MUNDAKA UPANISHAD - 12. Swami Advayananda.

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6 Chapters (64 Mantras)
Chapter-1.
Section-2.
2. A CLOSE LOOK AT RITUALS : (Mantras 10-22, 13 no.

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Monday, September 26, 2022. 06:00.
Mantram -3 : Harmful results of rituals performed wrongly
Post - 12.

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Mantram-3: 

yasya agnihotram: adarsham, apaurnamaasam,

achaaturmaasyam, anaagra-yanam, atithi varjitam cha;

ahutam, avaishva-devam, avidhinaa hutam,

aasaptamaan tasya lokaan hinasti.

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Translation :

1 yasya agnihotram: adarsham, apaurnamaasam, = The “Terms & Conditions” for an Agnihotra are: 

i) without the Darsha, observances on the new moon day; ii) or without those to be done on full moon day;

2 achaaturmaasyam, anaagra-yanam, atithi varjitam cha; = iii) or without those to be done during the

 rainy season; iv) or without offerings of the “first harvest”; v) or without attendance of guests;

3 ahutam, avaishva-devam, avidhinaa hutam, = vi) or simply without any offerings at all; vii) without

feeding of birds and animals (Vishwadevas); viii) or performed without following scriptural rules;

4 aasaptamaan tasya lokaan hinasti. = then, up to the seventh (generation of one’s family), all the

 worlds (they aimed to attain) are snatched away.

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Commentary :

1-3 Now are explained eight rigorous “terms and conditions” that apply to the 

Agnihotra ritual to make it a success. The sacrifice requires some discipline, care, attention, 

regularity, strictness, restraint of one’s own tendencies, and so on. It is here that most 

people fall short, fail in their observances, and thus do not get the expected results.

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THE “TERMS & CONDITIONS” :

To summarise the mantram, the Agnihotra is considered to be null and void if even one of the following eight conditions is not fulfilled:

i) Adarsham: not accompanied by Darsha, the rites to be done on new moon day;

ii) Apaurnimaasam: as above for the full moon day;

iii) Achaaturmaasyam: not accompanied by the rites done during the rainy season;

iv) Anaagrayanam: not accompanied by the first-fruit offerings at harvest time;

v) Atithi Varjitam: unattended by guests;

vi) Ahutam: without proper offerings;

vii) Avaishwa Devam: without the worship of the Vishwadevatas;

viii) Avidhinaa: not according to scriptural injunctions.

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The performance of Agnihotra done without the above rules and regulations is 

considered to be annulled, i.e. the fruits of the sacrifice are not obtained. 

Pujya Gurudev says in his commentary:

“In short, the Upanishad is severely emphasizing the drudgery of rules in 

ritualism, and is trying to wean the disciple away from all desire-prompted Karmas. 

Only when the mind and intellect have thus totally renounced their desires and their 

pre-occupation with desire-prompted action, can the seeker hope to meditate upon 

and rise above into the subtler worlds of constructive meditation.”

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4 In addition, the merits gained by seven generations in the family lineage are also 

destroyed by such inadvertence. The seven generations are, firstly, one’s own generation; 

then the three prior to it; and the three posterior to it.

One gets the hunch that these “terms and conditions” have been put in order to 

dissuade people from taking to these practices. It may appear so, but that would be unfair. 

The truth is that to fulfill our desires it does require one to execute an action to perfection. 

Many details need attention to get good results. That is the principle being put forward in 

this and the next mantram.

*****
Next -
Mantram-4 : Seven tongues of fire.
To be continued ...

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