Yagnya

$${\displaystyle E=mc^{2}}$$

, wrote Einstein and ever since then, it's imprinted in popular imagination that energy occupies a prime position in the universe that we live in. But that's physics. In an extraordinary new book, The Vital Question , Nick Lane, researcher and lecturer in evolutionary biochemistry argues that, rather than information being the fundamental currency of transmission in biological processes, it's actually energy.

In a tour de force of creative visualisation, the author takes the reader by the hand into the inner workings of cellular energy exchange involving food, photon gradients and ATP.

The sense given by these descriptions is that: 'As above, so below' , an axiom of Fluddian hermetic alchemy and given a modern restatement by Neil Shubin as 'The Universe Within'. For all intents and purposes the biological cell is a mini- universe, where analogous energy processes to those going on in the macro universe, play out.

As science makes it's halting way along the path of discovery, checking and then rechecking her steps, she may arrive at the destination only to discover that it  is already occupied by others who came up by a different route. 'Not fair!' may be her objection, 'You're supposed to have your feet tied together like this as you walk; and certainly no wings allowed'.

There's an ancient hymn called the 'Purusha Sukta' from the Rig Veda, the world's first 'scientific treatise' in so far as it gives the detailed methods for reproducing an 'experiment', in which it is declared that the universe is created from 'yagnya'.

Briefly stated 'yagnya' means sacrifice, in which fire is the prime mover and is so important as to acquire the status of a god, named Agni in the rig veda ( the word 'ignite' likely a derivative of this).

Yagnya is the process of consumption where there is a consumer(representing fire) and something is consumed. When viewed like this it is easy to understand how this process may be all-pervasive; covering a day in the life of a star in inter-galactic space, to the ups and downs of the global economy, to how well you're digesting that bowl of pasta you had for lunch.

 

On the subject of lunch, it's for no small reason that in Ayurveda, traditional Indian medicine, the state of an individual's health and vitality is directly correlated with the strength of their 'digestive fire' ('fire in the belly').

 

In the final chapters of Nick Lane's book there's speculation about human ageing and the limits of longevity. Again, in Ayurveda, yagnya is the key*.

 

* see National Institute of Health - Concept of Ageing in Ayurveda) 

and Future of Ageing - letter to Atul Gwande et al    

Fire Worship down the Ages

Ever since early humans discovered that by rubbing two sticks together you could start a nice blaze which could be used to cook the sunday roast – the hind quarter of a woolly mammoth; not to mention, keeping your semi-detached cave warm on blustery winter nights , frightening off the odd sabre-tooth tiger and giving the kids some fun and laughter by making shadow animals on the cave walls; humans have developed a healthy respect for fire.

So much so that , when we first learnt to write grafitti, the first thing we wrote about was a hymn in praise of fire . This came to be called the Rik Veda and fire, now raised to the level of a god, was called ‘Agni’ . Notice how we’ve held on to this name down the millennia. The word ‘ignite’ still means to spark a fire.

The hymns in the Rik Veda included, amongst many verses in praise of the fire god Agni, this particular verse:

“Through Agni man obtaineth wealth, yea, plenty waxing day by day,

Most rich in heroes, glorious.”

This advice was taken seriously by many cultures of the ancient world , particularly the Greek , Persian and Indus valley civilizations who developed the injunction into a formalised ritual complete with a set of standard operating procedures.

As with all good things that spread far and wide , variations on a theme crept in and soon the praise of sacred fire included the concept of burnt offering and sacrifice .

Clearly there must have been something in it because it withstood the test of time and survives in India today . The practice is called variously , yagnya, homa , havan and has a place in Indian life, particularly during auspicious undertakings such as marriages, starting a business or seeking ongoing prosperity for a business or in family life.

When economists look into why the Indian economy is galloping along while many other world economies are not doing so well , they might , in secret curiosity, try correlating the prevalence of the practice of havans with GDP growth.

But isn’t this specifically a hindu religious practice?

Maybe, but not necessarily so; for two reasons.

Firstly, tracing the practice back through it’s antecedents, it has clearly been around longer than the set of practices recognised to be specifically hindu practices ,

Secondly, as any one will tell you who is still lucky enough to live in home that has a roaring open fire during winter months , there is a psychosomatic buzz to be had from these creature comfort far more basic to our human nature than religious affiliation. Abraham Maslow alluded to this with his pyramid of human needs.