The series so far:
The 5th part of the ‘Indic Past’ series focuses on the next part of Markandeya’s narration on Skanda’s life that brings to the fore the until-now-unrecognized fact that the first ever Vedic Homa was conducted by none other than Skanda. This was encapsulated in story form of Svaha approaching Skanda to conduct her marriage with Hutashana, the Agni Deva.
After pointing out the finer differences between
Hutashana and Adbhuta, the video describes the union of Svaha with Hutashana which
is nothing but the first ever Vedic Homa. With the help of a verse from
Taittriya Brahmana on the meaning of Svaha and from Valmiki Ramayana on wife as
the Atman of the husband, it is explained why the Homa was regarded as the marriage
of Svaha with Hutashana (Agni).
‘Havyam’ and ‘Kavyam’ were the first Homas done by Skanda
as per Markandeya. They were Ahavaniya and Garhapatya respectively. From the
Tamil tradition of Skanda having taught Pranava mantra to Shiva it is deduced
that Aum-Upasana transformed into Aupasana, the first Homa to be done twice every
day following one’s marriage and throughout one’s life. Skanda had initiated
this soon after his marriage with Devasena and with the intention of bringing peace
in Nature by mutual help (Paraspara Bhava) of give and take between Devas and
human beings. It is likely that Skanda had initiated Agnihotra too.
Of the three sons of Agni and Svaha outlined by Vayu
Purana, Pavamana (Kavyam) and Suci (Havyam) were ‘born’ in Skanda’s times.
Pavaka (Dakshinagni) was born later.
The present practice of singing Samans at the time
of creating Agni for Kavyam using Arani sticks must have started at Skanda’s
time, when the cool climate of Younger Drayas must have made making Agni a
difficult and laborious task.
Similarly the taking over of the Ahavaniya rituals
by Yajur Vedic Adhvaryu must have been there at Skanda’s time indicating the
presence of Saman and Yujur verses even at that time.
In support of these views, it is pointed out that
this society had continued from even before Skanda though the Homa culture started
with Skanda. Four other Vedas were there at that time – which will be discussed
in a future episode – personalities like Dhruva, the son of Uttanapada had
existed before Skanda, in Cakshusha Manvantra (Little Manvantra) and the idea
of 27 star zodiac had already existed before Skanda. There is every possibility
that singing Samans and uttering Yajur mantras in worship could have existed then
though those verses may no longer be in existence now.
Further proof of Skanda as progenitor of Vedic Homa
is drawn from the Tamil Sangam text called Tirumurugatru-p-padai that describes
the 6 faces of Skanda as representative of six works that Skanda was known for.
Among the 6 works, the 3rd one represented by the middle face of
Skanda is that of watching and guiding the Vedic Homa.
A comparison with this is drawn from Markandeya’s
version on the middle face of Skanda as that of a goat, always watched by his
mother Shakti. In this context of explaining why Skanda’s head was that of a
goat, it is also made out why he came to have too many mothers – Ganga, Agni,
Krittika, the six rishi patni-s and Svaha.
The goat face is also linked with Homa ritual – of Agni
deva riding on a goat or a ram. Ultimately for the purposes of granting
longevity and progeny, the Homa culture was started by Skanda who as Shanmukha is
always watching over the proper performance of Homa through his middle face.
The final question is where the first Homa was done.
The regions around Tiruchendur are discussed. Further fine tuning is done by
picking out the places on the basis of Last Glacial refugial rice growth since
20k years ago, since rice is essential for Aupasana and Agnihotra.
Triuchendur scores in this regard besides the regions of SE Asia. Rice growth is conspicuously absent in North West India where
Sarasvati and Sindhu were flowing. The upper limit of this (rice) date is 9k BP found south
of Gujarat where marine archaeological finds are available since 9k years ago,
but this evidence is absent in Sarasvati and also Gangetic region. So the spread
of the Vedic culture in these regions have happened since or after 9k years ago and not before. Further
discussion on this will be in future episodes.
