प्राणहोमः, तत्त्वहोमःThe offering of the vital airs; the offering of the tattvas
Verse 249
तत्त्वहोमं ततः कुर्याद्देहात्माध्यासमुक्तये । पृथिवी सलिलं वह्निर्वायुराकाशमेव च ॥ २४९ ॥
tattvahōmaṁ tataḥ kuryāddēhātmādhyāsamuktayē | pṛthivī salilaṁ vahnirvāyurākāśamēva ca || 249 ||
Translation
Then he should perform the homa of the tattvas, for release from identifying the self with the body: earth, water, fire, air and space,
Word by word
- tattva
- of the tattvas
- hōmaṁ
- the homa
- tataḥ
- then
- kuryād
- (kuryāt) he should perform
- dēha
- the body
- ātma
- the self with
- adhyāsa
- from identifying
- muktayē
- for release
- pṛthivī
- earth
- salilaṁ
- water
- vahnir
- (vahniḥ) fire
- vāyur
- (vāyuḥ) air
- ākāśam
- (ākāśam) space
- ēva
- also
- ca
- and
Meaning
The commentary explains the purpose: "dehātmādhyāsa", the false superimposition of the self on the body, the mistaken knowledge that the self rests in the body. To undo it, the twenty-four tattvas of Sāṅkhya, the constituents of the person, are offered one by one, beginning with the five elements. The commentary reads verses 249 to 251 as the list.
Commentary
Hariharānanda Bhāratī’s Sanskrit commentary, translated
"Tattva…". After that, for release from identifying the self with the body, that is, to be freed from the false knowledge that the self rests in the body, he should perform the tattva-homa in order: the offering of the twenty-four tattvas, earth, water and the rest. In the two verses and a little more beginning "pṛthivī" and ending with "ahaṅkāra" he names those twenty-four tattvas that are to be offered in order.