Yajña
Yajña, “worship by offering”
Grammar: masculine noun, from the root yaj (to worship, to offer): “worship by offering”.
Meaning: the sacred rite in which offerings (havis) are given into the sacred fire to the devatās, with the mantras of the Veda, by the yajamāna (the one for whom the yajña is performed) and his ṛtvijas (the priests of the rite).
In the scriptures: the Vāmana Purāṇa counts yajña among the duties of a good life. When the ṛshis teach the rākshasa king Sukeśī the dharma of the gṛhastha (householder), they say that the learned man should study the Veda every day, earn wealth without straying from dharma, and perform yajñas and the like according to his capacity. In the same teaching they warn against those who revile the Vedas, the śāstras and yajñas: one who touches or speaks with them becomes pure at once by looking at the Sun. And among those from whom food must not be taken they name the mārjāra, “the cat”: one who performs japa, tapas, yajña and the like for show, with no thought of the next world (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 15).
When Sukeśī and his rākshasas lived by that dharma, the light of their city stopped the course of the Sun, the Moon and the stars, and day and night could no longer be told apart. Then the yājñikas and the ṛtvijas went on performing the rites of yajña even though it was night (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 16).
The Purāṇa tells two great yajñas in full: the yajña of Daksha, which Bhagavān Śiva brought to an end (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 4–5), and the aśvamedha of the daitya king Bali, to which Bhagavān Vishṇu came as Vāmana (Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 62–65). The same word is also the name of Yajña, the devatā of the yajña, whose account is told apart from the word.
Related terms: Yajñabhāga · Havis · Ṛtvij · Yajamāna · Homa · Agnishṭoma
Other meanings
Yajña has more than one meaning in the Purāṇas and Itihāsas. Besides the meaning above, it names those listed here, each with where it is told.
- Yajña (Deva): the yajña in person, who fled Daksha’s ruined yajña as a divine deer and was later taken by Bhagavān Vishṇu to Indra’s city. Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 3, 5, 64–65
Sources
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 4–5, 15, 16, 62–65