Section IX - Meditation on the Vaisvanavara Fire
Chapter V
<https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/the-brihadaranyaka-upanishad/d/doc122185.html>
*Verse
5.9.1: Brahadaranyaka Upanishad*
Kathopanishad Vaishvanaram verse of Nachiketa speaks about the yagnam the
Vedic must perform, connecting his soul to the fire agni @ Vaisnavara=human
Agni. Vedam oduvarrkku ore mazhai means the strict vediyar addicted to
being a Brahmin. The Vaishvanaran who begets th fire on the Brahma yagnam,
must preserve it till death when his atman gets purified by that Agni.
Hence Crossing the ocean is prohibited for the tri varnas and especially to
the true Brahmin.
The prohibition is clearly stated in several scriptures. The Baudhayana
Sutra, one of the Hindu Dharma Shastras, says that “making voyages by sea”
(II.1.2.2) is an offense which will cause pataniya, loss of caste. It
offers a rather difficult penance: “They shall eat every fourth mealtime a
little food, bathe at the time of the three libations (morning, noon and
evening), passing the day standing and the night sitting. After the lapse
of three years, they throw off their guilt.” Harsha Ramamurthy in his
erudite article on the issue, explains that, according to Baudhayana Sutra,
the highest authority in deciding a question of dharma is shruti, our
primary scriptures, the Vedas and Agamas. Next is the smriti, the secondary
scriptures, which include the Dharma Shastras. Third is sampradaya, the
teachings and practices of a specific lineage. He concludes, “ because of
the bans in smriti and sampradaya, such travel is considered a banned
activity.” He added that the ban applies to all three upper castes, and not
just brahmins. It also applies to sannyasins, who–in his tradition–can only
be from the brahmin caste.
Why the ban?
In the Baudhayana Sutra, the ban is discussed in the context of a
description of the geographical limits of India which concludes that within
its boundary “spiritual pre-eminence is found.” Generally, two reasons are
given by scholars for the ban. The first is that it is impossible to
maintain one’s required daily religious observances on a ship, particularly
thrice-daily personal worship. The second is that one will incur the sin of
mlecchas samparka, usually politely translated as mixing with foreigners.
Mlecchas, however, is more accurately translated as “barbarian” or
“savage.” “I am told,” he said, “that there is a penance to be performed
when a sannyasin or priest crosses the ocean. The existence of this penance
shows that as per the need and their own deeper vision, a sannyasin or
priest can cross the ocean to preserve and make his mother religion
flourish. *But this should not be done for any materialistic need.”*
Dr. A.V. Ramana Dikshitulu, head priest of the Balaji Temple in
Tirumala, one of India’s most respected and popular pilgrimage
destinations, said, “None of our priests who serve in the main sanctum can
cross the ocean. Neither I nor any member of my family have done so,
despite lucrative offers from abroad. Serving the Lord here is most
important to us. The Balaji Temple is governed by the Vaikhanasa Agama. It
says that the people outside India are akin to mlecchas, barbarians, who do
not follow any rules or code of conduct, and therefore it forbids visiting
such places. These places have habits, food, relationships and other things
which could make us corrupt and impure.”
sunrise, midday and sunset, called trikal gayatri sandhya,” he
explained. “*This trikal sandhya cannot be performed on a plane or ship; it
must be done on the earth.” *Dr. Ramana Dikshitulu does not specifically
rule out “crossing” an ocean, for he himself flies occasionally from
Chennai to Kolkata, a flight which goes out over the Bay of Bengal. But as
that flight is only two hours long, he does not miss his trikal sandhya as
he would on a longer flight or a voyage by ship, and he does not land
outside India. *He was unaware of any penance to offset crossing the ocean.*
Clearly the Dharma Shastras’ ban on ocean travel was intended to
maintain the religious strength and purity of the individual, and to
prevent negative external influence from non-Hindu cultures. Other cultures
had the same concern. One can note that the very word barbarian (used to
translate mleccha with a strongly negative connotation), just meant
“foreigner,” in the original Greek, yet came to describe an uncultured or
brutish person. Baudhayana Sutra makes the point more than once to
delineate ancient India’s boundaries and declare it a sacred land out of
which one should not step
* Hence Nachiketa Vaisvanara concept eduvated by Dharma Raja applied
to Brahmins who did not cross the ocean and for such alone ore mazhai is
possible. Brahadaranyaka Upanishad states as under: *
अयमाग्निर्वैश्वानरो योऽयमन्तः पुरुषे, येनेदमन्नं पच्यते यदिदमद्यते; तस्यैष
घोषो भवति यमेतत्कर्णावपिधाय शृणोति; स यदोत्क्रमिष्यन्भवति नैनं घोषं शृणोति ॥
१ ॥
इति नवमं ब्राह्मणम् ॥
ayamāgnirvaiśvānaro yo'yamantaḥ puruṣe, yenedamannaṃ pacyate yadidamadyate;
tasyaiṣa ghoṣo bhavati yametatkarṇāvapidhāya śṛṇoti; sa
yadotkramiṣyanbhavati nainaṃ ghoṣaṃ śṛṇoti || 1 ||
iti navamaṃ brāhmaṇam ||
1. This fire that is within a man and digests the food that is eaten, is
Vaiśvānara. It emits this sound that one hears by stopping the ears thus.
When a man is about to leave the body, he no more hears this sound.
Here is another meditation like the preceding ones. *This fire is
Vaiśvānara.* Which fire? This *that* is *within a man.* Is it the element
fire that is one of the components of the body? No, it is the one called
Vaiśvānara, which *digests the food.* Which food? The food *that is eaten* by
men. That is to say, the heat in the stomach. For direct sign of it the
text says: As that fire digests the food, *it emits this sound. *What is
it? *That one hears by stopping the ears thus,* with one’s fingers. The
word ‘Etat’ is an adverb (meaning ‘thus’). One should meditate upon that
fire as Vaiśvānara, or Virāj. Here too the result is identification with
it. Incidentally a death omen is being described: *(When a man,* the
experiencer in this body *is about to leave the body, he no more hears this
sound*.
K RAJARAM IRS 16 8 23
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