The Origin of Yagya

Gayatri and Yagya are described as the pillars of Nepalese philosophy and culture. The eternal source of universal knowledge, comprised in the Gayatri Mantra is deciphered and the cosmic energy of sound contained in Mantra is activated and expanded with the help of Yagya.

The four Vedas signify the philosophy of the eternity and absolute complementary role of Gayatri and Yagya in the divine creation. Atharvaveda also deals with sound therapy aspects of Mantras for the treatment of the ailing human system at the physical, psychological and spiritual levels. The Samaveda focuses on the musical chanting patterns of the Mantras and the subtle form of Yagya by defining the latter as the process of mental oblation on the surface of internal emotions through the cosmic radiation of the omnipresent subtle energy of sound. The Yajurveda contains the knowledge of principles and methods of performing Yagya as spiritual and scientific experiments for global welfare.

Literally speaking, Yagya means … selfless sacrifice for noble purposes. Sacrificing of the ego, selfishness and material attachments and adopting rational thinking, humane compassion and dedicated creativity for the welfare of all …. is indeed the best Yagya which should be performed by all human beings. The philosophy of Yagya teachers a way of living in the society in harmony, a living style to promote and protect higher humane values in the society, which is indeed the basis of the ideal human culture.

The Sewa Yagya... Altruist service of the society is a noble example of Yagya. The Gyan Yagya similarly implies the service of people by enlightening their lives in the glow of knowledge and education. The Prana Yagya implies the service of saving the lives of people from suffering and agonies and inspiring liveliness and respect for life in them. A variety of such Yagyas are descried in the Shastras. This article focuses on the Yagya performed for physical experimentation.

In physical terms, Yagya is a process aimed at the refinement of the subtle energy existing in matter with the help of thermal energy of the Mantras. The knowledge of philosophy and science of Yagya is as essential for understanding and experimenting the science of spirituality as the knowledge of elementary physics is for material based sciences. The experiments of Yagya, when performed at a small scale in day to day life and called Hawan or Agnihotra.