Anuyāja

By Swami Harshananda

Anuyāja literally means ‘after-offering’.

Among the few sacrifices that an āhitāgni (one who has ceremonially kindled the Vedic fires) is expected to perform regularly, Darśa and Purṇamāsa should specially be mentioned. They belong to the class called ‘iṣṭi’ (needing four priests) and are performed on the new moon day and full-moon day respectively.

• During these sacrifices, certain minor offerings are made before and after the principal offerings. Such offerings made before the principal ones are called prayājas (pra = before). The prayājas are oblations of ājya (clarified butter or ghee) and are five in number, addressed to deities like

1. Samidhah
2. Narāśaiṅsa
3. Others.

• Those made after the principal ones are termed anuyājas (anu = after). The anuyājas are only three and offered to

1. Barhis
2. Narāśamsa
3. Agni sviṣṭakṛt

The word is sometimes spelled as anuyāja also.

References

• The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore

Contributors to this article

Krishna Maheshwari, Deval Sancheti

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