Continued from above…

Colleen 5 years ago

What do I mean by sacrifice? In the links that you posted, Michael, it mentions sacrifice several times as a means of pleasing God. I am curious as to what that means to Hindus.

MiBeloved 5 years ago

Sacrifice in those links means ceremonial religious rites, Vedic style as stipulated in the Vedic literatures. This means that there must be a deity or deities. There must be certain ceremonial articles and ingredients for offering. There must be a qualified priest who is familiar with the standard procedures and who can call the deity.

In the Bhagavad Gita, there is a statement about how initially the Prajapati (Primal Divine Progenitor) began this creation by having one set of individuals assigned as deities and another set as the subject humans. He then gave a set procedure for the humans to ceremonially worship the deities. Here are some verses from the Bhagavad Gita:

====================

Bhagavad Gita English (my translation)

Long ago, having created the first human beings, along with religious fulfillment and ceremonies, the Procreator Brahmā said: By this worship procedure, you may be productive. May it cause the fulfillment of your desires. (3.10)

By this procedure, you may cause the supernatural rulers to flourish. They, in turn, may bless you. In favorably regarding each other, the highest well-being will be achieved. (3.11)

The supernatural rulers, being manifested through prescribed austerity and religious ceremony, will, indeed, give you the most desired people and things. Whosoever does not offer those given items to them, but who enjoys these, is certainly a thief. (3.12)

(Krishna continued): The virtuous people who utilize the items after they are sanctified by prescribed ceremony, are released from all faults. But the wicked ones who prepare for their own sake, consume their own impurity. (3.13)

The creatures are produced from nourishment. From rain clouds, nourishment originated. From prescribed austerity and religious ceremony, rain clouds are produced. And prescribed austerity and religious ceremony are caused by cultural activities. (3.14)

Cultural activity is produced from the Personified Veda. The Personified Veda comes from the unaffected Supreme Spirit. Hence the all-pervading Supreme Spirit is always situated in prescribed austerity and religious ceremony. (3.15)

O son of Pṛthā, a person who does not cause this circular process to be perpetuated here on earth, lives as a malicious, sensually-happy and worthless person. (3.16)

Erin 5 years ago

Marcia, Thank you for your woman's viewpoint. I would like to give it some thought and then I will respond.

Colleen 5 years ago

Thank you, Michael. Is it allowed for you to tell me of what these ceremonies consist? Where are they performed?

MiBeloved 5 years ago

The ceremonies are performed primarily at temples but in ancient times ceremonies were performed mainly by brahmins caste people in their homes, by kings in their palaces and by wealthy people of the Vaishya mercantile caste in their homes as well. Some ceremonies are performed at nature spots like at the confluence of rivers, at special shrines, at the ocean, on mountain bases or at mountain tops.

This is all done as per stipulations in the Vedic scriptures.

Usually the ceremonial priest will give the yajman or sacrificial performer a list of things which must be done, along with a list of needed articles. Then a date is set. On the date the performer is prepared for the ceremony. He, and his spouse if married, has all the requested articles such as incense, ghee lamp, spices, grains and deity forms (statues or pictures of a deity). The brahmin priest comes there and performs the ceremony according to a set procedure which begins with an invocation for calling the particular deity. Then the priest will ceremonially purifying the performer. Then they sit before the deity, then offer the articles and prepared foods in a certain way, then say the appropriate prayers expressly for that deity and as pertaining to the needs of the performer. Then the ceremony is concluded.

Then those in attendance are fed a feast.

If the ceremony is at a temple, basically the same procedure is followed except that the deity used is the temple deity (icon).

Colleen 5 years ago

Erinn, Thank you!

Please understand, Ladies, that I was asking a rhetorical question. There is no envy or lack of respect for either men or women. Of course, we are all worthy of the effort. I just wanted to know the answer.

MiBeloved 5 years ago

To get an inside view of this, if there are any Hindu temples in your area, ask them about attending a hawan ceremony, that is a fire sacrifice ceremony. This will give you some basic understanding.

You may also see what is called an artika ceremony at any Hare Krishna temple on Sundays or on any other days which they allow the public to be present at their ceremonial rite. They do not do a fire sacrifice except infrequently but they do another ceremony which is a type of Vedic ceremony called artika (arteek).

Orthodox Hindus still do the hawan ceremony which is a fire sacrifice. They usually do not do much of an artika ceremony in their homes but at their temples, if it is a big temple there would be artika ceremonies.

The difference between hawan and artika is one of intent. In the hawan ceremony usually the yajman sacrificial performer has a motive for approaching a particular deity, while the artika ceremony is motiveless, meaning that it is done to worship the deity as a matter of honoring and developing a loving relationship with the deity.

Artika is usually pronounced as ar-teek (dropping the last a letter).

Hawan is usually written as havana or havan, and is pronounced as how-wan (like in wand)

It is a standard procedure to offer specific foods to the deity during most of these ceremonies. Then after it is concluded this food is shared out to the congregation which attended the function.

Before the food is offered it is regarded as bhoga which means that which is to be eaten or enjoyed but which was not used by anyone.

Then after it is offered, it is considered to be enjoyed by the deity. Then it is called prasadam or prasad which means what which was enjoyed by the deity and is fit to be eaten as what remained after the deity consumed it.

Prasad is pronounced as pruh-saad

Prasadam is pronounced as pruh-saad-um

Colleen 5 years ago

Okay, I will do some homework.

MiBeloved 5 years ago

Check on YouTube for artika, hawan, havan, ISKCON artika, Hare Krishna artika, Hanuman Jhandi, Rama Navami ceremony.