Sri Sadhguro Pahimam Parama Dayalu Rakshamam

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Dear Members

" Hindu Dharma " is a book published by Bharatiya Vidya

Bhavan which contains English translation of two volumes of the Tamil

Book " Deivatthin Kural " ; which is a collection of invaluable and

engrossing speeches of Sri Sri Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi

MahaSwamiji.

 

http://kamakoti.org/hindudharma/part5/chap26.htm

 

Those who conduct Sacrifces

 

One

who performs a yajna or sacrifice spending on the material and

dakshina is called a " yajamana " . " Yaj " (as we

seen already) means to worship. The root meaning of

" yajamana " is one who performs a sacrifice. In Tamil

Nadu nowadays we refer to a " mudalali " as yajaman. It is the mudalali who pays

the

wages. So it is that we have given him the same place as the

yajamana who pays dakshina in sacrifices. That even common folks

refer to the mudalali as yajaman shows how deep-rooted the Vedic

culture is in the Tamilland.

 

There

is another word which also testifies to the fact that Tamil Nadu

is steeped in the Vedic tradition. A place where people are fed

free is called a " cattiram " by Tamils. In the North the

corresponding word for the sameis

" dharamsala " (dharmasala).

 

How

would you explain the use of the word cattiram in the South? It

is derived from " sattram " which is the name of a type

of Vedic sacrifice. In other sacrifices there is only one

yajamana who spends on the material and the dakshina. The priests

recieve the dakshina from him and conduct the sacrifice on his

behalf. In a sattra all are yajamanas. As we have mentioned

earlier any sacrifice brings benefits to all mankind and also

serves to cleanse the mind of all those who participate in it -

even those who witness the rites are benefitted. But the merit

accrues chiefly to the yajamana.

 

The

speciality of a sattra is that all the priests conducting it are

yajamanas. It is a kind of socialist yajna in which the merit is

equally shared. From this type of sacrifice has originated the

term signifying a place or establishment where anyone can come

and eat as a matter of right. In a cattiram the one who feeds

does not consider himself superior to the one who eats. There is

reason to believe that satras had a special place in the

tradition of Tamil Nadu.

 

Among

the rtvik Brahmins there are three classes. The

" hota " (hotr) chants the rks, the hymns from the Rgveda

in praise of the deity, invoking the devata to accept the

oblation. Because of the high place accorded to him in a

sacrifice we hear even today the remark made with reference to

anyone occupying a high position, " hota " .

 

The

Rgveda is replete with hymns to various deities. The Yajurveda

contains mostly the methods and directions for the conduct of

sacrifices. The Brahmin who looks after the conduct of the

sacrifice is the " adhvaryu " . The

" udgata " (udgatr) intones the mantras of the Samaveda to

please the deities. There is a Brahmin supervising the sacrifice

and he is called the brahma.

 

The

Vedas themselves are called " Brahma " . That is why one

who learns them (the student) is called a

" brahmacharin " . The supervisor of the sacrifice,

brahma, performs his function in accordance with the Atharvaveda.

Thus the hota, the adhvaryu, the udgata and the brahma represent

the four Vedas in a sacrifice. In later times, however, the

opinion emerged that the brahma is not connected with the

Atharvaveda to the same extent as the hota, adhvaryu and udgata

are connected respectively with the Rg, Yajur and Sama Vedas. In

actual practice also we see that those taking part in sacrifices

are conversant with the first three Vedas only and not with the

Atharvaveda. For this reason the view is put forward that all

sacrifices, from the somayaga to the asvamedha, are to be

performed only on the basis of the Rg, Yajur and

Sama Vedas.

 

There

are sacrifices which come independently under the Atharvaveda.

Acording to Valmiki's Ramayana, Indrajit performed the

Nikhumbhila sacrifice mentioned in this Veda. The other three

Vedas have a far wider following. Though we customarily speak of

the four Vedas (Caturveda), the Rg, Yajur and Saman are bracketed

together and specialy spoken of as " Trayi " .

 

(There

are three types of sacrifices mentioned in the Atharvaveda:

" santikam " for peace; " paustikam " for

strength; and " abhicharikam " to bring injury to

enemies).