Prayers of Yajna

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Devyajna is the second of the five supreme sacred duties of life. It is our paramount duty to keep our environment clean. The texts recited during the yajña bears ethical, social and spiritual values. It is a matter of great pride to be associated with the same texts which were recited by our sages and forefathers many thousand years ago.

As mentioned in Brāhmaṇa, Yajña (Agnihotra) should be performed with the oblation of faith (śraddha) in the fire of truth (satya). Truth with faith is a complete Yajña.

The climax of true spirit of Yajña appears at the heart of devotees by pronouncing IDAM NA MAMA (इदं न मम ) while offering the oblation where they cultivate the inner deep feelings of dedication for the practical welfare of mankind.

Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati was a beacon of light so far as the revival of Vedas and Vedic Traditions is concerned in the modern era. His vision, as a great seer, revolutionised think- ing about the Vedas. It is due to him that Vedic yajñas are prevalent in our world. No religious ceremony is complete without yajña. Many foreign nationals witness yajña, and would like to understand the mantras which are chanted during yajña. As Indian nationals living around the world and many of their offspring do not understand Sanskrit language, this book will help them to understand yajña.

Maharshi Yajnavalkya has summed up yajña as a 'most sub- lime act'. The ritual is an external act to purify the air which we breathe, but in a real sense yajña is spiritual awakening.

I used to write the expositions of Veda Mantras in the 'Aryan Voice', the monthly bulletin of Arya Samaj (Vedic Mission), Birmingham. I was requested by the readers to write the exposition of yajña mantras which we recite quite often. I knew this task was an enormous and difficult one as no scholar has written the exposition of these mantras, except for a few, not even in the Hindi language. There are only a few books avail- able on the meanings of these mantras.

The readers enjoyed the contemplation and encouraged me to publish this work. I have made an honest effort to main- tain the meaning according to the soul of the mantras.

I thank Mr. Bharat Bhooshan Shinde who typed the manu- script. I also thank my secretary, Mrs. Carolyn Lyons who typed the corrections and amendments with zeal. I also thank Mrs. Patricia Oke who went through the book with me and made valuable suggestions. I would also like to thank Rev. Raynor for writing the foreword.

Finally, I would like to thank my wife, Raksha Chopra. Medical Practitioner, without whose inspiration I would not have been able to complete this task.

It has given me great pleasure to be asked to write a foreword to this work by Krishan Chopra on the Prayers of Yajña, though I am not of Hindu tradition. Mr. Chopra rightly states in his own Preface that 'many foreign nationals witness Yajña and would like to understand the mantras which are chanted during Yajña". I have been one such foreign national, and I have learned a very great deal from reading this work. I am equally sure that there is much still waiting to be learned, if I were to read it again.

This is clearly a labour of love, which has cost much time and effort, and benefits from the scholarship gained from years of study, and from the wisdom. gained from years of devotion. As such, it has much to offer to many kinds of reader, and is carefully designed to be accessible on a number of levels. Each mantra is written out in such a way as to be accessible to the scholar of Sanskrit, whether elementary or advanced; at the same time it is possible for one who has no Sanskrit to understand the translation, and then the 'contemplation' or exposition is accessible to all.

And indeed the greatest value of this work must lie in the wisdom and scholarship of the expositions. They explain the relationship of the mantras to each other and to the wider traditions of the Vedas, they touch on many universal themes about the nature of God and of the world, and they elucidate complex ideas by means of simple language and easily understood images. It is the skill of the teacher to find ways to help his students understand, and Krishan Chopra achieves this by means of images drawn both from contemporary experience, like insurance policies or the fate of the 'Titanic', and from universal human experience, like our dependence on fire or upon our parents. These are but a few examples; there are many others, and all are well chosen to help the reader develop a better understanding of the mantras and of the traditions they draw upon, and indeed to appreciate their universal significance.

As a teacher of Religious Education, I am fully aware of the value of good teaching that arises from long study and faithful devotion. I am confident that this work has much to offer both to the interested external student like myself, and to the devotee who hears and uses these mantras on a regular basis; indeed I am sure that this work would be well used as part of a regular discipline of study, and that if so used it would yield an enriched understanding on each reading. I am de- lighted to have been associated with it, and to commend it to the reader.

The Reverend Duncan Raynor, MA (Oxford Uni- versity), MLitt, PGCE (Birmingham University), Chap- lain and Head of Religious Studies, King Edward's School, Birmingham.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages