Yajna, Yaga & Homas
Yajna, Yaga & Homas is a brief compilation of the contents appearing in the great epic Mahabharata on the topics of Yajna, Yaga & Homa. The compilation is not exhaustive in the sense that every para appearing in the great epic is not included here for the sake of limiting the size of this document. Some of the topics like japa-yajna have already been compiled in another document called Japa-Dhyana-Pranayama. But still most of the key or representative passages have been compiled here. The contents are from Mahabharata excluding Bhagavad Gita.
The topics are grouped under the following main headings: Eligibility, duty & inclination, Motivations, Gains of performing, What annuls gains, Right ways to perform, Animal sacrifice and non-violence, Brahmanas & yajna, Kings/Kshatriyas & yajna, Different ashramas & yajna, Giving daan/dakshina, As a remedial measure, Infrastructure, activities, facilities, hospitality, Different yajnas mentioned/described, Yajna as Simile/Example, Paramatma & yajna, Equivalent/Better alternatives & Limitations, Hate/Opposition/Disinterest and Miscellaneous.
I have extracted these contents from my other comprehensive & unique work on Mahabharata called Mahabharata–Spectroscope. (See http://www.ghvisweswara.com/mahabharata-2/mahabharata-spectroscope-a-unique-resource/). Whereas the material in that was included in the order in which it appears in the original epic, in this compilation I have grouped them by meaningful Topics & Sub-topics thus making it much more useful to the student/scholar of this subject.
I hope the readers will find the document of some use in their study on these topics.
You can download the PDF here: