Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge Vol. 3(3), July 2004, pp. 231-239

Effect of on the germination of rice seeds

Heisnam Jina Devi, N V C Swamy* and H R Nagendra Vivekananda Research Foundation, Bangalore 560 019 Received 1 January 2004; revised 15 March 2004

Vedic ritualistic sacrifices have been in vogue in since time immemorial. Recently they have become very popular around the globe because of their therapeutic values. An impor- tant component of these sacrifices are the , which are sound forms reputed to contain mystic energy. The most common sacrifice still being practiced in India is the Agnihotra, which involves ritual offerings to the fire at sunrise and sunset to the accompaniment of specific man- tras. This practice was revived in Akkalkot, Maharashtra, and is being popularized throughout the country. In the current investigation, rice seeds were germinated in four rooms in petridishes for a period of 15 days. One room was used as the control with germination under normal condi- tions. A fire was lit in a second room for a specified period at sunrise and sunset. In a third room, Agnihotra mantras were chanted at the same time of the day, but no fire was lit. The last room was the experimental room, in which the full Agnihotra ritual, with fire and , was conducted at sunrise and sunset. Three sets of data were collected for three seasons, autumn, and for a pe- riod of 15 days each. Four parameters, viz. Root length, shoot length, fresh weight and dry weight were measured. An analysis of the data showed that the Agnihotra sacrifice with mantra was overwhelmingly more effective in the germination process than the other three cases. Statis- tical analysis of the data using the standard SPSS package corroborated this conclusion. Keywords: Agnihotra mantra, Germination, Rice seedlings, Vedas. IPC Int. Cl.7 : A01C1/02.

Agnihotra is a form of or sacrifice, Vedic culture, it was used in various areas which finds mention in the Vedic litera- such as Bioenergetics, Psychotherapy, ture. It is the truncated version of an im- Medicine, Agriculture, and portant sacrifice known as Darsapurna- Technology, etc. Efficacy of mantras and masa Isti, which is referred to in the Agnihotra on mind and body1, smack ad- Srauta Sutras of Baudhayana, Apastamba dicts2, scabies in animals3, microbial con- and Asvalayana. The word Homa is tent of the atmosphere4, skin wounds5, collectively used to denote Vedic tech- and radio activity in the atmosphere6 have niques, which are employed for the puri- been reported. Agnihotra ash is the ash fication of the atmosphere. In ancient obtained after the sacrificial offering. The materials used in Agnihotra are as ______*Correspondent author follows: 232 INDIAN J TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, VOL. 3, NO. 3, JULY 2004

Yajna trees (twigs) us on the Internet revealed that as many ¾ Vata ( bengalensis) as 11 countries around the world have ¾ Audumbara (Ficus glomerata) taken to this practice, some of them being ¾ Palaash (Butea frondosa) Germany, USA, China, Japan, UK, etc. ¾ Peepal () Reports from these countries talk of Ag- ¾ Bel () nihotra ash being used along with con- ventional organic manure in fields to im- Cow dung cakes, 2 drops of cow’s prove the quality and quantity of agricul- smeared to the pinches of rice and tural yield. There are also reports of Ag- offered. nihotra ash being used for medicinal pur- A mantra is a sound form, which has poses. These reports talk of the signifi- been used for spiritual practices in almost cant improvements brought about by Ag- all religions of the world since time im- nihotra, but none gives detail of any sys- memorial. In Vedic culture, mantras were tematic controlled studies conducted to usually associated with sacrificial rites. substantiate these claims. Even today one can witness various types The most systematic use of Agnihotra of Vedic sacrifices in India, performed to was reported in India for the first time by the accompaniment of mantras. More the Institute of Vedic Studies at Akkalkot, details about mantras and sacrifices are Maharashtra. It is said that the famous available in Jina Devi7. Hathayogi, Gorakhnath had practiced The Agnihotra mantra is recited by a Agnihotra in a place called Siva Kshetra, large number of people in India. When now called Tapovan, near Akkalkot. This the sun is just rising, pulsations of all life practice, which had fallen into disuse, forms are intensified. The reverse phe- was recently revived by Sadguru Sri Ga- nomenon occurs at sunset. It is at these janan Maharaj (1918 - 1987)8-10. times that the Agnihotra mantra is Another systematic study of the impact chanted, accompanied by oblations of Agnihotra on crop production was poured into a fire. conducted on wheat, according to three Vedic people believed that the - systems of farming ─ Homa Farming hotra mantra with certain mystical prop- System (HFS), Usual Farming System erties helps in capturing of cosmic en- (UFS) and Natural Farming System ergy. The combustion products released (NFS), the last being the control11. A brief into the atmosphere during the pouring of description of the methodology is given the oblations help in cleaning the atmos- below. phere and removal of many pollutants. In the Homa Farming System, wheat These ideas found wider acceptance seeds (variety K816) were treated with a among the ancient people of India, and solution made from cow-dung, cow urine many other ancient cultures of the world. and Agnihotra ash. Four cemented pots Of late, there has been a revival of were filled with soil mixed with Agni- these ideas not only in India, but also hotra ash. No fertilizers were added. Ag- around the world. A search conducted by nihotra was practiced during sunrise and

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sunset. Every seventh day a mixture of days. The root length, shoot length and Agnihotra ash and homa ash was sprayed fresh weight were noticeably higher in the on the . case of Agnihotra than in the other two In the Usual Farming System, ordinary cases. The dry weight, however, was the ash replaced Agnihotra ash. The soil in same in all situations13. the pots contained standard doses of NPK fertilizers and the procedure was the same Material and Methods as described earlier. The materials used for the present ex- In the case of control, (Normal Farm- periments consisted of the following: ing System), the procedure was the same as in the previous case, except that no (a) A pyramid shaped copper pot, 14.5 fertilizers were used. The parameters ob- cm x 14.5 cm at the top, 5.25 cm x served were percentage of germination, 5.25 cm at the bottom and 6.5 cm period of maturity, height, number in height. of tillers and grain yield per plant. (b) Dry twigs and cow dung as men- HFS showed a faster rate of germina- tioned earlier. tion than the other two cases. The plants The experiments were conducted in raised had a greater height, a larger num- four rooms identical in all respects. One ber of tillers per plant, a better vigor and room was used as a control room, in the highest grain yield per plant as com- which seed germination took place in a pared to the other two cases. The same natural way without the use of Agnihotra kind of results were obtained in the case mantra or the sacrificial fire. In the sec- of mustard and vegetables. ond room, the sacrificial fire was lit ex- A study was also undertaken to record actly at sunrise and sunset, but no man- the effect of Agnihotra on the germina- tras were chanted. In the third room, only tion of rice seeds12. The study consisted the mantras were chanted at the appropri- of reciting Agnihotra mantra at sunrise ate time, but no fire was lit. The fourth and sunset in a room in which a fire was was the experimental room, in which the lit and offerings were made. The room sacrificial fire was lit at the appropriate contained 15 petridishes, each containing time of sunrise and sunset. The following 25 rice seeds, placed on Whatman filter mantras were chanted once, and the paper moistened by distilled water. Two whole process took about 10 minutes. other rooms were used as control, one with fire only and the other without fire Sunrise: or chanting. Suryaya Swaha, Suryaya idam na Data were taken every day by measur- mama; ing root length, shoot length, fresh weight Om Prajapataye Swaha, Prajapataya and dry weight of seedlings from one pet- idam na mama. ridish from three rooms. The measure- (Our salutations to the Sun and the ments of 25 seedlings were averaged for Creator; these offerings belong to them each day. The experiment lasted for 15 and not to me)

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Sunset: with mantra (A), only fire (F), only chant- Om Agnaye Swaha, Agnaya idam na ing (C) and no fire and no chanting (N), mama; the last one serving as control. These data Om Prajapataye Swaha, Prajapataya have been studied not only season-wise, idam na mama. but also in totality to eliminate seasonal (Our salutations to the Fire and the variations. Creator; these offerings belong to them In Karnataka, where these experiments and not to me) were conducted, the season for sowing is Data of the first room served as the con- usually in summer and crops like rice are trol, while those of the last room were the reaped in winter. The rate of growth of the experimental data for analysis. The data seedlings in the summer and autumn sea- from the second and the third rooms were sons was found to be marginally influ- helpful in separating the influences of the enced by Agnihotra. But the data for the sacrificial fire and the mantra. winter season showed something interest- In each room 15 petridishes of 6 cm di- ing. The control showed hardly any ameter were kept with Whatman’s filter growth of the seedlings. The data for only paper wetted with distilled water. At the fire and only chanting showed marginal start of the experiment, 15 uniform rice increases in the rate of germination. How- grains of variety IR 20, procured from the ever, the data for both fire and chanting University of Agricultural Sciences, Ban- revealed a remarkable increase in the rate galore, were placed in each of the pet- of growth of the rice seedlings, thus indi- ridishes. Distilled water was added to each cating that even in circumstances in which petridish and readings were taken at the growth of rice seedlings is inhibited, the interval of 24 hours till the fifteenth day. practice of the Agnihotra sacrifice with Every morning, one dish at random was mantra recitation has a remarkable influ- picked from each of the four rooms, for ence on the rate of growth of the seedlings. measuring shoot length, root length, fresh The length of the root showed a pre- weight and dry weight. The experiments dominantly high rate of growth as com- were conducted in three stages. The first pared to the others. There was not much set of data (set 1) was collected in the variation between the data for the control month of October, corresponding to the and those for only chanting (C). However, autumn season. The second set (set 2) was the data for only fire (F) showed a mar- collected during the month of December ginal increase (Fig. 1). This could be due and the succeeding January. The last set to the marginal increase in the temperature (set 3) was collected during April and of the ambience. Increase in temperature May, corresponding to the summer season. was of the order of 2 or 3 degrees Celsius.

Results It is quite well known that a warm envi- The four parameters investigated were ronment accelerates the growth rate of shoot length, root length, fresh weight and plants. Even though the temperature rise dry weight. The data were taken under here is not of that order, it still seems to be four different conditions: Agnihotra fire

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adequate to influence the growth rate. the root length, the significance was a Combined with Agniho tra mantra chant- little less. ing this effect increased several fold. This Data for sets 1 and 2 showed greater indicates that the effects of mantra chant- significant effect of Agnihotra compared ing and fire are not merely additive but to set 3, based upon Post-hoc tests, as interactive. Their combined effect is far well as multiple comparisons. In set 1, the more than a simple addition of their indi- significance was higher only for shoot vidual effects. length and fresh weight and not for root For fresh weight, the trend was the length. The data for dry weight did not same as in the previous cases, except for show any significance for any set for the one anomalous value on the 12th day. reasons given above. Agnihotra fire and chanting showed a The data for set 2, however, showed predominantly better performance than significance for root length, shoot length the cases with only fire, only chanting or and fresh weight. Data for set 2 showed with neither (Fig. 3). the greatest significance compared to the The dry weight is measured after the data of the other two sets. seedlings are heated for a certain fixed period of time and at a fixed temperature Discussion (Fig. 4). This has the effect of removing There are several likely reasons for the the moisture content in the seedlings. beneficial influence of Agnihotra. It is This figure shows the same trend for all known from ancient texts that the materi- the four situations, indicating that the ef- als used in Agnihotra sacrifice contain fect of Agnihotra, of chanting or of fire is certain chemicals, which are released to basically to increase the moisture absorp- the atmosphere during combustion. This tion of the seedlings. The decrease in dry has the effect of purifying the environ- weight over the 15 days showed the same ment by eliminating harmful pollutants. trend for all the four cases as observed in It is seen from our experiments that earlier experiment6. Agnihotra influences seed germination

The data for all the three sets were sub- from the very first day itself. Germination jected to statistical analysis, following the involves a series of steps prior to the standard SPSS package. The analysis was emergence of the radicle from the seed done for the combined data for all the sets coat. The seed appears to rely on carbo- put together and then for the data of each hydrates as the respiratory substrate. Res- individual set. For all cases, ANOVA and piration increases almost immediately Post-hoc tests were done. The analysis upon imbibition and continues to increase showed that in the case of all data put with the growth of the seed. It is very together, which evens out seasonal varia- likely that the Agnihotra-treated seeds tions, the shoot length and fresh weight have a higher rate of increase of respira- showed a significant influence of Agni- tion. hotra on the germination as compared to Except dry weight, all other parameters the individual situations. However, for i.e., fresh weight, root length and shoot

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length were significantly influenced by also, lead to the conclusion that even in Agnihotra sacrifice during the germina- such unfavourable or marginally favour- tion process. In some cases, the influence able conditions, Agnihotra can accelerate was predominant; in some it was notice- the germination process. This conclusion able and in some others it was only mar- of ours is to some extent substantiated by ginal. the data for set 1 for autumn, which in their significance lie almost midway be- The analysis reveals that: tween the other two sets.

1 The most noticeable effect of Agni- hotra is observed in set 2, which Conclusions refers to winter. Agnihotra mantra along with the use 2 The least significant effect is observed of sacrificial fire as prescribed by Vedic in set 3, which refers to summer. injunctions accelerated the rate of growth 3 The data for autumn in set 1 lie be- of rice seedlings. Even in adverse tween those of set 2 and set 3, so far circumstances, when the natural as significance is concerned. germination of rice seeds is slow, 4 The combined data for all the sets Agnihotra demonstrated its efficacy in show a predominant influence of Ag- accelerating germination. nihotra on fresh weight and shoot length. There is a lot of scope for further work, As mentioned above, the sowing sea- which needs to be investigated in greater son in Karnataka, where the experiments detail. In the above experiment male were conducted, is usually the summer reciters were used in the room while the season and winter is the reaping season. sacrifice was being done. Do the results There is hardly any sowing done of rice vary if female voices or recorded voices in winter. By autumn, the crops are well are used? Many such questions need to be developing and do not need much water. answered through further research work. The data for set 3 taken for summer indicate only marginal variations among Acknowledgements the four situations, with Agnihotra indi- This work forms part of a thesis cating a marginally higher value. But in submitted by one of us (H.J.D), under the set 2, referring to winter, the data for Ag- guidance of the other two authors. The nihotra showed a predominantly higher authors are grateful to the Institute of influence. Visual observation of the seed- Vedic Studies, Akkalkot, Maharashtra, lings showed stunted growth in the con- for supplying the necessary equipment, trol, with only marginally higher values and to Shri S.A. Chandran for sparing the in the other two situations, as winter is AMB 50 Balance. They also thank all not a conducive time for the germination those who helped in the various stages of of rice seeds. However, the predomi- the experiment, and especially Prof. nantly higher values for the case of Agni- Narasimhamurthy for the statistical hotra, confirmed by visual observations analysis.

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