Haritha:- Wearing
the kusha grass as a
ring and doing japa, giving
gifts and meals gives countless
benefits.
kaEizk>-
k…zasn< pr< pUt<
ytIna< tu ivze;t> ,
k…zasnaepivòSy isXyte yaeg %Äm>
.
Kaushika:-
A seat made of kusha
grass is the purest. This
is the best for sanyasis.
Prayer done while sitting on
the kusha grass seat leads
to achievement of Yoga.
z<o>-
k…zala-e iÖjïeó>
kazE> k…vI–t! yÆt> ,
tpR[adIinkmaR[I kaza> k…z sma>
Sm&ta> .
Shankha:- If
kusha grass is not available,
the next best is kasha
grass.[naanal]. It can be
used for all vedic rituals.
v&Ïvisó>-
ivñaimÇa> k…za> kaza>
ËvaR ìIhy @v c
,
bLbjaí yvaíEv sÝd-aR>
àkIitRta> .
Vriddhavasishta:- The
seven sacred grasses are vishvamithra,
kusha, kasha, durva[aruham], vreehaya
[paddy], balbaja, and yava
[barley].
k…z<
pivÇ< taè< va rjt<
hem cEv va ,
ib-&yaÎi][e pa[aE pivÇ<
caeÄraeÄrm! .
Rings made
of kusha, copper, silver,
or gold can be worn
on the finger on the
right hand . These are pure.
harIt>-
ma"e c -Syma yatu
tSya< d-aˆR½ yae mt>
,
AyatyamaStE d-aR> inyaeJyas!Syu> pun>
pun> .
Haritha:-
In the month of Magh
[ Masi] and Sravana [Avani]
darba should be collected
on the new moon days.
They are always regarded
as fresh and can be
used for all rituals.
mais
maSyu˜¯tad-aR> mais maSyev caeidta>
.
In
the other months, the darbha
collected in a month should
be used in the same
month.
23. haemivxanm!-
The Homa Rites
pulSTy>-
tenÔVya{yze;ai[
àaeúyacMy pung&Rhe ,
tt> kmaRi[ k…vI–t! siT³yaí
iÖjaeÄm> .
Pulasthya:-
Take bath, do sandhyavandanam,
and collect enough water to
sprinkle over the homa
articles and the house. Sprinkle
the water over the homa
articles and the house,
do achamana and start the
vedic rituals.
iv:[u>>-
SmatRmaEpasne k…yaRt!
ïaEt< vEtainke g&hI ,
laEikke ivxura[a< tu ivixre;
puratn> .
bhvae yÇ haetar> zaiNtke
paEiòke twa ,
laEikke=¶aE tda k…yaRt! g&ýa¶aE
n kdacn .
Vishnu:- The
householder should do all
the rituals based on Smrithi
[Traditional law] in the
household holy fire. The
vedic rituals should be
done in sacrificial fire.
Those without wives should
do the rituals in the
temporal fire. When people
get together and do
homas e.g. for peace, they
should do them only in
the temporal fire and not
in the domestic holy fire.
Sm&TywRsare-
haeme muOyae yjman>
pÆIpuÇíkNyka ,
\iTvkœ iz:yae gué> æata
-aig neySsutapit> .
@tErev ÷t<~ yÄu tÏ‚t<
Svymev tu ,
pyuR][< ivna pÆI ju÷yat!
kNyka=ip va .
Smrithi:- The
head of the family is
the most important person
to do the karma. If
he is not available, wife, son,
unmarried daughter, officiating priests,
disciple, guru, brother, nephew
and son-in-law are eligible to
do the homa.Wife and daughter
should do only the homa
and not the parishechana.[sprinkling
water around].
Vyas>-
yae ihTva ivvahai¶<
g&hSw #it mNyte ,
AÚ< tSy n -aeVy<
v&wa pakae ih s Sm&t>
.
Vyasa:-
Sages do not accept meals
from a householder who does
not perform homa in the
domestic holy fire. His cooking
is to no purpose.
25. haemahRSsimx>-
Firewoods fit for Homa.
Sm&TywRsare-
plazoidrañTwzMyuÊ<
brja simt! ,
ApamagaRkR ËvaRí k…z íeTypre
ivÊ> .
Smirithi:-
The sticks of palasha,
khadira, ashvattha, vanni and
fig trees, apamarga, arka,
durva and kusha grass are
considered suitable for homa.
sTvcSsimx>
kayaR \Jv!yðú[aSsmaStwa ,
zSta
dza¼‚laStaStu Öadza¼‚ilkaStwa
.
AadaRZzu:kaSsmCDedaStjRNy¼‚lvtuRla>
,
ApaiqtaíaiÖizoa>
k«imdae;ivvijRta> .
The
sticks should be smoothskinned,
straight and of same length.
10 or 12 inches is
the best length. They should
be succulent, dry , cut
straight, as thick as the
index finger, round, unsplit,
without branch and not
infested by worms.
simt!
pivÇ< vedzcÇy<àadezs<imtm!
#XmStu
iÖgu[> kayR> pirixiôgu[>
.
SmateR
àadez #Xmaeva iÖgu[> pirix>
Sm&t> .
The
sticks, the grass for ring,
and the bundle of kusha
grass should have the length
of a span. The sticks
thrown in the fire should
have double the length
and the sticks kept around
the sacred fire should
have three times the length
for the Vedic rites. For
smartha rites they can
be one span and two
spans.
26. haemÔVyai[--
Articles for the Homa.
kaTyayn>-
hivStu iÇivx<
}ey< k«t< cEv k«tak«tm!
,
Ak«t< c ³madeza< l][<
sMymuCyte .
k«tmaednskTvaid t{fulaid k«tak«tm!
,
ìIýaid cak«t< àae<
#it hVy< iÇxa buxE>
.
Kathyayana:- Havis
are of three types- Boiled
rice and flour are "cooked",
rice etc.are "semi-processed" and
paddy etc,. are "unprocessed".
Havis is food offered
in fire during homa.
AapSt<b>-
inTyae xayaˆR=nugtae mn!Wy> ïaeiÇyagaraÖa==hayR>
,
Apasthamba:-
Aupasana fire should always
be kept burning in
the kundam[special place for
keeping fire]. If, for some
reason, it goes out, fire
should be created by friction
or taken from the sacred
fire of another householder.
mnu>-
A¶aE àaSta==hitSsMykœ
AaidTymupitóte ,
AaidTya¾ayte v&iò> v&òerÚ<
tt> àja> .
dEve kmRi[yuae ih ib-tI–d<
cracrm! .
Manu:-
Homa done according to
rules in the fire reaches
the Sun. Rain comes from
the Sun and food
produced on the earth from
the rain. This brings peace
and comfort to people.
The world is protected
only by those who perform
divine karmas like homas
in the proper way.