Part I: Akkalkot Tradition of Agnihotra
Part II: Effect of Akkalkot Tradition of Agnihotra on the Germination of Rice Seeds as performed by Males and Females – a Control Study
By
Omkar Sudhakar

Abstract
Part I: Akkalkot Tradition of Agnihotra

In ancient Vedic culture Agni was considered as the most important universal god. He was considered as the purifier. He was considered as an object which creates rasa in things. Agni was considered as inherently pure; he is not touched and nor soiled by the impurities on which he feeds. He enjoys the play of good and evil and forces evil towards good ness .He is dreadful, mighty, blissful, merciless and loving god, the kind and fierce helper of all who take refuge in his friendship [10, 11].

Agni is glorified in all Vedas in a grand manner. In fact Ågveda starts with the Mantra

` Ai¶mIle puraeiht< y}Sy devm&iTvjm! , haetar< rÆxatmm! .
om agniméle purohitaà yajïasya devamåtvijam hotäraà ratnadhätamam

Which means, “we offer our worship to that agni who is purohita (priest) ofYajïa (the forerunner of the sacrifice),who is divine , who is the officiating priest , who is the invoker of the deities and who is the bestower of the wealth on the performer of  Yajïa.” The composer of this Mantra is  Madhuchanda Vaiçwämitra belonging to the clan of Vaiçwämitra[10,11].

Summary and Conclusion

In today's polluted atmosphere, we witness mass destruction of forests, disappearance of many species of plants, animals, insects, birds, disturbance in Ecocycles, Ozone Depletion, Global Warming, Acid rain and decreasing Agricultural Production. Human health is at stake. Many killing diseases like Cancer and AIDS are on the rise. Increased alcoholism and drug abuse is a great challenge. Human mind is under great stress giving
rise to more violence and many complex family and social problems. The list is unending

To live happily it is imperative to end the vicious cycle by starting a Virtuous cycle. Agnihotra is the starting point of the virtuous cycle. Swami Gajanana Maharaja started this mission which is helpful to humanity.

 With the regular practice of Agnihotra many of our problems will find their solutions automatically. As an individual one can find himself a totally changed person! A stress-free & happy person.
 

 Part II: Effect of Akkalkot Tradition of Agnihotra on the Germination of Rice Seeds as performed by Males and Females – a Control Study

Vedas are the first and foremost authentic revelations made solely for the true benefit and welfare of humanity. Vedas are the store house of eternal knowledge. Vedas, through Sanskrit language reveal to the world the eternal wisdom, the light of knowledge for the illumination of the human mind. For, the purity of the mind is necessary to purify the atmosphere. The purification of atmosphere purifies Präëa, the life energy, and thus purified Präëa purifies mind .Thus for all these purposes, one needs to perform Agnihotra.Concept of Agnihotra originally occurs in Vedas where we get detailed description about Agnihotra and information about it

CONCLUSIONS

As seen from the above there were six volunteers engaged in experiment three male and three female. Agnihotra Mantra of akkalkot tradition was chosen for ritual as well as reciting. For each there was one male reciter and one female. One male and one female were present for control room each.

Four parameters were measured Root Length, Shoot Length, Fresh Weight and Dry Weight. For each room there were total 225 pieces of data for each reciter and control .the conclusions are based upon the analysis of these sets of data. The experiment was done three times so that the data available for each parameter and each case of ritual performance, only Mantra chanting and control were 675.

Based upon statistical analysis and observations made on the figures the following conclusions have been drawn
1) There is no difference in the performance, whether the voice is male or female. This answers the question whether the women should or should not recite Mantras or perform the Vedic ritual. In recent times women are taking more and more to perform Agnihotra.
Our result shows that the influence of a female reciting the mantras is the same as in the case a male reciting.

2) The effectiveness of the Agnihotra Mantra is enhanced by combining it with the ritualistic offering to fire.
A mere recitation of mantra is also to same extent effective as shown by Heisnam Jina Devi in the work as give in reference.
She also came to conclusion that the full ritual is more effective than only the Mantra chanting or fire.
Our result confirms the same.       

Keywords:Agnihotra,akkalkot tradition,germination of rice seeds.