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What is Homam?
Homams are pujas performed for a particular deity by invoking
Agni - the God of fire.
It is said that when Lord Brahma (the creator among the
Trinity) created man, he also created "Homam" for
man's livelihood and his attainment of spiritual desires.
The fundamental premise of Homam is derived from the Vedams,
although, according to "Purusha Sooktham", it is
the other way around - Vedams originated from Homam! Anyhow,
Vedams and Homam are eternal truths having neither beginning
nor end, and are "Apourusheyam" (divine, not the
creation of humans). Karmam (work or action) is an integral
part of living. Right and wrong Karmams can hardly be
discerned by human intellect, and has to be guided by
knowledge. Vedams, indeed, contain the highest form of
knowledge. The singular goal of Vedam is to guide man
through the correct path. And Homam forms the essence of all
the Karmams prescribed in the Vedams
The goal of all Homams is the prosperity of the people at
large by energizing and protecting the environment. The Sun
is considered as the main source of energy supply, and fire
is considered as a representation of the Sun's energy.
According to the ancient texts on Homam, any offer to Fire
as a god, is actually an offer to Sun. Any such offer is
either to enrich energy in the environment or to destroy the
undesirable elements in the environment, and thus, in both
ways, environment is protected. Attaching divine nature to
such rituals (like Homam) induced people to practice them.
Thus, the ancient texts proclaim that "Such Vaidika
Karmams are result-oriented, and meant to lead to Sreyass or
spiritual attainments".
How Homam is performed?
Each Homam is performed strictly according to scriptures.
These are conducted by fully learned and experienced vedic
scholars.The ingredients recquired for these homams are
different for each homams.Each homam is performed after
praying (Shankalpa) for the specific relief / benefit
desired for each individual.After each homam, pundits are
fed with vedic prayers.
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