Preface

Among others, Buddha both upheld and clarified the concept of Yagna in language that laymen could comprehend. This goes contrary to the widespread belief that Buddha condemned the concept of Yagna as we shall see later in this essay.

Meaning and Symbolism of Yagna

The word Yagna is derived from the Yaj root as forming Yaj Pujayaam or Yaj Sangatikaranam. Yaj itself means to make an oblation to, to sacrifice, oblation, adore, honour, worship, respect, revere, and so on. From a purely ritualistic standpoint, it encompasses men, materials, form, structure, semantics, and mechanics.

Yagna in a social and philosophical context, also implies several nobler aspects of sharing, interaction and harmony that spans the entire universe. As it is commonly understood, Yagna is not performed in isolation barring the Brahma Yagna, which Brahmacharins (celibate Vedic students) perform. Mostly, a Yagna involves a congregation of varying numbers with the manifest goal of preserving Rta or the Cosmic Order. It follows that Yagna at the philosophical level, represents a deeper symbolism.

I’d like to look at Yagna as a neat formula handed to us to maintain the said Cosmic Order. It is similar to a mathematical formula to solve a problem. Although the formula by itself represents nothing, one cannot do without it because the problem will remain unsolved.

Yagna as Sacrifice

A common miscomprehension of Yagna is in terms of semantics: in the sense of its usage as “sacrifice” implying cruelty. Performing a Yagna is an act of free will. Individuals performing a Yagna do so on their own accord for the implicit purpose of preserving the spiritual harmony of the universe. No book, authority, or personage prescribes–much less commands–performing a Yagna. However, this prescriptive aspect proves exactly how things can go wrong.

Inculcated as a desirable ritual over several generations, Yagna lost its original symbolism and degenerated into mere ritual. And this made it easy for those who chose to exploit this aspect, which is what happened in Buddha’s time. Buddha condemned this, the Yagna-as-mere-ritual, not the original symbolism.

Buddha and the Vedic Yagna: Similarities

Buddha presents his understanding of Yagna in such simple terms as “My Yagna involves no animal sacrifice, no money to be spent,” and so forth. What he cloaked in such simple language was his emphasis on the superiority of the internal yagna (antar yagna). In Buddha’s words:
Make thy heart the sacrifical pit, and
Thy soul the sacrifical fire

[to householders unwilling to become renunciates]

Thy parents verily are venerable as the Agni
So welcome them always,
Thy wife and progeny the sacrifical fire
So treat them with such respect as it deserves, and
The Shramanas (monks) the fire to whom
Thou should’st pour all thy oblations.

It is easy to discern Buddha’s inspiration for these precepts. They read almost like a photocopy of these verses of Yajur Veda’s Jnana Yagna:
Tasyaivam Vidusho Yagnasya Aatmaa
Yajamanah Sraddha patni Shariram Idhma…

Loosely translated,
… [thus] Soul is the officiator,
Devotion the wife,
Body as the Samit (small pieces of wood),
Heart the sacrificial pit,
Hair the dried blades of grass (to be offered to the fire),
Veda/englightenment the fire,
Desires the ones to be sacrificed,
[Our] Anger the animal to be killed (and offered to the fire)…

It is now amply clear what “sacrifice” stands for. Yet the misrepresentation of Yagna-as-sacrifice persists for several reasons, chief of which is political. Buddha’s angst as we have seen, was directed towards the exploitative behaviour in the name of Yagna, and not against Yagna itself. Which presents a problem Veda-baiters choose to ignore: if they decry Yagna, they necessarily need to accept the symbolism that Yagna represents. It is equivalent to saying, “I condemn curd but I don’t accept the existence of milk.”

Cross-posted on Desicritics.