54. Agnihotra and Japa

Performing some kind of agnihotra or a yajna is essential before commencing and after completing the determined spiritual experiments of anusthana with mantra japa. In some mantra sadhanas this needs to be performed every day along with the regular japa processing.

Agnihotra or yajna is a simple process of sacrificing selected dry herbs in the fire kindled in a specifically designed small inverted pyramid shaped pot (or pit) called havan kunda. The material used in agnihotra - including the dry herbs / woods - is also purified by mantra japas and some sadhanas. The naturally broken dry woods from only a selected varieties of trees are allowed to be used. The valid types of medicinal herbs also are the ones that nourish and induce good health and do not cause any kind of insidious effects like poisonous vapors or polluting smokes. The material to be used in an agnihotra should be collected by the sadhaka from the places which are already purified by continuous performances of sacred sadhanas or yajnas and mantra anusthanas.

The electrified particles of the herbal material sublimated in the yajna fire, because of the special design of th havan kunda move upward in a spiral manner at an ultra fast rate. The mantra - chanting performed along with a yajna intensifies the thermal and electromagnetic effects of the latter to further energize the sonic vibrations of the mantra and expand them at cosmic levels. The effects of the mantra japa thus get compounded magnificently and offer manifold benefits to vast domain.

The thermal energy generated by the yajna fire and the collisions of sonic waves with the thin screen of its flames help exponential amplification of the power of Sabda in the mantra being chanted. The spiral waves of electrons in the yajna vapor play the role of transmitters to 'communicate the 'signals of the mantra' in the etheric whole. The positive effects of the matra japa that could otherwise be received in a limited space surrounding the sadhaka are thus magnified and spread in significantly large domains - even of cosmic dimensions in specific cases, if the japa is also accompanied by a yajna.

If such experiments of mantra sadhanas with yajnas are performed under adept disciplines, the unique confluence of the thermal and sonic energies linked with the eternal flow of consciousness in the etheric medium - would offer global benefits at physical as well as spiritual levels. Such boons would range from purification of atmosphere, harmonizing the ecological balances, improvement in the physical and mental health of the masses …….. to the spiritual enlightenment of all beings.