Five great sacrifices

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The Missing Link of Hinduism in Modern Times

--- Swami Samarpanananda

The great riddle of Hinduism

Picture three cousins: One lives in Modai, an Indian village, the second living in Mumbai, and

the third in Manhattan. The cousin living in Manhattan is approached by his American friend, 'You area Hindu. Tell me what is your essential ritual? I have been a non believer all my life, but I now want to

be a practising Hindu.'

The Manhattan cousin is not able to answer clearly. He thinks he is a Hindu, and practiseswhat the local community of Hindus practise, but knows nothing more. He calls up his cousin inMumbai for clarification, who replies that he goes to occasionalsatsanga of babajis, watchesmythological serials, goes occasionally to temples, considers the cow sacred, and that is how he thinkshimself to be a religious Hindu. Now both these cousins call up their cousin in Modai. This cousin saysthat he is a devout Hindu. He considers Gaya, Ganga, Gayatri, Go (cow), and Guru sacred, treats theVedas as the sacred book, believes Aum to be the sacred symbol of God, and practises all that hisvillagers have been practising for thousands of years. But, beyond that he know nothing.

The Manhattan friend finds it amusing that neither of the cousins is clear about what mightmake him a practising Hindu. He is further amused to know that neither of the cousins has even seen acopy of the Vedas, which they consider sacred. When it comes to himself, he may never get a chance tovisit Gaya or Ganga, and he does not want to have a Guru right away. Considering the cow holy, and

practising caste are also out of question for him. "In any case", he concludes, "even if I consider thosefive "g" as sacred, that would be only one time affair. What must I do everyday to feel myself a Hindu?And, what would really set me apart from say, a Muslim, or a Christian?"

This makes the cousins serious about their roots. They now want to search for a directconnection with their ancestors who practised Hinduism (call it by any name) eight to ten thousandyears ago, or more, "Is there a link that will connect us with the sages of the past? What ritual wouldthread us into becoming practising Hindus?"

This is the famous riddle regarding Hinduism: 'What does it take to be a Hindu?' And, thecorollary to this question is: 'How a Hindu is different from a Muslim or a Christian in his essential

practises? After all they too go to their respective places of worship, follow a sacred book, and havegreat devotion towards their chosen ideals.'

Many consider rituals too be irrelevant in today's world, and also conclude that personalitieslike Swami Vivekananda did not want to encourage these practises. But no, it is not so. When Swamijiwas in London in 1895, two visitors came to meet Swamiji, about whom he wrote excitedly to E.T.Sturdy, "...Both of them want to know, the rituals of my creed! This opened my eyes. The world ingeneral must have some form. In fact, in the ordinary sense religion is philosophy concretised throughrituals and symbols. It is absolutely necessary to form some ritual and have a Church. That is to say, wemust fix on some ritual as fast as we can....We will fix something grand, from birth to death of man. Amere loose system of philosophy gets no hold on mankind." (Complete works of Swami Vivekananda:

Vol VIII, page: 356). Later, Swamiji talked about having a new code of conduct (Smriti) framed for thepresent age.

Although no new Smriti has yet been codified, one may always get curious to know about themissing links, and the important rituals of Hinduism. However, before that let us first have a look at thecore of Hinduism.

Essentials of Hinduism

Sri Ramakrishna said that (in Hinduism) the religion of the sages alone is eternal . And, definingthe essential trait of Hinduism, Swami Vivekananda said, 'If a Hindu is not spiritual I do not call him aHindu.' These two statements taken together imply that despite all the changes and reforms that keep taking

place in Hinduism at regular intervals, the true Hinduism is a) what leads one to direct spiritual growth,and b) what continues as sacred tradition from the time of the ancient sages. These traditions can be foundout from the various types of sacred literature of Hinduism, which are also known as pillars of religion.

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The edifice of every religion stands on its sacred scripture, and also on its four pillars:philosophy, mythology, rituals, and social conduct. In religions other than Hinduism, these pillars aremixed inextricably in their respective sacred book(s). But, the four classes of literature of Hinduism:Upanishads, Itihasa-Purana, Tantra, and Smritis are distinctive, although they have their roots in theVedas. Thus, every Hindu considers the Vedas sacred, although he may never have seen a copy of it.

However, to understand the core of Hinduism one need not study the Vedas, rather, one has toonly know the cardinal principle of any one of its four pillars, and he will be able to achieve his spiritualgoal. Stated simply, the cardinal principles are:

i) the philosophical conclusion of the Upanishads is that God (call it by any name) alone isReal; ii) the mythologies have been raised around the idea that God incarnates as beings(gods, human, and sub human); iii) the rituals have been codified with the idea that theidentification of an individual with worldliness may get cleansed; iv) the code of conduct has

been developed with the specific purpose of uniting the individual with the universal.

The philosophy laid down in the Upanishads can never change, but can be reiterated, as inGita. Similarly, nothing new can be added to the mythological stories of the Puranas and

Mahabharata,but they can be told and retold variously. Same is the case with the rituals associated

with worship: they are more or less fixed, but can undergo cosmetic changes whenever needed. It is dueto this that Hindus have no confusion regrading the philosophy, mythology, or the ritualistic worship.The problem lies only with the actions connected with the daily life, since the society keeps changingrapidly. Holding on to non essential practices would be considered a sign of backwardness, and yet, it isthese daily rituals that make a person Hindu, Christian, or Muslim.

To understand the particulars of ritual, we need to understand the dynamics of action asunderstood in Hinduism.

Types of action

Religions prescribe five types of action for its votaries:Nitya (daily rituals),Naimittika

(performed on special occasions),Prayaschitta (penances),Kamya (related to worldly desires), andNisiddha (prohibited actions). These five kinds of action form the visible rituals of a religiouspractitioner.

The Upanishads (which form the philosophical base of Hinduism), do not discuss these issues,since according to them, actions constitute only the preparatory ground for realising the Real. One whowants to be one with the Supreme, has to give up all actions, both good and bad. The remaining three

pillars (Itihasa-Purana, Tantra, Smriti) detail the dos and don'ts, sometime through assertions, and atother times through examples. Interestingly, values in Hinduism are not static as many wrongly believe.Even the highest values like truth and non-violence at times come to loggerheads inRamayana and

Mahabharata because of their inherent contradictions. One value that remains unchanged through entireHindu auxiliary religious literature is not at all a value but an attitude. And, that is unselfishness ordetachment in action. Personalities like Sri Krishna and Sri Rama were completely detached, and that is

why the results of actions, good or bad, did not touch them. Sri Rama's killing of Vali, and Sri Krishna'srole in the great Mahabharata war belong to this category of detachment.

To instil this great principle of unselfishness in everyday life of a common man, the sagesprescribed mandatory performance of the five great sacrifices, known asPancha Mahayajna everyday.Through the daily performance of these great sacrifices, a householder can easily get out of the clutchesof self-centredness.

These five can also be performed in different formats to make themNaimittika (by performingone of these on a large scale on special days) andPrayaschitta (performing one of these as atonementfor some past mistake),apart from their beingNitya. The remaining two types of action,Kamya and

Nisiddha are also the fallouts of these five greatyajna (sacrifices) only.

Yajna: What are they



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Broadly speaking, any religious acts of an individual or of a group isyajna (religioussacrifice), but Yajnas are invariably associated with the Vedas, where they act as prayer to the divine inanticipation of something in which the offering effects the communication between the mundane and thesacred, and the priest acts as the agent of the sacrificer as well as the mouthpiece of the gods.

Under normal condition, every act of a person is mundane, and at times, even profane. Butwhen those very acts are performed with a religious outlook, they becomes yajna. Even the simple act of

breathing can be transformed into a sacrifice (Gita, IV.29) when it is performed with proper attitude.

Thusyajna (sacrifice) is the consecration of the mundane to the divine. It is the transformation of theprofane into the sacred; is the bridge between the material and the spiritual; and is the instrument toconvert the belittled to the exalted.

For a person to be spiritual, his acts have to be spiritualised, and for that his every act has tobecome ayajna. That is why even the act of creation by Purusha (God) was perceived as ayajnaby theVedic sages, and was described so (Purusa Sukta, Rig Veda X. 90) . However, it is impossible for acommon man to treat every act of his as a yajna. So, an easier way has to be found for his upward

journey towards spirituality.

It was to solve this problem that the Vedic sages came up with the solution of public andprivateyajna for all. Soon they had framed methods by which the life of an individual and the societycould be regulated by sacrificial acts. In birth, death, marriage, acquisition, renunciation, sorrow, joy,

victory, loss -- there came up ayajna. Slowly theseyajnas diversified into sacraments (samskaras), andsacrifices (offerings and oblations).

Theyajnas which were not sacramental (i.e. not asamskara) were characterised by offering ofoblations to various deities and personalities. The oblations (havih) meant for gods were poured asahuti into fire, known as homa , whereas the offerings made to the ancestors and the demigods (Nirritiand the Rakshasas) were known as bali and were placed on the strewn grass, or put in water.

ThePanca Pahayajna (lit. five great sacrifices),practised in Hindu homes since timeimmemorial, is a unique combination of i) the Vedic sacrifices, ii) the concept of sacrifices as presentedin Gita (chapter IV), and also iii) the ritualistic worship that replaced Vedic sacrifices from daily life

Panca Mahayajna : Beyond the bondage of time and space

The concept of these daily sacrifices was already in the Vedic period, but the first clearmention of the termPanchayajna is foundinMahabharata. In the famous debate between Ashtavakraand Bandi, the court priest of king Janaka, the number five is extolled because of the great sacrifices

being five in number. In the same book Yuddhisthira replies to Yaksha that a person who does notperform the five sacrifices is like a living dead.

Law books likeManu Smriti are emphatic about the the duty of every householder to performtheseyajna daily. While commenting on the importance of yajna in human life, Acharya Shankara in hiscommentary on Gita says thatPancha Mahayajna must not be given up.

Coming to our own times, Swami Vivekananda while commenting on the method and themeans of Bhakti-Yoga says that, 'And then as to sacrificial work, it is understood (underline added) thatthe five great sacrifices (Panchamahayajna) have to be performed as usual.' Swamiji takes it for

granted that every Hindu will be performing these rituals. Indeed, it has been the custom of most Hinduhomes to practise these five rigorously.

Thus we see thatPanca Mahayajna is one particular ritual that has been recommended fromancient times to date. And it is this distinctive ritual of Hinduism, which in modern times has becomethe missing link of the ancient religion for the younger generation.

Here it must be mentioned that different sects of Hinduism practise thousands of differentrituals, like taking a sip of Ganga water daily, eating tulasi leaves, takingprasad(sacramental offering)etc., but when it comes topanca mahayajna, they are all united, irrespective of locality, caste, gender,and sect.

The five great Sacrifices

Coming back to the three cousins, we find that irrespective of who is living where, each one of



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