importance of Haven/ Agnihotra/ Yajna
Haven ie Agnihotra or Yajna purifiers the mind, body, soul and environment, it protects us from all types of bacterial or viral diseases and play a great role in uniting the society.
Various gases produced during Havana decompose the poisonous gases liberating free oxygen and other useful products acting like disinfectants. This is an activity with multiple benefits. We not only purify the air but also remove the impurities of our mind and body. This process also helps in maintaining the unity and harmony in the family and the community. In Saam Veda about 114 Mantras speak about the importance of Havana.
During Haven a no of medicinal gases are produced by vaporization of pure butter and samagri which is mixture of a no of medicinal plants. Carbondioxide produced is in small quantity and that also is absorbed by water pot and plants kept nearby the Haven kund. Formaldehyde, Acetylene, Ethylene r also produced in very small quantity sufficient to disinfect the air, Formaldehyde is also used to disinfect the operation theatre. Herbal substances to be added into agnihotra should be health givers, anti-bacterial, aroma-builders, i.e. deodorants and sweeteners.
Details of the related chemistry have been sufficiently dealt with by Dr Satya Prakash in “Chemistry of Agnihotra” published by Jan Gyan Prakashan, New Delhi, and by Dr Ram Prakash, Head of chemistry department, Kurukshetra University in “Yajna Vijnana Vimarsh” published by Aneeta Arsha Prakashan, Panipat, India – both the authors were chemists. Another book ie "Vedic Combustion Science/ Science of Haven." Is also worth reading, Author: Dr Harish Chandra, Btech (IIT), PhD (Princeton) - A well known Combustion Scientist.
The Rishies in ancient India understood the mechanism of fire, its ability to break up the substances into vapor phase, and the related buoyancy and other aerodynamic effects that it can be used as a mechanism to cleanse the air both indoor and outdoor. They knew the principle of Conservation of Mass, what is stated in the modern terminology as “No mass is created or destroyed.”
Agnihotra consists of a base fire wherein some desirable herbal substances are added. Since the calorific value of firewood used to generate the base fire is much less, the base fire breaks up the molecule-to-molecule bond of the substances causing them to vaporize, and does not cause their independent combustion process. It is a well-known fact that the substances when taken in their vapor form through the nostrils have much greater efficacy – many hundred times more. And, the same quantity of substance can benefit a much larger population. It is a common experience that if an individual eats a green chilly then that person alone would be sneezing under its influence. But if the same chilly is put in the fire then the resultant air can cause many hundred people to sneeze.
Agnihotra magnifies the advantages of the desirable herbal substances. Further to this, the thermal and associated aerodynamic effects of the base fire cause the vaporized substances to traverse and diffuse into every part of the enclosed surroundings where agnihotra may be conducted.
The overall temperatures in the combustion of firewood are lower to the extent that production of the oxides of nitrogen can be safely ruled out. Supply of more than adequate oxygen cannot give rise to production of unburned hydrocarbon or carbon monoxide in any significant measure. Minimum quantity of firewood is burned in the agnihotra. Burning of firewood is not the purpose of the agnihotra. The same is burned in minimum quantity so that the base fire remains available to vaporize the incoming oblations.
Carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas does get formed. With this in mind, the ancient Vedic seers always performed agnihotra in green surroundings and in the presence of sunlight so that the greenery utilizes the carbon dioxide so generated. In the modern times, when agnihotra is performed in cramped households care should be taken to keep some plants in the vicinity.
Their contribution lies in identifying fire as the agent to multiply the benefits of the herbal substances through agnihotra in a ritual that otherwise may look to a layman as a senseless act of throwing away the useful substances. Furthermore, they packaged the ritual in such a manner that it became a wonderful art of our overall development in all our domains, viz. physical, pranic, mental, intellectual and spiritual. It can be safely stated that if this practice can become a common practice in the present times then this can lead to a marked decrease in several problems that the humanity is facing today. The gain can be tremendous in the quality of air, water and food that we consume, also in our mind set and behavioral pattern.
- Dr Mumukshu Arya