You can use the resources below to perform a Sri Krishna Homam by yourself. Homam or havan is a Hindu fire ritual.
Download the manual of a quick Sri Krishna Homam procedure (version dated 2008 August 16). This manual explains the details of a quick 45-minute Sri Krishna homam procedure. This procedure is designed based on the Bhagavad Gita Homam taught in tradition. It is simple enough to perform daily or weekly or monthly.
You can download free software to view PDF files at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/index.html.
The introductory portion of the document are reproduced below in HTML format. Please scroll down to read it. If you see some garbled text, it may be because of missing Sanskrit fonts. If you download the PDF file, you will be able to see it correctly because the fonts are embedded in the PDF file. Unfortunately, what it reproduced below is HTML and not PDF.
Download the audio MP3 file. You can play this MP3 file and perform homam by yourself by pausing and playing. Or you can listen to it a few times and practice the pronunciation. You can click the right mouse button on the link and click "Save Target As" in the pop-up menu to save the MP3 file on your computer. The audio is about 23 minutes long.
You can use MP3 players like Media Player to play this file. You can download one such MP3 player from the site http://www.oldapps.com/MusicMatch_Jukebox.htm.
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Om Sri MahaaGanapathaye Namah Om Sri Gurubhyo Namah Om Rishibhyo Namah
Sri Krishna Homam
Laghu Paddhati (Short Procedure)
By P.V.R. Narasimha Rao (www.VedicAstrologer.org)
Date of current version: 2008 August 16
A Word from the author
My spiritual master Dr Manish Pandit hails from Pune, India and lives in Manchester, UK. The idea of spreading homam in the world was revealed to him in a dream a few years ago. He saw eight elevated beings in a dream. They transported him across blue skies to Chennai, India, where he was shown the big fire that was to be lighted in future. They told him to start the work. They assured him that homam as a spiritual sadhana was very appropriate in Kali yuga. As spiritually inclined people have fewer and fewer hours to spend on spiritual sadhana everyday with the progressing Kali yuga, sadhanas that work fast are more relevant. Homam works much faster than japam and other spiritual sadhanas. They told him that the practice of homam would transform into a movement that would reach across caste, class and race barriers.
Later, when we were performing a Shata Chandi Homam in the first week of March 2006 at the Kalikambal temple in Chennai, he had a darshan of Divine Mother on a Friday and was reassured by Her about the right course of events regarding spreading homam. A Mahaganapathi homam manual was published later and several people are performing it daily or weekly or monthly.
When we were in Mayapur, India in May 2008, we were mesmerized by the spiritual vibrations at Mayapur due to the continuous chanting of mahamantra by so many people there. We received an inspiration to create a manual for a Sri Krishna homam based on the mahamantra.
What is Homam
Homam is a fire ritual of sacrifice. It is also known as homa or havan or yajna (yagya) or yajana. In homam, divine presence is invoked into fire using specific procedures. Then materials are sacrificed into fire, along with sacred chants (mantras). The sacrifices are supposed to reach gods. It is interesting to note that fire ritual is an ancient practice and several religions taught worshipping gods in fire.
Bhagavad Gita on Fire Sacrifice
In Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna mentions yajna in several places.
shy}a> àja> s&òa> puraevac àjapit>, Anen àsiv:yXv< @; vae=iSTvòkamxukœ. 3-10
sahayajïäù prajäù såñöäù puroväca prajäpatiù|
anena prasaviñyadhvam eña vo'stviñöakämadhuk|| 3-10
Translation: Having created beings along with yajna (sacrifice), Prajapati said before, "Be happy by this [yajna], may this fulfill your desires."
#òan! Éaegan! ih vae deva daSyNte y}Éaivta>, tErœ dÄan! AàdayE_yae yae Éu"e Sten @v s>. 3-12
iñöän bhogän hi vo devä däsyante yajïabhävitäù|
tair dattän apradäyaibhyo yo bhuìkte stena eva saù|| 3-12
Translation: Nourished by the offerings in the yajna, gods give the desired results to beings. One who experieces results given by gods without satisfying them with yajna is but a thief.
AÚadœ ÉviNt ÉUtain pjRNyadœ AÚsMÉv>, y}adœ Évit pjRNyae y}> kmRsMÉv>. 3-14
annäd bhavanti bhütäni parjanyäd annasambhavaù|
yajïäd bhavati parjanyo yajïaù karmasambhavaù|| 3-14
Translation: All beings are brought into being by food, food is brought into being by rain, rain is brought into being by yajna and yajna is born of action.
y}e tpis dane c iSwit> sdœ #it caeCyte, kmR cEv tdwIRy< sidTyevaiÉxIyte. 17-27
yajïe tapasi däne ca sthitiù sad iti cocyate|
karma caiva tadarthéyaà sadityeväbhidhéyate|| 17-27
Translation: Being absorbed in yajna, austerity and charity is good. Action related to these is not tainted, but remains pure.
y}dantp>kmR n TyaJy< kayRmev tt!, y}ae dan< tpíEv pavnain mnIi;[am!. 18-5
yajïadänatapaùkarma na tyäjyaà käryameva tat|
yajïo dänaà tapaçcaiva pävanäni manéñiëäm|| 18-5
Translation: Acts of yajna, charity and austerity are never to be given up. Yajna, charity and austerity are purifying even to great men.
Discussion of Bhagavad Gita Teachings
The sacrifices made by human beings in fire nourish gods and give them energy to deliver their responsibilities and distribute various good things to various living beings. Yajna is a responsibility of a learned person, which one should never give up. Actions like yajna purify those performing them and contribute to the smooth running of the world and well being of all living beings.
Vishnu sahasra naama stotra taught by Bhishma in Maha Bharata gives "yajna" as one of the thousand names of Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu Himself manifests as yajna and one can reach Lord Vishnu through yajna. When we say that the offerings in yajna reach various gods and help them run the universe smoothly, we are essentially saying that the energy of Lord Vishnu is distributed to various gods through yajna enabling them to discharge their duties. It is in fact the essence of Lord Vishnu that actually runs the universe.
In Kali yuga, "sankirtana yajna" has been suggested by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Srila Prabhupada as an alternative to the external fire ritual. If god's name is chanted with devotion while material objects are offered to external fire, it is one kind of yajna. If one forgets the hustle bustle of daily material life of the fast age for a while and chants god's name with devotion, it is another kind of sacrifice to the internal fire. The latter is good too.
What burns karmas and purifies one is the fire, whether external or internal. Because the internal fire is very weak or not even burning in most people, use of an external fire atleast in the beginning can kick start one's spiritual sadhana. One who is not able to feed various gods with yajna in the weak internal fire can atleast use a powerful external fire to discharge the duty and slowly increase one's internal fire as a blessing from that discharge of duty. As that happens, one will be able to focus and become immersed in one's meditation and chanting better.
When an elevated soul chants prayers, it is not any less than a big external fire. The internal fire burns brightly in such people and simple chanting is equivalent to a yajna. Before one reaches such a stage, yajna with an external fire is useful. However, it is interesting to note that several elevated souls perform yajnas with external fire even though they don't need to. Rishis of ancient times performed fire rituals regularly. It may be noted that Srila Prabhupada, founder of ISKCON (International Sri Krishna CONsciousness), also performed yajna several times.
Common Mis-conceptions
(1) Misconception: Homam is very difficult to perform. It is for experts only.
Comment: Not really. Several people who did not know anything about how to do any kind of worship conducted homam by themselves by reading the documents prepared by this author. It is a very simple practice. People made it complicated over the years. But it is essentially simple.
(2) Misconception: One must either do a "perfect" homam or not do any homam at all. A perfect homam takes a very long time.
Comment: Though one may eat a sumptuous meal on an important festival day, one does not necessarily get a lot of energy from it. One gets most of one's energy from the regular dal (lentils) and rice that one eats everyday.
Though there are complicated versions of homam, it is better to do a simple homam on a regular basis than to do a complicated version very rarely. A small half-hour or one-hour homam done on a daily basis is far better for spiritual sadhana than a big annual or half-yearly homam.
(3) Misconception: If mistakes happen in a homam, the consequences will be bad.
Comment: If a homam is performed with a saattwik spirit for saattwik purposes, there are no risks.
If you act nice with your parents because you want their money, you have to understand their thinking well, take the advice of people who know them well and act very carefully to get money from them. Mistakes can be costly and spoil your goal.
But, if you act nice with your parents simply because you love them and want to show your love, you do not need to be careful. You just show your love in whatever way you know. There is no need to follow anybody's advice strictly and there are no risks.
Similarly, you have to be careful if you perform a homam for certain material goals (such as getting money, attracting someone, destroying someone etc). If you perform a homam just to show your love to god, cleanse yourself spiritually and make yourself worthy of divine communion, then there are no risks. The procedure taught in this document is based on the teachings of rishis and it is safe for anybody to use. Small mistakes will not result in any punishment.
In fact, it is expected that everybody who uses this document is interested in only the second kind of goal, i.e. spiritual cleansing and upliftment.
(4) Misconception: One not initiated by a guru (master) cannot perform homam or recite certain mantras.
Comment: If one receives a mantra or a procedure from the mouth of a master, it is analogous to a millionaire opening a bank account in his son's name with a high starting balance. The son is lucky, as he is starting off with a big balance. Similarly, some of the siddhi (attainment) the master has in the mantra or procedure is transferred to the disciple even as (s)he starts out.
If one does not receive a mantra or a procedure from the mouth of a master, it is analogous to starting off with a zero bank balance. While it is useful to start off with a positive balance, it is neither necessary nor sufficient. There are sons of millionaires who used up the millions earned by parents and reduced them to zero, while there are some self-made men who made millions purely with self-effort. Similarly, one taught by the greatest guru can fall while one not taught by a guru can reach the ultimate. While it is desirable to have a guru, it is by no means compulsory.
If one is the kind who needs to have a guru figure behind every mantra or procedure, one can think of the author and/or his spiritual master, Dr Manish Pandit from Pune, India (currently residing in Birmingham, UK) as the guru for this homam procedure.
(5) Misconception: Those who are not learned in Veda cannot recite Veda mantras and perform homam based on Veda mantras.
Comment: Jnaneshwar was a 12th century master. He was a great Krishna devotee. When he was asked to not recite Veda by a council of erudite scholars, as he was not formally qualified, he replied that every being had a right to recite Veda. When he started reciting, they tried to shut his mouth. Then, a buffalo standing next to him recited Veda! The scholars begged his pardon and corrected their narrow-minded attitude.
Many great souls like him taught that Veda could be recited by anyone. One engaged in tantric practices that serve specific purposes and give specific siddhis (attainments) need to be afraid of side effects and punishments for mistakes, but mantras from Veda were taught by great rishis for the highest purpose of self-realization. One reciting them need not be afraid of any side effects. Veda mantras are saattwik, self-correcting and ultimately leading to self-realization.
Those who have an affinity to tantric practices should not be discouraged from learning and using them, but those who appreciate the teachings of rishis must be encouraged to recite Veda mantras and perform homam based on Veda mantras. The key is to have an attitude of submission and a desire for nothing other than self-realization and to do homam without any expectations whatsoever. Then there are no risks.
The procedure taught in this document contains just a few Veda mantras, which are not very difficult to pronounce.
(6) Misconception: Those who are not born in a Brahmin family cannot perform homam.
Comment: One's varna (caste) is not to be determined solely from the family one is born in. There are examples of men born to parents belonging to various castes performing tapascharya and becoming rishis. Maharshi Viswamitra, who taught the Savitru Gayatri mantra, was a kshatriya by birth. Maharshi Valmiki, who taught Brahma Jnana to Maharshi Bharadwaja, was a shoodra by birth.
One who has affinity to knowledge is a Brahmin (scholar). One who has affinity to power and authority is a kshatriya (warrior). One who has affinity to money is a vaisya (trader). One who has affinity to carnal pleasures is a shoodra (worker). If a person born in a Brahmin family is after money, he becomes a vaisya and not a Brahmin. On the other hand, if a person born in a vaisya family desires nothing but knowledge and self-realization, he automatically becomes a Brahmin and very fit to perform homam.
Irrespective of the caste of birth, one who is interested in knowledge (especially knowledge of self) and one whose interest in power, money and pleasures is decaying is fit to perform homam.
(7) Misconception: Women cannot perform homam.
Comment: There is a big difference between men and women when it comes to the gross body. But, at the level of subtle body or causal body, there is no difference based on gender. All spiritual practices operate mainly at the subtle and causal level. So, it makes no sense to have a total ban on women performing homam.
However, there are some practical reasons behind the biases of tradition. Though there are no differences based on gender in the subtle body, the differences at the gross body level can come into play in the initial stages. However, for a homam like Sri Krishna homam, one cannot think of a valid reason to ban women. If homam can be avoided during the monthly period time, it is sufficient.
(8) Misconception: Homam is just like meditation. It is not any better. It does not really make any difference.
Comment: The proof of the pudding is in eating it. If one tries performing a homam to the best of one's ability on a daily basis for a few months, one will know what homam can do! After doing homam for several months, one will find that all other sadhanas one does become more effective as a result of homam.
(9) Misconception: One should get a priest to do homam and not do it oneself.
Comment: Let us revisit a previous analogy. If one wants to be nice to one's parents to get their money, one may engage someone who will act on one's behalf to get the money of parents. But, if one's sole purpose is to just love one's parents and show that love, it is better to do it directly than to engage other people.
(10) Misconception: Before doing homam with any mantra, one must do japam of that mantra by a count that is ten times the homam count. For example, one must do japam by a count of 10,000 before one does homam by a count of 1,000.
Comment: This convention is not without reason. The true meaning of this convention is that homam is ten times more powerful than japam. If one does a mantra 1,000 in a homam, it is equivalent to doing the mantra 10,000 in japam. If one wants, one can offer the mantra entirely in external fire and there is no need to do any japam before doing homam.
All thumb rules and conventions have exceptions. If a rishi with a very strong internal fire does dhyanam, it is equivalent to a homam and the "ten times" rule does not apply. However, for most normal people, homam is ten times more powerful than japam. The bottomline is that the strength and the purity of the medium that accommodates the presence of the deity who receives the mantra will decide the effectiveness of the mantra.
About This Document
This document describes a short procedure for performing Sri Krishna homam, which takes 30-45 minutes. This document is for those who are interested in performing Sri Krishna homam by themselves every day or week or month. This document is prepared based on a Bhagavad Gita Homam procedure taught in tradition. The procedure taught here is simple enough to do daily and yet retains all the important steps in a full-fledged traditional Vedic homam. Those who are very uncomfortable with Sanskrita and want an even simpler procedure with fewer mantras may refer to Appendix A for a super-short procedure with bare minimum mantras.
One should consult one's elders and gurus and decide whether one is allowed to perform a homam or not. If one thinks one is allowed to do homam and is interested in doing homam on a regular basis but does not know how to do it, then one can use this document to learn one way to do it. If one's gurus have taught one a different procedure, one may use the procedure taught by one's gurus. This document is for the benefit of those who do not know any procedure and want to learn some procedure to do homam. Those who learnt a slightly different procedure from the previous versions of this document need not worry and either follow what they have already learnt or switch to the procedure in this document.
Correct Attitude
While it is good to follow the procedure faithfully, it is even more important to surrender oneself to god, leave ego and identify one's self with the deity in the fire when performing the homam. If that is there, all other minor errors will have no negative effect. If that is not there, even an impeccably performed homam will not have any tangible effect. Like mentioned earlier, the goal is to melt ego (I-ness or sense of self) and create a vacuum within oneself, so that the deity can fill it. Complete devotion, single-minded focus on deity/mantra/procedure and minimization of the activity of body and mind can help one achieve that eventually.
If one has an over-active mind, doing pranayama before homam can be useful. The time around sunrise in the morning is a particularly conducive to a pleasant Sri Krishna homam.
Materials Needed
Must have
Optional
Preparation Before Homam
Homam Procedure
Anujnaa (Permission)
Before starting the homam, think in your mind of Mother Earth who is bearing you, Lord Ganesha who removes obstacles, your ishta devata (favorite deity), your parents, the rishis of your gothra (if you know them), all the rishis and all your gurus. Then say the following, while mentally requesting all the gods to co-operate with your homam.
To see the rest of the document, please go to the top of this page and download the document in PDF format.