13. What is the importance of Agni (Holy Fire) in the sacrifice (Yajna)?

The first the Veda (Rig Veda) starts with the word Agni i.e., the Holy Fire. The Mantra says that Agni means ‘Purohita’, Ritvik and Hota. These three words mean the preacher of the Veda. Therefore the Vedic scholar who is like fire is called Agni. The word Agni comes from the word Agri, which means that He [the preacher of the Veda or Satguru] should be worshipped first. The Veda also says that such a Vedic Scholar, who can be only the actual incarnation of the Lord, should be your guest to offer food and Guru Dakshina (Vysvanaro Brahmanah Pravisatyatithih Gruhaan). Such a Sadguru, who will give the divine knowledge of the Lord is called as Brahmana. Brahmana means he who knows Brahman and not a person who is born in the caste called Brahmins. The word Brahman means the Lord as well as the Veda. Therefore a Brahmana is the Vedic Scholar who preaches the divine knowledge of the Lord according to the Veda. Such a Brahmana is also called as ‘Vaishwanara’. The Gita says that Vaishwanara is the fire of hunger (Aham Vysvanaro Bhutva). Therefore, ‘Yajna’ is to offer ghee and food to such Sadguru.
The fire is in three forms as per the Veda.
1) Loukikaagni or Bhowtikaagni: which is the physical form of the fire and is used to cook the food; 2) Vaidyutaagni: which is the electric form of fire and 3) Vaishwanaraagni: which is the fire of hunger in the stomach of Sadguru. Vaishwanaraagni is better than Vaidyutaagni. Vaidyutaagni is better than Bhowtikaagni. Therefore Yajna means to feed and give Guru Dakshina to a deserving Vedic scholar who preaches the true meaning of the Vedas. Such a Sadguru is the abode of all the angels (Yavateervai Devataah). When such Sadguru is satisfied with your food offered, the rains will come. Without knowing this inner meaning, if you are burning the ghee and food in the physical fire, the rains will stop due to environmental pollution. Lord Krishna stopped such sacrifice by asking the sages to give Him food and satisfy His hunger. Kapila, the incarnation of Lord Vishnu condemned the burning of ghee and food in physical fire and stated that he who does such Yajna is a biggest fool. Ofcourse the physical fire Agni stands as model or representative (Prateeka) for the Lord. As the fire removes darkness the Lord removes the ignorance. As the fire burns everything, the Lord can burn all your sins. Thus you can meditate upon the fire, as a model of the Lord. But you need not burn the wood constantly to meditate upon the fire to receive this knowledge. You can lit the fire once in your life and learn that the Lord is like the fire. A model experiment is done only once to learn the knowledge. In the olden days, the population was less and there were no plastics and automobiles. Forests were many in number. There was no alternative like electricity. Therefore it was necessary to lit an oil lamp and pollution due to the oil lamp was negligible in view of less number of factors of pollution. Fire was inevitable for cooking the food. The presence of fire threatened the wild animals and the smoke from the fire threw away the mosquitoes. It was very difficult to lit the fire by rubbing the two sticks one against the other. Therefore a constant fire was maintained. Shirdi Sai Baba also lit the fire (Dhuni) in the old Masjid, so that the snakes etc., will not come. But today in every temple of Sai, people burn the wood, which is a waste. This also causes the environmental pollution. You can supply all these wood to the poor people, who will use them for cooking their food. Thus, the physical form of the fire should be taken as the real representative model of the Lord. The Vaishwanara Agni is also called as Devataagni. This means the hunger-fire that is present in the stomach of the human form of the Lord, is the real deity of the fire i.e., Devataagni. The actual inner meaning of the Agni as introduced by the Veda is forgotten. Ignorant people are playing with the actual fire, who is the Holy Lord by not following the Vedic truth. In this true sense Yajna is essential and must be performed.

12. In Hinduism why continuous rituals are performed after the death?

When householder dies the rituals are performed and the cow is donated (Godaana). This proves that a householder certainly goes to the hell because the cow is donated to help the householder to cross a river of blood and pus called Vaitarini flowing in the path of the hell. But when a saint dies these rituals are not done and the cow is not donated. The tradition itself proves that the householder who is doing all the rituals, worshipping the statues and doing Gayathri Mantra is going to the hell. A saint is not doing any one of these things and is doing only the propagation of divine knowledge. A saint does not mean removing the cross belt and putting the saffron cloth. The quaky uniform of an actor cannot make him a police. A police is valid while doing his duty even in mufti dress. Therefore a saint is He who works for the propagation of the knowledge. The rituals consist of two parts. 1) Prayers to the Lord and 2) Sacrifice of fruit of work in the form of money to the deserving people. Prayers will give satisfaction and peace. The practical sacrifice will bring the fruit from the Lord. When a person is not doing these two things while he is alive, he is not getting anything when his son does these things after his death. The son will get the fruits and not the father or mother who died. Therefore one should pray the Lord while he is alive and get the peace and satisfaction. Similarly one should sacrifice the fruit of his work (food and money) to deserving people while he is alive. The food offered by the son will not reach the dead person. The Lord has made all the arrangements for food in the upper world. Even for a jailed person the government arranges food. The Lord will certainly arrange the food to all the souls present in all the worlds. The threat of giving food to the parents who died was given so that a greedy person is forced to do these rituals. But there is no truth in such threat. A person who did these things while he is alive does not aspire either for sons or for such rituals. Shankara, Vivekananda, Meera etc., who participated in the propagation of divine knowledge and devotion, did not have children and they never bothered about such rituals. Their path is the path of knowledge (Archiraadi Marga) as said in the Gita (Ekayaa Yatya naa Vrittim). It is said that such people do not need such rituals “Nahi tena Pathaa Tanuthyajah, Tanaya Varjita Pinda Kankshinah” i.e., the people in the path of the service of the Lord do not require the son and such rituals after death. A person must be wise to pray the Lord and to donate a deserving person, while he is alive. He should not depend on his sons for this after his death. In that unhappy moment the sons will not be able to get a proper deserving person to receive the fruit of the work (money and food). When they sacrifice the fruit to the undeserving persons, sin is purchased by the donation of food and money. Therefore it is better to do the donation while one is alive by searching a proper deserving person who can be the human incarnation of Lord or atleast a great devotee of the Lord. If this real aim of the rituals is not understood, performing the rituals after the death are simply a waste, which are done as a formality. In such rituals the priests are reciting the hymns without knowing their meanings like tape recorders. The concept of prayer is completely lost in such recitation. When you donate to such undeserving tape recorders you cannot get the real fruit and you will get the sin in such rituals. If one has prayed the Lord and donated to the most deserving person while he is alive such rituals are not necessary for him after his death.

11. What truth can be learnt from our present tradition?

[Can we learn any truth from the present tradition, which we are following?] Yes. If you observe carefully the present tradition itself, you can get the whole concept without referring to any Holy Scripture. When a householder dies, the rituals are performed and a cow is donated so that the diseased person can cross ‘Vaitarini’ (river of blood and pus) present before hell. This clearly shows that every householder is going to hell. The householder does Gayathri Japa, wears the cross belt, worships the inert statues and photos etc., When a saint dies such rituals are not performed. This clearly proves that a saint goes to Brahma Loka and not to the Hell. The saint leaves Gayathri Japa, throws away the cross belts, does not worship inert statues and photos. A saint always propagates the divine knowledge in the world. The present tradition also shows that all the householders prostrate at the feet of the saint. This shows that the stage of the saint is certainly higher than the stage of the householder. This shows that everybody should pass from high school to the college. All the rituals should be protected like the high school for the future ignorant batches. We never say that since you left the school, the school should be destroyed. We are saying only that you should leave the school and go to the college i.e., you should not die as a householder but you should die as a saint. Leaving the house and wearing the saffron cloth are not necessary for a saint, which are external only. A policeman sometimes does his duty in mufti without the uniform. An actor wearing the police uniform cannot be the real police. Therefore anybody can become a saint by participating in the propagation of divine knowledge and working for the welfare of the entire humanity without the saffron cloth and without leaving the house. A householder burns camphor, fume sticks, oil and ghee in the lamps and in Yajnas causing lot of pollution and these stop the rains. He is harming the humanity by such foolish deeds, which are not mentioned in the Vedas. Some ignorant preachers fooled public by such deeds and he is not benefited at all. A saint never does these things because he cannot be fooled since he attained the Jnana. Therefore confining to the present tradition itself, one can get the true knowledge without going to the scriptures. The ancient Indian sages (rishis) who are the real saints set up this tradition. When you do not understand even the tradition that is before your eyes, how can you understand the Vedas and Shastras?

10. How you say that even a cinema song slightly modified and diverted to the Lord can become the Gayathri Mantra?

[A cinema song like ‘Churaliya Hai’ is not having pious meaning. How can it be a Gayathri mantra?] You are mocking a person travelling on the donkey towards the goal. But you are travelling on a pig covered by silk cloth. Then how can you mock at the donkey? You sing the Astapadi song to please God, which has very much vulgar meaning in Sanskrit i.e., “Gopi Peena Payodhara Mardana Chanchala Karayuga Saali”. This means that Lord Krishna is pressing the breasts of Gopikas. Don’t you think that our cinema song has better-polished meaning than this? Because it is in Sanskrit and you don’t know its meaning, you sing it very loudly. Churaliya Hai Tumne Jo dilko – Nazar Nahi Churaana Hare (The word Sanam is replaced by the word Hare and the song is diverted to Lord Krishna). Therefore whatever may be the nature of the vehicle if it is turned towards God it is pious. Gopikas reached and pleased the Lord through romance as said in Bhagavatam. Since it is diverted to the Lord such romance is the pious spiritual path. An atheist may do social service but that is only a sinful service. Any quality diverted towards the Lord is good and any quality diverted towards the world is bad. You may know Vedic hymns but if you pray the Lord with Vedic hymns to achieve something in return from the Lord, you are travelling by a good horse in the opposite direction. You are becoming more and more far from the Lord. A pig or donkey towards the direction of Lord is better than a horse travelling in the opposite direction.