Here is a brief method of performing daily havan: The main item offered into the fire is called charu. This is made of a mixture of yava (barley), sesame seeds (til), rice, ghee, incense and sandalwood. This mixture produces a soothing, fragrant and highly disinfectant smoke. Other materials needed are camphor, mango leaves, kumkum, turmeric powder, food offerings and incense.Take a bath and finish your daily prayers first. Draw a square mandala on the floor with rice powder. Write the symbol of Om in the middle of it. Write the mantra of your deity also. On the right side, place a kalasha or pot of water, filled with mango leaves, and a coconut on top of them. First, a prayer should be offered to Lord Ganesha, and then to the deity. The turmeric powder can then be spread over the mandala. Make the food offerings to the deity by placing them around the kalasha.
The fire is then lit in the havan kunda. In the beginning, ghee is offered 108 times while repeating the mantra of the deity. This is followed by recitation of vedic mantras, while making the offerings of charu. If this is not possible, the ishta mantra and mantras and prayers connected with any deity can be chanted while making offerings. Finally, a coconut filled with ghee is offered. The ceremony can be concluded with arati and shanti mantras.
The mantras recited during havan are powerful chants in adoration of the divine beings who preside over our life, welfare and faculties. They ensure our health, long life and spiritual well-being. The havan is thus a blessing and a boon. The ancient rishis were not blind believers in rituals. There wasa great meaning in every ritual that they wove into daily life. Physical health, discipline of the mind, expansion of the heart and its purification are only some of the benefits of havan.
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By performing actions for the sake of sacrifice in order to please the Lord, all of one's actions with their results melt away and are reduced to nothing.
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Various materials are used for worship. Although many may look very simple and not important, yet they are very scientific and effective. There are many precious gems in everyone of these vedic customs and rituals. Their value can only be revealed when we practise them.
The vedi is the place of worship and it symbolizes the body. The three parts represent the legs, the trunk and the head (bhu, bhuvah and swah). Water is sipped as well as sprinkled over the body. This indicates purification, both inward and outward.
Darbha grass is offered to indicate that the devotee, like these blades of grass, is humble and egoless. A coconut is offered after removing its fibre and breaking it into halves. This symbolizes destroying the ego and total surrender by removing the fibre of desire for sense objects and revealing the pure white spirit within. Bells are rung while doing pooja to shut out the external sounds and to make the mind inward and concentrated. Lights are waved before the deity. Light represents God. God is all-light. The devotee prays, no Lord, You are the effulgent light of the universe. You are the light in the sun, moon and fire. Remove the darkness in me by bestowing your divine light. May my intellect be illumined." This is the significance of waving lights.
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Incense sticks with fragrant odours are lighted before the deity. The smoke spreads through the whole room. It acts as a disinfectant as well. The all-pervading fragrance reminds us of the eternal all-pervading Lord who fills the universe with His living presence. The devotee prays, “o Lord, let the desires of my mind vanish like the smoke of this incense. Let them be burnt to ashes. Let me become pure and stainless. Let me spread joy and happiness to others even as this fragrant incense wafts its sweet aroma to all."
Burning of camphor denotes that the individual ego melts like the camphor. Camphor is a fragrant substance, and our essence is the fragrance of the spirit. When camphor burns, no residue remains. The camphor itself fades out after shedding its light. So also we should live in this world in such a manner that we radiate only light to all.
When sandalwood is ground into a paste, it reminds the devotee that in his daily struggles he should be self- sacrificing like sandalwood, which produces a very sweet fragrance after it is crushed and ground. Like sandalwood, the devotee should not murmur when difficulties arise, but remain cheerful and happy, radiating sweetness and gentleness.
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The kalasha or water pot which is filled with mango leaves with a coconut on top is very symbolic. The base of the kalasha represents Vishnu, the sustainer, and the middle is Shiva, the destroyer. The water in the pot symbolizes purity and love for the divine. The green mango leaves indicate the life principle immersed in the divine. The coconut stands for the fulfilment of life, when the human body is changed into a temple of God. The dome shape of the coconut indicates a temple.
The five bamboo sticks represent the five great elements which make up the body: earth, water, fire, air and ether. The five banana leaves represent the five sheaths which cover the soul: the physical, vital, mental, intellectual and bliss sheaths. The five Iotas represent the five functions of our bodily life-force: breathing, circulation, swallowing, digestion and excretion. The five day lamps represent the five organs of action: hands, feet, tongue, organ of generation and the anus. The five lights represent the five organs of knowledge: ears, eyes, skin, tongue and nose.
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The tilak is a mark of auspiciousness. It is applied on the forehead at the space between the eyebrows with sandal paste, sacred ash or kumkum. This spot is called ajna chakra. It represents the third eye, the eye of intuition, or the spiritual eye. Lord Shiva's devotees apply sacred ash in three horizontal lines; Lord Vishnu's devotees apply sandal paste in three vertical lines, and worshippers of Devi apply kumkum, a red turmeric powder. Tilak refers to all of these marks. When we apply it, we should feel, "I am one with the Supreme Being and free from all duality. May my divine eye of intuition open."
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Prasad is that which gives peace. During any form of worship, pooja, kirtan, havan and arati, food items such as almonds, sultanas, milk, sweets and fruits are offered to the Lord. This offering is called prasad. All the devotees should share the prasad and thus receive the blessings of the deities. Prasad is the embodiment of shakti, divinity in manifestation, and is extremely sacred. It is a great purifier, panacea and spiritual elixir. Prasad energizes, invigorates and infuses devotion. It should be taken with great faith.
Vibhooti, or sacred ash, is the prasad of Lord Shiva, which is applied on the forehead. A small portion can also be eaten, Kumkum is the prasad of Sri Devi, the Divine Mother; it is applied at the space between the eyebrows. Tulsi is the prasad of Lord Rama, Lord Vishnu and Lord Krishna; it is to be eaten. By the chanting of the mantras during havan and pooja, the sacred prasad is charged with mysterious powers. Divine grace descends through the prasad.
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We must serve others even at the sacrifice of our wants. The selfless service you do is a great yajna. It is a greater yoga than the so-called important meditation.
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The Vedas are the reference points for performing yajna. These eternal truths were revealed by God to the great rishis of ancient India. The four Vedas - Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sarna Veda and Atharva Veda - consist of Mantra Samhitas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Upanishads. The Mantra Samhitas are hymns in praise of vedic gods for attaining material prosperity here and happiness hereafter. The Brahmanas guide people in performing yajnas, sacrificial rites. They are prose explanations of the method of using the mantras in yajna.
The immortal mantras of the Rig Veda Sarnhita embody the greatest truths of existence and are perhaps the greatest treasure in all the scriptural literature of the world. They ore used by the hotri priest in yajna. The Yajur Veda Sarnhita is mostly in prose and is used by the adhvaryu, the Yajur- vedic priest, for superfluous explanations of the rites in yajna, supplementing the Rig-vedic mantras. The Sarna Veda amhiia is sung during yajna by the udgaia, the Samavedic priest. The Atharva Veda Sarnhita is used by the brahrna, the Atharvavedic priest, to correct any mispronunciation and wrong performance that may accidentally be committed by the other three priests of the yajna.
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We are told in the scriptures that the mantras uttered during yajna are very powerful. It is also emphasized that our thoughts, words and actions are vitally important in relation to the forces we attempt to invoke. Yajna has to be performed strictly according to the rules laid down in the scriptures. The least deviation will have harmful effects.
Mantra is divinity. It is divine power manifesting in a sound body. The mantra itself is the devata (deity). The aspirant should try his level best to realize this unity of the mantra with the divinity. Just as a flame is strengthened by wind, so also the aspirant's individual shakti is strengthened by mantra shakti. The mantra is awakened from its sleep through the sadhanashakti of the aspirant. The mantra is a mass of radiant energy.
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The Agarnas are treatises and practical manuals of divine worship. They include tantras,mantras and yantras. These treatises explain the external worship of God. The Agamas or Tantras glorify God as the World Mother under one of the many names of Devi. They do not derive their authority from the Vedas, but are all vedic in spirit and character. The Agamas dwell on the shakti (energy) aspect of God and prescribe numerous courses of ritualistic worship of the Divine Mother in various forms.
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The entire tantric sadhana aims at awakening the kundalini and making her unite with Shiva in sahasrara chakra. Yajna is one means of achieving this end.
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