Havan at Our House

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Havan or Yajna, its Vedic antecedent, procedure for performing it, its connection with the five elements of the Nature, and its scientific nature was brought to light in my previous write-up. I would now like to talk about the importance of Havan in my family’s life.


I come from an Arya Samaji family. My earliest memories of childhood are filled with the resonance of the collective chanting of Vedic mantras and the aroma of the fragrant smoke rising up from the Havan Kund. I remember reciting mantras in tune with the rest of the family even as a small child. Sanskrit shlokas always sounded exquisite though their meanings remained incomprehensible to me. The first time I heard the meaning of Maha Mritunjaya Mantra from my Chachaji. He was hinting at the transitory nature of our existence in the World and stipulating an attitude of ‘detached attachment’ towards our worldly possessions to his Mother (my Grandmother). The meaning sounded very grave to me and I chose to remember only the ‘fragrance of a mellowed melon’ part of the meaning.


I got married into a ‘Sanatan Dharmi’ family, meaning those who worship various incarnations of God in idol form. My husband and I decided to pray to God in both His ‘Nirakaar’ and ‘Saakaar’ forms and thus, have a Temple in our home and also perform Havan.


Havan at our home is interpreted differently by different member of my family. For my husband, a day of Havan means thorough cleaning of the entire house, decorating the Temple with fresh flowers and garlands, and instructing his wife to prepare special sweets for Prasad; for me, Havan means relishing the rich sound, smell, taste, sight and feeling associated with it; for my son, it means pretend reading of the Sanskrit mantras from his own copy of the book ‘Yajna Parva Sudha’ and singing Bhajans in his lyrical voice; and for my daughter, like every other occasion, the occasion of Havan means another chance to get dressed in her expensive salwar-suits or lehnga-cholis.