In Hinduism, Yajña or Yagna (, ), also known as Havana in modern contexts, is a ritual done in front of a sacred fire (), often with mantras. Yajna has been a Vedic tradition, described in a layer of Vedic literature called the Brahmanas, as well as in the Yajurveda.Laurie Patton (2005), The Hindu World (Editors: Sushil Mittal, Gene Thursby), Routledge, , pages 38–39 The tradition has evolved from offering oblations and libations into sacred fire to symbolic offerings in the presence of said sacred fire.
Yajna rituals-related texts have been called the Karma-kanda (ritual works) portion of the Vedic literature, in contrast to the Jnana-kanda (knowledge) portion found in the Vedic Upanishads. The proper completion of Yajna-like rituals was the focus of Mimansa school of Hindu philosophy.Randall Collins (1998), The Sociology of Philosophies, Harvard University Press, , page 248 Yajna have continued to play a central role in Hindu rites of passage, such as weddings.Hindu Saṁskāras: Socio-religious Study of the Hindu Sacraments, Rajbali Pandey (1969), see Chapter VIII, , pages 153–233 Modern major Hindu temple ceremonies, Hindu community celebrations, or monastic initiations may also include Vedic Yajna rites, or alternatively be based on Agamic rituals.
Etymology
The word () derives from the Sanskrit , meaning 'to worship, adore, honour, revere' and appears in early Vedic literature, composed during the 2nd millennium BCE. In the Rigveda, Yajurveda (itself a derivative of this root), and other texts, it denotes "worship, devotion to anything, prayer and praise, an act of worship or devotion, a form of offering or oblation, and sacrifice".Monier Monier-Williams, Sanskrit English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, (Reprinted in 2011), pages 839–840 In post-Vedic literature, the term came to mean any form of rite, ceremony, or devotion with an actual or symbolic offering or effort.
A could include major ceremonial devotions, with or without a sacred fire, and was sometimes accompanied by feasts and community events. According to Nigal, the term has a threefold meaning: worship of the deities (devapujana), unity (sangatikarana), and charity (dána).Nigal, p. 81.
The Sanskrit word is related to the Avestan term yasna of Zoroastrianism. Unlike the Vedic , however, Yasna refers to a specific religious service, rather than a class of rituals, and it is associated with water rather than fire.Drower, 1944:78Boyce, 1975:147–191 The Sanskrit word is further related to Ancient Greek ἅζομαι (házomai), "to revere", deriving from the Proto-Indo-European root *Hyeh₂ǵ- ("to worship").
Historical and archaelogical background The practice of yajna is generally traced to a common ritual inheritance shared by the early Indo-Iranian peoples, reflected in the linguistic relationship between Sanskrit "yajna" and Avestan "yasna" discussed above.Mary Boyce (1975), A History of Zoroastrianism, Volume One: The Early Period, Brill, pp. 147–191.
Some scholars have argued for a still older continuity, proposing that certain fire-altar structures uncovered at Indus Valley Civilisation sites such as Kalibangan and Lothal may represent early forms of domestic or communal fire ritual; this interpretation remains contested, and other scholars caution that the evidence is too fragmentary to establish direct continuity with water Vedic sacrificial practice.Asko Parpola (2015), The Roots of Hinduism: The Early Aryans and the Indus Civilization, Oxford University Press, pp. 60–66.Michael Witzel (1997), "The Development of the Vedic Canon and its Schools," in Inside the Texts, Beyond the Texts, Harvard Oriental Series, pp. 257–345.
By the time of the Rigveda (2nd millennium BCE), yajna was already a fully developed institution centred on the sacred fire, and its vocabulary and structure continued to develop through the Brahmana and Srauta Sutra literature over the following centuries.Michael Witzel (2003), "Vedas and Upaniṣads," in The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism (ed. Gavin Flood), Blackwell, pp. 68–71.
Vedic period Yajña was the central focus of the Rig Vedic period, with the Ṛgveda Saṁhitā serving as the foundational and oldest source for these rituals. The ritual centered around Agni, the god of fire, who served as the divine messenger and intermediary between heaven and earth. During the ceremony, hymns, prayers, and mantras were chanted while oblations (such as wood and clarified butter) were offered into the sacred flames. These offerings were viewed as a form of hospitality provided to the gods, who were treated as divine guests. Agni, acting as the havyavāhan (oblation-bearer), carried these offerings to the gods in the skies. In this spiritual exchange, the gods were pleased by the worship and, in turn, were expected to grant the worshippers "fruits" or boons such as wealth, prosperity, and healthy offspring.
The Vedic text Satapatha Brahmana defines a sacrifice as an act of abandonment of something one holds of value, such as oblations offered to god and dakshina (fees, gifts) offered during the . For gifts and fees, the text recommends giving cows, clothing, horses or gold. The oblations recommended are cow milk, ghee, seeds, grains, flowers, water and food cakes (rice cake, for example). Similar recommendations are repeated in other texts, such as in the Taittiriya Shakha 2.10 of the Krishna Yajurveda).
In the householder's daily ritual, Malamoud notes that the five great sacrifices (mahayajnas) were the "devayajna" (to the gods), the "pitryajna" (to the ancestors), the "bhutayajna" (to the beings), the "manusyayajna" (to human beings), and the "brahmayajna" (to the Vedas). The brahmayajna includes individual recitation of the Veda (svadhyaya). Bhutayajna includes food left for other creatures, and the manusyayajna includes hospitality to a guest.
The nature of Vedic sacrifice and rituals evolved over time, with major changes during the 1st millennium BCE, changes that influenced concepts later adopted by other traditions such as Buddhism. Early Vedic period offerings involved animal sacrifice, but the rituals were progressively reinterpreted over time, substituting the offerings and making it non-violent or symbolic, with the superiority of knowledge and celebration of sound of mantra replacing the physical offerings.
Upanishads
In early Upanishads, states Sikora, the meaning of the term Yajna evolved from "ritual sacrifice" performed around fires by priests, to any "personal attitude and action or knowledge" that required devotion and dedication. Ultimately, the external rituals were reformulated and replaced with "internal oblations performed within the human body". These ideas of substitution, evolution from external actions (karma-kanda) to internal knowledge (jñana-kanda), were highlighted in many rituals-related sutras, as well as specialized texts such as the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, Chandogya Upanishad, Kaushitaki Upanishad and Pranagnihotra Upanishad.
The oldest principal Upanishads, such as the Chandogya Upanishad (~700 BCE) in chapter 8, for example state,
The Mundaka Upanishad classifies the four Vedas and six Vedangas as lower knowledge, and the higher for the knowledge of the imperishable. It compares the sacrificial rites to frail boats, holds that the heavenly worlds obtained through them lasts until its merit is spent, and directs the seeker to a teacher, since the uncreated cannot be attained through works. Diana Eck describes the Upanishadic "crossing over" as the soul's transition towards Brahman through knowledge imparted by a guru.
The Shvetashvatara Upanishad in verses 1.13-16, for example, uses the analogy of fire-making to describe meditation as a means of perceiving God and compares the self (atman) to fire latent within the fire-drills. It states, "by making one's own body as the lower friction sticks, the syllable Om as the upper friction sticks, then practicing the friction of meditation, one may see the Deva who is hidden, as it were".Robert Hume, Shvetashvatara Upanishad 1.5.14, Oxford University Press, page 396
Mahabharata
In the Mahabharata, the transition from one age (yuga) to the next is marked by a yajna.
The Bhagavad Gita reinterprets yajna through the "wheel of sacrifice," or yajnachakra. According to Angelika Malinar, this "wheel of sacrifice" represents a cycle of mutual dependence in which sacrifice is necessary to sustain relationships "regarded as the basis of life." Jayashree Sathe similarly reads the Bhagavad Gita as extending the concept of yajna beyond the literal ritual offerings of oblations into a sacrificial fire, to encompass the performance of one's prescribed duties (niyata-karma) without attachment to their results. In this sense, sacrifice takes the form of giving up attachment to the fruits of one's actions as well as one's ego.
Buddhism
Scholar of Buddhism Tadeusz Skorupski states that these sacrifices were a part of ritual way of life, and considered to have inherent efficacy, where doing these sacrifices yielded repayment and results without the priests or gods getting involved. These Vedic ideas, adds Skorupski, influenced "the formulation of Buddhist theory of generosity". Buddhist ideas went further, criticizing "the Brahmins for their decadence and failure to live in conformity with the Brahmanic legacy of the ancient Brahmins", who claimed the Vedic ancients "lived in self restraint, were ascetics, had no cattle, no gold, and no wealth". The Buddha sought return to more ancient values, states Tadeusz Skorupski, where the Vedic sages "had study as their grain and wealth, guarded the holy life as their treasure, praised morality, austerity and nonviolence; they performed sacrifices consisting of rice, barley and oil, but they did not kill the cows".
Types
The Kalpa Sutras classify yajnas in several ways. The broadest division is between srauta (public) yajnas and grhya (domestic) yajnas.
Śrauta yajnas The older, śrauta yajnas are public sacrifices derived from the śruti that require the maintenance of three sacred fires, and participation of multiple specialized priests. Śrauta rites are called solemn rites and were dedicated to Agni and Soma. Although the significance of srauta rituals is not clear, they are discussed in three main categories: iṣṭi or haviryajña, which involve oblations of rice or barley; animal sacrifices or paśubandha; and soma, which involve oblations prepared from the soma plant. The main sources for these rites are the Srauta Sutras, each belonging to a particular Vedic school and describing the role of priests in the rituals of that school.
Gṛhya yajnas Gṛhya yajnas are domestic rituals performed by householders using a single sacred fire and priest. They encompass daily offerings and rites of passage (samskaras), including ceremonies marking birth, marriage, and death. In Hindu weddings for example, a yajna is performed in which the sacrificial fire serves as a witness of the marriage, and the couple walk around the fire.Hazen, Walter. Inside Hinduism. Lorenz Educational Press. . P. 34. Domestic rites are also performed for activities such as vows, seasonal ceremonies, and protection from danger.
Core elements
Fire The central element of all Vedic sacrifices is the ritual fire which is identified as both an element as well as the Hindu fire god, Agni. Agni serves as a medium through which offerings are conveyed to the gods. The fire altar is seen as a passage between the earthly and divine realms, with the gods present within the sacrificial arena and worshippers' prayers raised toward heaven. Agni also serves as a witness in domestic rituals such as Hindu marriage.
Mantras