Avahanti homam - What is it? The Hidden Truth

The purpose of this homam is brilliant because on one hand, we perform this Homam for

the well-being of our Gurus and on the other as a prayer to Our Almighty for the well-

being of humanity at large.

Significance of the Avahanti Homam Mantras

The Taittiriya Upanishad is one of the older, "primary" Upanishads commented upon by

Shankara. The Taittiriya Upanishad is divided into three sections or vallis, the Siksha

Valli, the Brahmananda Valli, and the Bhrigu Valli. Each Valli further subdivided into

anuvakas or verses.

The " Avahanti homam" is in Sikshavalli. The fourth anuvaka consists of mantras and

rituals to be done by those who aspire for Divine Knowledge (Medha Kama) and Wealth

(Shree Kama). It is performed by the Acharya to ensure that disciples come to learn

from him without any hindrance. Even today, as a result of performing this sacrifice,

Vedic schools which were in decay have received a new lease of life with the admission

of many new students.

The mantram recited during the Avahanti homam may be understood in four parts.

I. Medha Prarthanai (Prayer for Knowledge)

II. Dhanam Prarthanai (Prayer for Prosperity)

III.Shiksha Prarthanai (Prayer to spread knowledge that has been gained)

IV. Saadhya Prarthanai (Ultimate prayer for attaining Moksha)

I. Medha Prarthanai: performed through japam

First, the Almighty is invoked as the Omkara and the praises on the Omkara are

showered. This is followed by the prayer asking specifically for six boons.

1. Medha - The retention power. Before the Almighty is asked for knowledge, one prays

for the ability to retain the knowledge that will be imparted. What purpose is that

knowledge which cannot be retained? Medha is the strength for knowledge.

2. Gyanam - The Athma Gyanam. Now we seek the knowledge of realizing the athma.

We would be more prepared to receive this Gyanam since we now have the retention

power. We pray that we posses the athma gyanam.

3. Shareera Arogyam - Good health. Why would one ask for such worldly needs while

we are seeking higher planes of spirituality? We pray that this body, (that is our

instrument) is a friend to the athma in achieving the goal of spiritual attainment. If the

body fails to cooperate in the spiritual journey, the purpose of Saadhana is lost. Hence

we pray to the Almighty that good health is bestowed upon us so that we are able to

fulfill our spiritual journey without health related obstacles.

4. Madhura vaak- Speech that is sweet as honey. To the newly initiated seeker,

We pray for the Almighty’s-blessings to control our speech-and-be-only-a-source of

good words and not hurt anyone by means of words. To the elevated seeker, this is a

prayer to the Almighty that we may be blessed with the effective communication with the

Almighty or our Guru seeking answers to our questions to gain clarity.

5. Shravanam - Effective hearing ability. Here we pray to the Almighty that we are given

the opportunity to repeatedly hear the Shastras so that with every chance we are able to

gain further knowledge with full involvement until the point where our mind is without

any doubts.

6. Gopaya - Save and retain. As in the first boon where we ask for the ability to retain,

here again we seek the blessings of the Almighty to be able to retain all that has been

gained through the Sadhana. Along with these boons, in this part, the prayer says: O

Almighty in the form of Omkara, you are the shield and protector of the Brahman.

Ironically here it adds that-the-Ishwara-(Almighty)-in-all-beings-is-hidden-to-us-because-

of-��Medha��-ofthe worldly knowledge. Through these statements, it reminds us to g

past the worldly medha and try to attain Athma Gyana.

II. Dhana Prarthanai- Prayer for Prosperity- performed through homam. By making

several offerings in the homam chanting SwahaA one is praying for the various kinds of

wealth such as garments, food and water, cattle and different kinds of animals (which

were the symbol of prosperity several years ago). But the key part here is the placement

of this prayer in the entire order of the Shlokas.

It says that: O Almighty shower me with all these symbols of prosperity after I have

gained the culture to behave according to your ways and attaining the knowledge that

wealth is only a means.

III. Shiksha Prarthanai- Prayer to spread the knowledge

Here, we pray to Iswara, the Almighty, to bless us with the ability to share our

knowledge. In the case of an Acharya or Guru, we pray that the right kind of followers

and students are led to the Guru. In this verse the teacher prays that "As water flows

from high land to low land, as months join to become year, let good disciples come to

me from everywhere."

There are two examples given in the sholkas to describe the kind of students who

should follow the Guru.

Example1. Almighty, bless me with students just as how the water flows

downwards/southwards- naturally and with force. Let it be a natural process for the

students to come to me so that I may impart the knowledge that I have gained onto

them so that they in turn can spread the knowledge further.

Example2. I pray to thee Lord that just as the days grow into months and months into

years in timelessness with no stopping, let me have a timeless flow of students, so that I

may share the knowledge that I have gained to them as well.

Let the never ending spread of knowledge continue.

IV. Saadhya Prarthanai- The ULTIMATE prayer for THE UNION with the Almighty.

This is also called Jeeva Iswara Aikhyam Prarthanai. Of what use is Saadhana (hard

work/exercise) which does not lead us to the Saadhyam (the ultimate goal)? We should

not get lost in the achievement of all that we have prayed for in the first three stages of

this Prarthanai. The ultimate purpose of our prayer is to merge with the Almighty, which

is expressed in this portion of the shloka. Here we demand to the Almighty: Allow me to

enter you and Thou shall enter me so that I see what you see and we see as ONE!

Since we are mortals to start with, we try to realize the Athma and through this prayer

we seek that the Athma merges with the Iswara. We pray that with the knowledge that

you have given me, help me get past the ahankara that does not distinguish between

the sharira and the athma. And thus, I the Athma may become one with you. If I have

erred, help me nullify my mistakes so that I may still become one with YOU- that ONE

AND ONLY all-pervading being.