This is my very first entry and I hope it to be equally exciting to you as it is for me to publish:
Last weekend, I was performing a Grah-Shanti pooja - a Vidhi or a Pre-wedding ceremony. Nothing extra-ordinary about that; you may argue except, this one was a little bit different. Very different for me if I may be so bold in saying so. The worshipers insisted on making use of a coconut instead of a betel nut for the Havan ceremony.
Towards the end comes a Havan Pooja otherwise known as a Sacrificial Fire Ceremony. Contrary to popular belief that a coconut must be sacrificed in the fire, in the western world I very strongly recommend that the Brahmans simply make use of a betel (areca) nut instead. So, please allow me to elaborate on the subject:
Up until 8th century A.D. to the best of my knowledge, an animal or within certain remote quarters even a human - more likely to be a child - was sacrificed. Adi Shankaracharya in his alleged short life - reportedly lived to age 32 - converted the thinking behind animal or human sacrifices. He explained that the sheer existence of life depended on air, water and food. He further argued that if he could provide an alternative that also offered same contents, that one should have no hesitation in switching over to this alternative. When people agreed, he introduced a coconut. The only fruit that has all three; viz., air, water in the form of milk and food in the form of the flash of the coconut. To this day thereafter, people have accepted the use of coconut in any sacrificial ceremony.
In order to ensure that the fire is fully secured and within ‘the controlled environment’, one would dig a deep hole in the ground, throw in some relevant items such as Sameedh (dry wood), Havan Samagri (scented sacrificial ingredients), Ghee (purified unsalted melted butter) and camphor. Additional items such as barley and sesame seeds would be thrown in during the narration of mantras after the fire has been lit. Some time later, a coconut is inserted in the fire and the ceremony continues to the end. By this time, one or more coconuts thrown in the fire have almost extinguished.
Now, in the west, digging of holes in the ground is not only impractical but even if it were made possible, the time it takes to carry out the ceremony would be unacceptable at best of times. For this reason, I have been informing people to replace coconut with betel nut. After all, a betel nut already replaces situations where a picture or a statuette of a given deity is not at hand for ceremonial purposes!
To further support my argument, here is one very important scientific reason. Imagine a coconut being a pressure cooker. We know that a pressure cooker is sealed from every side except for where the excessive steam is set to free itself from within the cooker. We also know that if this steam is made to be pressurised beyond the cooker’s capability, that the cooker will burst possibly causing fatal or at least serious injuries. In exactly the same way, the coconut sealed from every side except from the top having three eyes can easily burst from there. If however, this particular coconut happens to have a crack across the middle, it could burst open and explode.
If we were to assume that there are no cracks and it bursts from any one or all three of its eyes, it would have this pressure cooker effect where the built in steam shoots out high up in the air. Now imagine these eyes not facing upwards but sideways towards one of the worshipers … . Along with the steam, the fire would also play the part causing the flames to turn blue and potentially scar one for life; if not kill one. Remember that this coconut is not burning in a hole in the ground but in a Kund placed above ground with, albeit, limited protection.(A Kund is a medium to shallow utensil usually about 3 to 9 inches deep used for this purpose - the Havan) Under the circumstances, a betel nut is far better placed to - effectively - serve the same purpose.
Needless to say, on this occasion, no one got injured despite the flame rising about four feet high due to the eyes of the coconut facing upwards.
Basically, when a coconut bursts - either through a crack or as steam outlet explained above, the remaining water/milk therein would seep through into the ground. Leaving the ingredients and Ghee or Oil to carry out its duty. However, with Havan Kund, this is different. Water/Milk will remain within the container often allowing unnecessary additional risks.
Play it safe and always keep some covering to put off the fire should it get out of hand. No water should ever be used to put out the fire as ghee or oil therein will only aggravate the situation.
Be Safe & Be Happy
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