Kerosene yaga

Hemanth Kashyap

Posted On Wednesday, June 16, 2010

* Secret’s out: This yaga is conducted only by sinners * Only ghee is permissible, say pundits

Yogis and Vedic scholars are scandalised that Nithyananda used kerosene instead of ghee to perform a sacred ritual. The romp-fame guru's Panchagni Tapasya Yaga entered the third day at his ashram near Bidadi on Tuesday, but people with a knowledge of the ritual were outraged he was doing it all wrong. On Sunday, Nityananda's PR machinery sent out pictures showing him sitting inside a fire ring, claiming he was performing a ritual for the welfare of the world.

HOLY SMOKE! A shishya uses a bathroom-style plastic mug to pour blue-coloured kerosene to keep Nithyananda’s sacred fire burning on Sunday. The yaga is on at his Bidadi ashram

Outraged Vedic scholars rubbished the idea. Only those anxious to wash away grave sins perform the yaga, they said.
Bangalore Mirror has obtained pictures of ashram authorities using blue-coloured kerosene to light the fire around the swami. The ration shop fuel, supplied to poor families, is coloured blue to distinguish it from what is sold in the open market.
Vedic scholars such as Daivajna Somayaji, S N Sreenivasa Narasimhan, and Mathoor Krishnamurthy said it was sacrilege to use kerosene for a sacred ritual.

"I have never heard of anyone conducting a yaga or homa using kerosene. Since time immemorial, we have used pure ghee to light the yaga fire. This is certainly not a good act," said Somayaji.

KAMADHENU POWER: Ghee comes from the Kamadhenu (sacred cow), and has the power to cleanse the fire and also the person performing the yaga, he explained. "If he really wanted to come clean, he should have admitted his sins in public and started penitence rituals. By using kerosene, he has brought disrepute to the sacred concept of the yaga," Somayaji said.

Sreenivasa Narasimhan, who conducts a wildly popular astrology show on a Kannada TV channel, echoes this sentiment. "The Mahabharata and and the Manu Smriti mention the Panchagni Tapasya Yaga, and it is performed by one has commited sins like having illicit sex, or eating meat, or showing disrespect to dharma."

YAGA STIPULATIONS: The yaga must be performed by the sinner and not in a group. It must be conducted under the hot sun, on an empty stomach. "Only at night, the ritual performer can eat some food. The yaga can be conducted for one day, seven days, or 21 days,'' Narasimhan said.

The yaga is usually performed by a one who has committed any of the pancha maha patakas (five great sins), like going to a prostitute, behaving in a perverse manner, committing adultery, or killing a cow."  Cow's urine and ghee are used extensively during this yaga. It is conducted on the banks of a river or near the sea.

“The Mahabharata and and the Manu Smriti mention the Panchagni Tapasya Yaga, and it is performed by one has commited sins like having illicit sex, or eating meat, or showing disrespect to dharma.”

YAGA STIPULATIONS

Mathoor Krishnamurti

The yaga must be performed by the sinner and not in a group. It must be conducted under the hot sun, on an empty stomach. “Only at night, the ritual performer can eat some food. The yaga can be conducted for one day, seven days, or 21 days,'” Narasimhan said.

The yaga is usually performed by a one who has committed any of the pancha maha patakas (five great sins), like going to a prostitute, behaving in a perverse manner, committing adultery, or killing a cow.”

Cow's urine and ghee are used extensively during this yaga. It is conducted on the banks of a river or near the sea. "If anyone conducts this in a group near Bidadi, that too using kerosne to light the fire, it is just a publicity stunt."

Somayaji

The scholars aren't buying the swami's PR that he is performing the yaga for the welfare of the people. "No one conducts this yaga for loka Kalyana," said Mathoor Krishnamurti, well-known Sanskrit and Kannada scholar, and executive director of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. He didn't approve of the kerosene either. "It's ghee that makes the fire holy and gives the ritual its sacred aspect," he said.

Astro expert Sachchidananda Babu also faulted Nithyananda's ritual methods. "All yagas and homas performed from thousands of years are using ghee made from

Source: Bangalore Mirror