A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
The professions of a qualified brähmaëa are paöhana,
päöhana, yajana, yäjana, däna and pratigraha. The words yajana and yäjana mean
that a brähmaëa becomes the priest of the populace for the sake of their
elevation.
(Srila
Prabhupada in Srimad Bhagawatam SB 6.7.35)
““Brahmanas generally used to become astrologers,
Ayur-vedic physicians, teachers and priests.”
(Srila Prabhupada in Caiatanya-Caritamrta, Adi-lila
17.103)
Just like there are
various subjects that a modern professor can specialize in, in Vedic times the
Brahmanas, those situated in mode of goodness, would specialize in particular
fields. Dronacarya, a famous brahmana during the battle of Kuruksetra
five-thousand years ago, was a martial teacher. Mukunda, a companion of Lord
Caitanya in Bengal five hundred years ago was a Ayur-vedic physician.
Similarly, the fire
sacrifices or yajnas were performed by brahmanas specializing as yajnic
brahmanas.
éje—worshiped; açvamedhaiù—by performing the horse
sacrifice yajïas; adhiyajïam—to satisfy the master of all yajïas; éçvaram—the
Supreme Personality of Godhead; mahä-vibhütyä—with great opulence;
upacita-aìga-dakñiëaiù—with all prescribed paraphernalia and contributions of
dakñiëä to the brähmaëas; tataiù—executed; vasiñöha-asita-gautama-
TRANSLATION
In desert countries where there flowed the River
Sarasvaté, Mahäräja Ambaréña performed great sacrifices like the
açvamedha-yajïa and thus satisfied the master of all yajïas, the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. Such sacrifices were performed with great opulence and
suitable paraphernalia and with contributions of dakñiëä to the brähmaëas, who
were supervised by great personalities like Vasiñöha, Asita and Gautama,
representing the king, the performer of the sacrifices.
PURPORT
When one performs ritualistic sacrifices as
prescribed in the Vedas, one needs expert brähmaëas known as yäjïika-brähmaëas.
There were four kinds of yäjïika-brähmaëas.
“catuù-hotraka—of
the four kinds of Vedic priests, known as hotä, adhvaryu, brahma and udgätä;”
(SB
7.3.30 Word to word translation)
“To
perform a sacrifice successfully, at least four expert priests are needed: one
who can offer (hota), one who
can chant (udgata), one who can
kindle the sacrificial fire without the aid of separate fire (adhvaryu), and one who can supervise (brahma). Such sacrifices were conducted from the birth
of Brahma, the first living creature, and were carried on till the reign of
Maharaja Yudhisthira.”
(SB
2.6.25
Purusa-sukta Confirmed)
Srila Prabhupada in Srimad
Bhagawatam describes these yäjïika-brähmaëas as rtvik(pronouced-ritvik[1]) for the duration of the sacrifice.
“Acting
as Supersoul, the Lord gives inspiration to a suitable person to perform the
Vedic ritualistic ceremonies. In this connection, four classes of priests,
known as rtvik, are
required. They are mentioned as hota, adhvaryu, brahma and udgata.”
(SB
7.3.30 P Hiranyakasipu's
Plan to Become Immortal)
They have been used in
sacrifices since the beginning of creation.
There is mention of rtviks in other famous sacrifices.
-
sacrifice performed by
Daksa. (SB Canto 4, Chapters 5-7)
-
sacrifice performed by King
Nabhi. (SB Canto 5 Chapter 3)
-
King Prthu' s One Hundred
Horse Sacrifices (SB Canto 4 Chapter 5)
-
sacrifice performed by King
Bharata (SB Canto 5 Chapter 7)
-
sacrificial arena of Maharaj
Bali (SB Canto 8 Chapter 8)
Generally for the
sacrifice, the rtviks would
work as assistants to an acarya-spiritual
master.
“Sukadeva Gosvami said: Thereafter, the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Lord Ramacandra, accepted an acarya and performed sacrifices [yajnas] with opulent paraphernalia.
Thus He Himself worshiped Himself, for He is the Supreme Lord of all demigods.
Lord Ramacandra, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, performed various
sacrifices by which to worship Himself, and at the end of these sacrifices
He gave land to the hota, adhvaryu, udgata and brahma priests. He gave them
the eastern, western, northern and southern directions respectively, and the
balance He gave to the acarya. Thereafter, thinking that because the
brahmanas have no material desires they should possess the entire world, Lord
Ramacandra delivered the land between the east, west, north and south to the acarya.”
(SB
9.11.1-3 Lord Ramacandra Rules the World)
“One
should satisfy the spiritual master [acarya], who is very learned in Vedic literature,
and should satisfy his assistant priests [known as hota, udgata, adhvaryu and brahma]. One should please them by offering them
clothing, ornaments and cows. This is the ceremony called visnu-aradhana, or worship of Lord Visnu. O most auspicious lady,
one should perform all the ceremonies under the direction of learned acaryas and should satisfy them and their priests.
By distributing prasada, one
should also satisfy the brahmanas and others who have assembled. One should
satisfy the spiritual master and assistant priests by giving them cloth,
ornaments, cows and also some monetary contribution. And by distributing prasada one should satisfy everyone assembled, including
even the lowest of men, the candalas [eaters of dog flesh].
(SB
8.16.53-55 Executing the
Payo-vrata Process of Worship)
-------------------------
Note: If we look at the word-to-word translation of the
verses 8.16.53-55 for the “priests”, Srila Prabhupada gives the following
interesting translation.
“rtvijah--the priests recommended by the spiritual
master”
“rtvigbhyah ca--and to the priests engaged by the spiritual
master”
Please compare this with a
conversation Srila Prabhupada had with his GBC disciples on 28th May
1977 in Vrindavan.
Satsvarupa: ... Then our
next question concerns initiations in the future, particularly at that time
when you're no longer with us. We want to know how first and second initiation
would be conducted.
Prabhupada: Yes. I
shall recommend some of you. After this is settled up, I shall recommend
some of you to act as officiating acaryas.
Tamala Krsna: Is that
called rtvik-acarya?
Prabhupada: Rtvik, yes.
Note the use of the word “recommend(ed)” .
------------------------------
Yajnic-brahmans were learned and respectable...
“Brahmanas generally used to become astrologers,
Ayur-vedic physicians, teachers and priests. Although highly learned
and respectable, such brahmanas went from door to door to distribute their
knowledge.”
(Adi. 17.103
The Pastimes of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu in His Youth)
..and were offered daksina.
“The
brahmanas and yajnika
priests should be sufficiently paid for their expert service. This payment is
called daksina.”
(SB
9.4.22 P Ambarisa Maharaja
Offended by Durvasa Muni)
“One
should satisfy the spiritual master and assistant priests by giving
them cloth, ornaments, cows and also some monetary contribution.”
(SB
8.16.53-55 Executing the
Payo-vrata Process of Worship)
The yajnic brahmanas
acting as rtviks used to
perform the sacrifice with their own assistants called sadasyas.
“After
completing the sacrifice, Lord Parasurama gave the eastern direction to the hota as a gift, the south to the brahma, the west to the adhvaryu, the north to the udgata, and the four corners--northeast, southeast, northwest
and southwest--to the other priests. He gave the middle to Kasyapa and the
place known as Aryavarta to the upadrasta. Whatever remained he distributed among the sadasyas, the associate priests.
(SB
9.16.21-22 Lord Parasurama
Destroys the World' s Ruling Class)
To be continued....tomorrow "Rtvik Part 2-The Modern Touch"
[1] Bengali Pronunciation is rittik
No comments:
Post a Comment