While we exist in a humanoid society with technology-driven living and fast urbanization, ancient practices are refreshing, sometimes very different, bridging our gap with nature and our roots. One such deep practice is Agnihotra, the ritual from the ancient science of Ayurveda. The daily sunrise and sunset rituals require a very simple fire ritual that can purify the environment, reduce stress levels, and improve overall health with enhanced energy levels.
What is Agnihotra?
Agnihotra means a "yajna of offering ghee into the sacred fire according to strict rites" and may include heated milk offerings twice daily by members of the Śrauta tradition. P.E. Dumont styled it both a "fertility charm" and a "solar charm" in that it is symbolically preserving and creating the sun's passage at dusk and dawn. The ritual consists of offering certain organic material into a small copper pyramid-shaped fire pit, while chanting mantras. They include normally dried cow dung cakes; ghee – clarified butter – and rice grains. The timing of the performance of the ritual and its method are important for they coincide with certain natural bio-rhythms and cosmic cycles.
Agnihotra Origin
Agnihotra is derived from an ancient body of knowledge written in Sanskrit—a highly evolved, complex, and restructuring language that became the mother of all the Indo-European languages—derived from the Vedas. It is said to be revealed knowledge passed down orally for literally thousands of years before it was written around 1500 B.C. This ancient body of knowledge spoke of the detailed physics of the universe, ways of reaching super states of consciousness, harmonious dwelling on earth, purification techniques of the atmosphere. From this came the ancient science of fire purification.
Special fire ceremonies have been performed throughout ancient times by numerous cultures including the Hopi Native Americans, Mayans, and Shamans of Siberia. Agnihotra is the resuscitated fire science that can be performed by any person from any walk of life.
What happens in Agnihotra?
Agnihotra is a practice where a small copper pyramid is prepared with brown rice, cow dung cakes, and ghee, and mantras are spoken at sunrise and sunset. This creates a flood effect, where the sun rises from various energies. At Agnihotra, high energy surrounds the pyramid, creating a magnetic field that purifies the atmosphere and neutralizes harmful radiation. This atmosphere provides nourishment and sustenance to all life forms, and performing Agnihotra creates a positive pattern.
Thus, one of the essential features of Agnihotra is the use of Sanskrit mantras when performing it. As a matter of fact, Sanskrit is a language of pure vibration, never having been the spoken mother tongue of any culture. When the sunrise or sunset mantras are sung, a resonance is created within the pyramid, which is then thrust out by the fire into the atmosphere.
Vedic Agnihotra: The Rituals
These are the daily Agnihotras, which are to be campaigned in the Vedic religious background. This cult is performed ideally in the morning and evening, at the time rays of sunlight begin to rise, and when the sun sets and the first star appears. Four persons or more are required to participate in this sacrifice—the sacrificer, horning priests to conduct the ceremony, his wife, an Adhvaryu, and a milker. There are two Agnihotras: one in the morning and one in the evening.
Vedic rituals involve four priests: an Adhvaryu, a Hotṛi, an Udgātṛi, and a Brahman. The ritual involves three fires: an eastern offertorial fire called an Āhavanīya, a western fire called the Gārhapatya, and a southern fire called the Dakṣināgni. During the ceremonies, a cow is led into the sacrificial area, where the milker recites mantras and milks it. The milk is collected in the Agnihotrasthālī and then boiled on Gārhapatya coals. The Adhvaryu draws milk from the Agnihotrasthālī and pours it on sacrificial sticks twice. He drinks some of the milk before throwing the sticks into the Āhavanīya. After libations, the Agnihotrahavani is cleaned and refilled with water. It is heated over the Āhavanīya with additional mantras recited and poured down onto the Vedi as an additional libation.
Effects of Agnihotra
What humanity needs more than anything else is a tool that can refine the atmosphere, grow pure food uncontaminated by pollutants, and return to a state of balance and harmony with our fellow beings and our Mother Earth. Agnihotra is the healing tool to achieve this.
The transformative effects of Agnihotra have been documented by innumerable scientific studies, personal experiences, and testimonials the world over. It is a healing tool that anybody can practice irrespective of race, creed, or religion. It has shown beneficial effects on plant life, human health, radioactive fallout, atmospheric purification, and psychic arrangements.
Among the benefits are:
- A decrease in mental tension and stress
- Blood cleansing, skin rejuvenation, and brain cell renewal.
- Electro hava, which supplies the environment with enormous amounts of negative ions.
- The process of neutralizing harmful germs.
- Compared to other forms of smoke, Agnihotra smoke improves circulation, tones the nervous system, and restores equilibrium to the human body.
- When plants are housed in a Homa environment—where Agnihotra fire vibrations are sustained—they grow happier, acquire nourishment, and bloom.
It nourishes human life and animal life not less than plants. The collecting of all the particles of harmful radiation from the atmosphere is done by Agnihotra smoke, and on a very subtle level, it neutralizes their radioactive effects. Plants surround themselves with an aura energy field during Agnihotra, making them strong and resistant to various diseases. The energy gets locked in the resultant ash when the flame dies, which is further used for preparing various folk medicines.