“ A professor from IIT ?”, I asked incredulously, as I spoke with Umesh. “Yes, he is teaching at IIT Madras, and is specialized in Karma Mimamasa. They believe that Vedic Karmas are the only way to achieve Chitta Suddhi that leads to liberation. You should read about them”, he said with a smile.
Dr R.K. Srikanta Kumaraswamy , RKSK, as he is known, made many innovations in iron and steel-making furnaces.He was always passionate about the Vedas and learnt from reputed Ghanpatis at Bangalore, Varanasi, Shimoga and Madras. He has taught over 300 student in Madras, irrespective of caste, creed or sex.
So, he came down to Bangalore to conduct an elaborate homa. We all assembled in a small temple near Dr Subbaramaiyah’s house. Umesha had given us a gist of Karma Meemasa and what to expect. The Karma mimamsa followers believe :
The world is neither created nor will it be destroyed. It is ever present.
The language, particularly Vedic language, has no beginning or the end.
The sacrificial activity also no beginning .
‘Prapanca sambandha’ is ‘bandha or samsara’; ‘prapanca sambandha vilaya’ is moksa. The body, senses and the objects constitute prapanca.
The state of Moksa is ‘svastha’ state i.e. remaining unto oneself. In this state, pleasure, pain, desire, initiative, religious merit etc are all eliminated
They reject enjoying the bliss as Moksha, as it will be same as svarga needing a faculty and hence temporary.
The recommend withdrawal from the kamya sacrificial activity and prohibited activities; Nitya and Naimittika Karmas have to be performed .
Ishvara is not required for any of these purposes, including Moksha attainment. Individuals are totally responsible.
Porf Pandurangi has published a compendium “Critical essays on pUrva mimamsa” in english. It is very succinct and provides a top level exposure. For a detailed reading, the best source is his three volumes English commentary on Bhatta Sangraha, written by our Rayaru. Rayaru’s writing has a structure, clarity, simplicity that are unmatched and is the most comprehensive commentary on Mimasa Sutra of Jaimini.
True to his belief, Dr RKSK continued to do these Vedic Karma till the end, asked that no rituals be done after his death and his body donated to an hospital. Dr RKSK performed the homa with such a meticulous rigor, it was almost tiring for novices like me. But,it was indeed thrilling to watch the homa flames leap and hear the unison with which the team recited the Vedic mantras. He took time to explain the roles of team , Hotr, Adhwaryu, Utgatr and Brahma . He invoked Rg Veda and explained that it was Agni who was being represented by them
तवाग्ने होत्रं तव पोत्रं रत्वियं तव नेष्ट्रं तवमग्निद रतायतः |
तव परशास्त्रं तवमध्वरीयसि बरह्मा चासि गर्हपतिश्च नो दमे
What captured my heart, soul and mind however, was the talk he gave on Vedic learning , methodology , structured learning that ensured the Vedas were transmitted word to mouth for thousands of years, without any deviation.
Taitiritya Upanishad Sikshavalli defines how this structured learning ought to be done.
औं सीक्षां व्याख्यास्यामः | वर्ण स्वरः |मात्रा बलम् | साम सन्तानः |इत्युक्तः सीक्षाध्ययः
Seeksha deals with Varna, Swara, Maatra, Strength, Saama and Santaanah. A fool-proof method to commit Vedas to memory is to chant each mantra in various patterns and combinations known as
Vaakya, Pada, Krama, Jata, Ghana, etc.
1)Vaakya Paatha or Samhita Paatha is to recite the mantras in a sentence straight, some of the words therein have to be conjoined in chanting. 2)Reciting mantras, word by word is Pada Paatha. This is done after Samhita paatha. This gives the student of the Vedas the knowledge of each word in a sentence.
3)In Krama Paatha,In the Krama type of recitation the order of words is 1-2 ; 2-3 ; 3-4 ; 4-5 and so on. This helps the student understand not only the individual words but also how two words can be combined in recitation and what modification occurs in swara in such a combination.
4)In Jata Paatha, the order will be 1-2-2-1-1-2, 2-3-3-2-2-3, 3-4-4-3-3-4, 4-5-5-4-4-5 and so on. Just as two words are repeated forwards and backwards in the Jata Paatha, the Sikha Paatha three words to be so linked.
5) In Ghana Paatha the combination will be:
1-2, 2-1, 1-2-3, 3-2-1, 1-2-3 । 2-3, 3-2, 2-3-4, 4-3-2, 2-3-4।
3-4, 4-3, 3-4-5, 5-4-3, 3-4-5। 4-5, 5-4, 4-5-6, 6-5-4, 4-5-6।
Chanted in Ghanam style as above, Rig Veda may take over 450 hours to chant!
Dr RKSK demonstrated this by having the Vedic scholars actually do pada, krama, Jata and Gana rendering . Listening to Vedas being recited in pada, Jatha, Krama, Gahana was a transporting experience.
The Youtube links below provide an idea of what I experienced.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW63xXTTTwU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shaVQ_c70Qk&t=116s
When I mentioned this to jyeshta Mahasannidhanam in my next visit, he asked me to stay for another day and witness another epoch making event-a Vaidik disciple was getting initiated into Agnihotra homa. He said only those who get initiated and maintain this nitya karma strictly are called Agnihotri .
I wondered what was the significance of this homa- after all there are so many homa being performed. As if he was reading my mind, he said that homa fire will be started without any matchstick or any fuels and that fire will never should be allowed to die.
Rather , it will be used to light the pyre of the Agnihotri when he dies.
I got curious when jyeshta Mahasannidhanam almost insisted that I stay and witness the Agnihotra initiation. Such Agni karya were new to me - As Maadhwas we are so focused on Bhakti and moved away from such Shrauta Karmas. Bhakti movement with stirring devotional songs in Kannada from ‘Daasa Koota’ almost overshadowed ‘Vysa Koota’. Vyasa koota was on to Shruti, Shrauta karma, Vedanta , Vaakyartha etc. Purandara Dasa, Vijaya Dasa, Gopala Dasa, Jagannta Dasa and Kanaka Dasa were more popular in a typical Maadhwa Household than Jayatheertha, Vysas Theertha , Vijayaeendra theertha who were genius scholars whom even Advaithis respected. Even Raghavendra Theertha - the only one in the world to write a comprehensive commentary on Jaimini Karma Mimamsa-was more known for his devotion , compassion and miracles than his erudition . He has written simplified versions of ALL key works of Tatava Vaada Munitrayam , Shri Ananda Theertha Muni, Jayatheetha Yati and vyAsa ‘Raja’ Theertha . And yet very few maadhwas focus on that aspect. Likewise Vaadhiraja Bhikku is more known for his devotional piece Lakshni Shobhane than his philosophical treatise Yukti Mallika or mystic work Bhoogola varnana.
No wonder way back then I knew nothing of this Agni karyas. Why did jyeshta mahasannidhanam insist on my witnessing it ? As I frequently mention, he was pushing me into decades of learning with such simple instructions. Though I continue to be novice and with zero anubhava in Shruta karmas, my understanding on the Samskaraas has grown. What I got to learn made me sad that we lost our touch with such a glorious tradition all because we wanted things only in ‘modern scientific format’ and turned blind eye to logic.
The wooden drill was mounted on the block and was given several twirls with such a force generating immense heat. A piece of ‘wooden wool’ was used to light up with that heat and this small fire was transferred to the Agnihotra pond. The Agnihotra has to be performed every morning and evening, exactly at local sunrise and sun set time. Agnihotra is the act of offering oblations to Agni - Thirty to thirty -five grains per oblation- two pinches of raw, unbroken rice grains, smeared with ghee made of cow’s milk. The oblations were offered while chanting two Vedic mantras that are very simple.
In the morning : सूर्याय स्वाहा सूर्याय इदं न मम प्रजापतये स्वाहा प्रजापतये इदं न मम
In the evening : अग्नये स्वाहा सूर्याय इदं न मम
प्रजापतये स्वाहा प्रजापतये इदं न मम
A couple of more yagas were performed; so was a stunning pravargya done-fire leaping several feet high as pure cow’s milk was poured on super heated vessel. This simulates chromosphere of the Sun.
What was the obsession with Agni ? Why give oblations ? Why used ghee made of cow’s milk ? I had no clue as I witnessed the exhilarating Agnikarya. On return to Bangalore, I discussed this with Dr Subbaramaiyya, Umesha and quite a few others. I continued to research and study on this , egged by a one line command of jyeshta Mahasannidhanam. Karma Mimamsa lists 52 Samskara or Milestone events in a Dwija’s life and there are rituals for them ( see one of the attached jpg). When we get into the weeds , we recognize they are more than rituals. Beyond faith, they inculcate focus, dedication, discipline, sincerity, honesty, integrity, contentment, compassion and keep us away from indulgence. Any one can see how Karma Mimamsa can help our progress in happiness in this life. As we saw earlier, pUrva mimAsa is very agnostic and neutral towards moksha and Ishwara. In this aspect it was similar to carvaka lokayatavaada
“ Borrow if you must, but eat ghee and make merry is the credo of our ancient nAstikyas”, Umesha had once told me with his mischievous smile.
He explained Brihaspati’s Lokayata Vaada in a few brief lines, “It was down right materialistic, atheistic and pleasure principle based sweet talk. Hence it is called Carvaka system”.
I looked up and their arguments and it appeared they were a humorous lot. Strangely, their conclusions on Svarga & Moksha were already present in a way in karma mimAmsa , albeit with total faith in Agni Karya. SayaNA mAdhawacharya Vidyaranaya has covered Carvaka in his concise Sarva darshana sangraha.
Carvakis argue:
यावज्जीव सुखं जीवेन नास्ति म्रुत्योर्गोचर:
भस्मीभूतस्य देहस्य पुनरागमनं कुतः ?
There is no way the body that is burnt is coming back after death; so enjoy as long as life lasts
अग्निहोत्रं त्रयोवेदा त्रिदण्डं भस्म गुण्ठनम्
बुद्दि पौरुष हिनानां जीविकेति बृहस्पतिः Agnihotra, three vedas, thridandi sanyasa, smearing with ashes are all means of making a living by those who are lazy and dull.
पशुश्चोन्निहितह् स्वर्ग ज्योतिष्टोमे गमिष्यति
स्वपिता यजमानेन तत्र कस्मान्न हिंस्यते
If animals sacrificed go to heaven, should you not offer your own father and send him to heaven?
… and so on and so forth
Their arguments were very atheistic ; so were mimamsakas and yet here we are with Sringeri Acharya personally leading Agnihotra. Why was he lending his support for mimamaska ritual ? I also recalled Shri Chandrashekara Bharati’s strong message that he respects Naasthikyas who searched for Ishwara, Moksha and gave up more than the so called blind believers who do no jignAsa.
So I did my jignAsa on karma mimAmsa for a couple of decades. I evaluated karma mImAmsa using nyAya and vaisheshika as tools. I looked at its various claims through the lens of modern science.
What came out was a surprising conclusion that we modernites are so poorly short sighted and don’t know how to look beyond our noses. Much worse, we start with an assumption that our forefathers were foolhardy, faint hearted lot who fell at the feet of natural elements in deep scare. We tend respect Richard Dwakins more than out Rishis, while understanding neither.
It was the theory of Combustion that gave me a whole new understanding of Agni Karyas.
Can anyone help me to get his books in kannada please ??
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