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This page will
instruct you in how to perform Agnihotra and prepare the necessary materials
yourself.
Agnihotra requires these materials:
- Copper pyramid
of specific shape and size
- Dried cow dung
- Ghee (clarified unsalted
butter from cow’s milk)
- Whole grain raw brown rice
- Agnihotra Mantras
(see below)
- Timings of sunrise/sunset for your area (available free of charge
by request)
*Click
Here* to get your own Agnihotra Kit.
Building The Agnihotra Fire
The main idea in
building the Agnihotra fire is to arrange the cowdung pieces to allow for good
air flow. Many people find the following method helpful:
Spread a little ghee on each piece of dung.
Place a small piece of dried dung in the bottom of the pyramid (see #1 left).
Add two small pieces in opposing corners (#2). Continue adding pieces in
alternating corners, using larger pieces as the pile grows (#3, 4, & 5).
To light the dung,
spread ghee on a narrow piece of dung, ignite it, and place it flame downward in
the center of the layers. The air flow will give you a fire that won't collapse
as it burns. Be sure your fire is blazing enough to burn the rice and ghee
quickly and completely.
After the Mantras
have been uttered and the rice offering given, it is best not to disturb the
fire, due to the interplay of subtle energies. If possible, avoid moving the
pyramid until the next time you prepare for Agnihotra.
A larger fire using
more dried cowdung amplifies the healing effects and produces a greater quantity
of healing ash.
Starting the Fire
Light the fire a few minutes
before the scheduled time, so the dung will be fully ablaze at Agnihotra time.
Do not use lighters (i.e. objects with lighter fluid) or gas stoves to start the
fire.
Exactly at the
sunrise or sunset time shown on the computer timesheet (based on one specific
definition of sunrise and sunset) utter the Mantras and give the offerings of
rice mixed with a little ghee to the fire, after each Sváhá. Say the Mantras
once only. If you miss the timings you will not have the healing effect of
Agnihotra. After each Agnihotra try to spare as many minutes as you can for
meditation. You can sit in silence at least until the fire extinguishes itself.
Collect the ash (at the next Agnihotra) and keep it in a container made of
earthenware, glass or wood. DO NOT keep Agnihotra ash in a container
made of plastic or metals other than copper or gold. Agnihotra ash can
be used as fertilizer for plants or for making folk medicines for animals and
humans. In South America it is called "miracle ash".
Timesheets
Check your local press or the internet for the sunrise and sunset times.
Also check to see if Daylight Savings Time (DST) has been calculated into your
timesheet, and adjust the timing if needed.
Rice
Use brown rice. Highly polished rice loses
nutritional value. We recommend organic grain.
Only unbroken grains of rice
should be used for Agnihotra. If rice is broken, the subtle energy structure
around the grain is altered; therefore the ash is not suitable for healing. The
amount of rice for each offering is the amount you can hold in your fingertips.
Drying Dung
There are several ways to dry
cowdung. Following are some suggestions for cold climate areas. The main point
is that the dung should be dry, and if it is thin it will be easier to start the
fires.
Use 4 pieces of 2"
x 2" x 36" lumber for each screen. Nail them together into a square frame and
cover with 1" chicken wire, 36 " wide, using wire staples to hold it down. Place
a piece of fiberglass window screen on top of this frame, but do not fasten it
on. Place this frame over a piece of plywood ( 32" x 32" ) cut to fit inside the
2 x 2's. This gives you a flat surface on which to spread the dung. Place the
plywood up on cinder blocks or other raised surface on which to work.
Collecting the dung
Use fresh manure from male
or female progeny of cow. Use rubber gloves so that you can pick up the dung
without getting any dirt, grass or rocks in it. Think good thoughts while
collecting dung, as this heightens its healing effect. Spread the dung about
1/2" thick on the screen. Raise the frame up off the board for good air
circulation and place it in full sun. Keep the dung from getting wet and it
should dry in about four days, depending upon your climate. When you think it's
dry, break a thicker piece and check the inside. Dry dung sounds hollow when you
tap it with your finger.
Making Ghee
Ghee can be made from unsalted butter
in an electric slow cooker (called a "crock pot"), or on a stove on very low
heat. On the stove, let the pan be about two inches above the source of heat.
The idea is that the butter heats very gently until all the white foam is cooked
out and has risen to the surface. Whey also separates from the ghee, stays on
the bottom of the pan and looks like water. Ghee is the golden liquid. The foam
that collects on the surface can be spooned off and fed to animals. When the
ghee has turned perfectly clear it is ready, and can be strained through cotton
cloth, a coffee filter, or three white paper towels. Be careful not to mix in
any of the clear liquid that is on the bottom of the pan.
Once you have
removed as much ghee as possible without including any of the watery liquid,
there will still be some ghee near the bottom of the pan which you do not want
to waste. Refrigerate what is left in the pan, and when the ghee has hardened
you can break it off the surface and add it to the next batch of ghee you make.
Properly made ghee does not need to be refrigerated.
Aged ghee (five
years old or more) is great for burns.
Agnihotra Mantras
There are vibrations that exist
everywhere. Where there is vibration there is also sound.
When we do these
Mantras, the sounds we utter activate these special vibrations that will create
certain atmosphere of effects. Then the desired results are realized. These
vibrations exist for everything, so anything can be activated, controlled or
changed by Mantras. When one with a pure mind speaks the Mantra into the
Agnihotra pyramid at the correct time, the ash retains that energy and the
healing properties of the ash become more powerful.
Agnihotra Mantras:
At
Sunrise:
Sooryáya Sváhá
(add the first portion of rice)
Sooryáya Idam Na Mama
Prajápataye Sváhá
(add the second portion of
rice)
Prajápataye Idam Na Mama
To listen
to the Agnihotra sunrise mantra, click below or right click on
'Save Taget As':
- AU
format
(Plays in quicktime / Windows media player)
- WAV
format
(works with most players)
At
Sunset:
Agnaye Sváhá
(add the first portion of rice)
Agnaye Idam Na Mama
Prajápataye
Sváhá
(add the second portion of rice)
Prajápataye Idam Na
Mama
(á is pronounced as
'a' in father)
To listen to the Agnihotra sunset
mantra, click below or right click on 'Save Taget
As':
- AU
format
(Plays in quicktime / Windows media player)
- WAV
format
(works with most players)
*Click
Here* to get your own Agnihotra Kit.
Published with the kind permission
of Fivefold Path Inc.
Fivefold Path Inc.,
is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the propagation of Agnihotra and the Fivefold Path (A guide
for happy living) all over the
planet.
Please visit there website
(www.agnihotra.org) to find out more about the
Fivefold Path and signup to their Satsang newsletter, which contains articles on
Agnihotra and the experiences of Agnihotra practitioners from around the
world.
Copyright © 2006
Fivefold Path
Inc. All rights
reserved.
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401-285-0918
0116-298-5886
021-300-1080 ext 801
03-90018185
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