The Annam: The Soma Sacrifice, And Its Methods

The outer form of this ritual has an inner corresponding inner ritual. In Yajña, Agni in the human being is the spirit or soul. The mind is the ghee or the clarified butter used in the Yajña. The Annam, the sacrificial food, is the physical body. The mantras purify the subtle elements of the body, mind and environment, thereby awakening the latent divine energies. The sound, forms, rhythms, gestures, flowers, light, incense and offerings, the mind is carried away from its material preoccupations toward a world of divine beauty (Frawley, 2006).

The sacred fire which is the basis of our human culture and the spiritual ancestor for all the race and continents is the tool of communication for inner and outer worlds. It is the language of nature

In the Vedic Hymns of the Rgveda Soma, is the bringer of Gods is the juice of a plant represented as ‘elixir of Immortality’. This drink is prepared by the priests pounding the plants with stones. Soma Sacrifice was the result of a complicated mythological interpretation of the absorption of water by Indra which consisted of an elaborate ritual of purchasing the Soma herb, bringing it in a cart, washing, pressing, straining, storing it in containers. The most complex of yajña described in the Shruti is performed to engender universal prosperity through the potent vibrations emitted during the recitation of the Vedic mantras. Somayaga is the offering of Soma Elixir to appease the six Ritu Devatas (energies), in order to redress the balance of the six seasons which seems to be in chaotic disarray. In Somayajña, Soma juice oblation is given to Lord Indra, who showers good rains on earth, and rains are the source of life on earth. Somayaga is believed to strengthen the five elements or Pancha Mahābhutās – Pṛthvi (earth), Āp(water), Agni(fire), Vayu (wind), and Ākāśa(sky) – in order to bestow prosperity and restore natural

The person who oversees the proceedings is called the Yajamānā. Assisted by 15 functionaries known as Ritviks, who help to execute the ritual and recite or chant the Vedic mantras. He spiritually prepares himself with severe austerities undergoes severe austerities for the final rite-- the offering of the Soma juice and during the days when the ritual is in progress, and is not allowed to eat or wash himself. All the 3 fires are used in these yajñas. The main feature of these yajña is the offering of the Soma juice 3 times a day. A person who performs regularly without fail the Agnihotra, the Havir and the Somayajñas are specially called Ahitāgnis. The Soma rituals are never performed near cremation grounds, in temples, or on temple grounds(Sharma,