athithi is offered food as asacrificial act,all the created

worlds receive the offering by virtueof its being offered to Brahman in the

form of

VaishvAnara. This ismade out in Brahma sutras.Jaimini says that VaishvAnara must

beworshipped as in Agni hotra sacrifice where Prana is worshipped."...as the

fibres of the Iseeka reed when thrown in fireare burnt,with this (offering to

VaishvAnara) all his sins are burnt". (Chando–V-XXIV-3).Here a question arises

–since VaishvAnara is present in all beings, isit not enough if we offer food

to anyone from among ourselves who ishungry and get the phalam?It is replied

here that the athithi is special. Because the texts say so."The first food

which a man takes is an object of oblation" that is itmust be offered to some

one else,not himself or his own family. Andthe first food which is to be

offered must go to the one who is indire need of it in such a way it gives him

his life-force back bysatisfying his VaishvAnara which is waiting for long for

the havis(the food). "and he who offers that first oblation should

offer it toPrANa,saying 'swaha'." (Chan- V-X-1)(Further elaboration ofthis can

be found in Ramanuja's Bhashya toBrahmasutra , 1-2-27) It is said that the

PrANA mentioned above is theabode of VaishvAnara and the offering made to PrANa

is the offeringmade to Vaishvanara.That is why the grihastha has to wait for an

athithi (who fulfills themeaning of the term as said in earlier mails) to offer

the first foodbefore he and his family take food.Such an athithi would be

possessed of the VaishvAnara in himexpecting the havis. Thus athithi bhojanam

was considered as a homa orsacrifice. When the grihastha finds an eligible

athithi, he offersfood with the realisation that he is offering food to

Brahman.This is how the athithi came to be regarded as god.Now coming to

further fine-tuning of our understanding– any man withVaishvAnara is also

possessed of the internal agni (discussedearlier).But a sanyasin scores

above this man in having swallowed the externalagni within himself. In the

former case, the results occur visibly orinvisibly or as apurva. But in the

case of a sanyasi, the results arealmost instantaneous.This is what we find in

Kanaka-dhara on the poor lady who offered amlafruit to Adi Shankara.The

opposite happened in Shakuntala's case whenshe ignored the sage. In all, what

is required is how sincere andconcerned one is in athithi bhojanam. If the

situation warrantssupreme sacrifice, one must do that. (Outlined in stories in

previousmails).The conclusion is that one must wait for an athithi (atleast

one)everyday to offer him the first food before taking one's meals. To geta

sanyasi-athithi is all the more great as the offering is made to onewith 3 agni

(VaisvAnara, internal agni and external agni) in him.Regards,Jayasree

saranathan.(concluded)------------------------

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