Om Sri MahaaGanapathaye Namah

Om Sri Gurubhyo Namah

Om Rishibhyo Namah

Kaala Bhairava Homam

Laghu Paddhati (Short Procedure)
By P.V.R. Narasimha Rao (www.VedicAstrologer.org)
Date of current version: 2010 February 28
A Word from the author
My spiritual master Dr Manish Pandit hails from Pune, India and lives in Manchester, UK. The
idea of spreading homam in the world was revealed to him in a dream a few years ago. He saw
eight elevated beings in a dream. They transported him across blue skies to Chennai, India,
where he was shown the big fire that was to be lighted in future. They told him to start the work.
They assured him that homam as a spiritual sadhana was very appropriate in Kali yuga. As
spiritually inclined people have fewer and fewer hours to spend on spiritual sadhana everyday
with the progressing Kali yuga, sadhanas that work fast are more relevant. Homam works much
faster than japam and other spiritual sadhanas. They told him that the practice of homam would
transform into a movement that would reach across caste, class and race barriers.
Later, when we were performing a Shata Chandi Homam in the first week of March 2006 at the
Kalikambal temple in Chennai, he had a darshan of Divine Mother on a Friday and was
reassured by Her about the right course of events regarding spreading homam. A Mahaganapathi
homam manual was published later and several people are performing it daily or weekly or
monthly.
Our goal is to create a community of people who regularly perform a quick homam for the deity
that they are attracted to. We intend to make manuals available for simplified homam procedures
for several deities.
What is Homam
Homam is a fire ritual of sacrifice. It is also known as homa or havan or yajna (yagya) or yajana.
In homam, divine presence is invoked into fire using specific procedures. Then materials are
sacrificed into fire, along with sacred chants (mantras). The sacrifices are supposed to reach
gods. It is interesting to note that fire ritual is an ancient practice and several religions taught
worshipping gods in fire.
Why Homam
Homam is a very powerful tool for spiritual progress. Chanting mantras in front of fire while
offering material substances into fire has a great cleansing and calming influence on ones mind
and gives great level of mental focus, peace, calmness and bliss. This practice has been extolled
in many scriptures such as Yajurveda and Bhagavad Gita. Vedic seers practiced it regularly.
Several people are experiencing the benefits of homam even today. The proof of the pudding is
1

in eating it. If one performs homam regularly for a few months, one will surely see the difference
in ones mental state.
Why Kaala Bhairava Homam
Kaala Bhairava is a form of Shiva. Kaala Bhairava means who Time is afraid of. While Time
devours all, Kaala Bhairava has tamed Time. He dissolves the delusion and diality in the mind,
makes one fearless and dispassionate, increases detachment and grants liberation. His worship in
fire is very auspicious and accelerates spiritual progress and liberation.
What Homam Does
Hinduism teaches that gods come into fire and receive the prayers of spiritual aspirants. Even
when one meditates without an external fire, gods being meditated on come into the internal fire
of the aspirant and receive the mantras via that fire. However, the internal fire is quite weaker
than an external fire for most people and hence it is beneficial to perform worship using an
external fire. That practice eventually strengthens the internal fire also.
We all see and feel our sthoola sareera (gross body), which is made up of gross matter. But, we
also have a sookshma sareera (subtle body) made up of subtle matter. It cannot be perceived by
the senses attached to the gross body (eyes, ears, nose etc). It contains thousands of naadis,
which are essentially subtle channels of energy flow. A fire called bhootaagni (existential fire)
burns in this subtle body. It is the subtle basis of ones entire existence. It manifests in the gross
body in the form of various fires. Examples are the fire in the stomach that helps one digest the
food eaten and the fire in the brain that helps one digest and understand various sense
experiences.
This bhootaagni is vital to ones existence. In most people, it is quite weak. Due to impurities
and obstructions in the naadis of the subtle body, this fire cannot burn strongly to energize the
entire existence. When it burns low, the divine presence that can enter it is quite limited in
magnitude.
If one overcomes the internal weaknesses such as desire, anger, greed, false prestige, wantonness
and jealousy, develops compassion, one-pointed devotion, detachment, and sheds one layer of
ego and delusion after another, eventually the impurities in the naadis will be cleared and
bhootaagni will burn strong. However, this is a very difficult and time-consuming process.
One can take advantage of an external fire in that regard. As the deity of homam enters the
external fire on a regular basis, the nearby divine presence burns the impurities in the naadis, by
burning various karmas (actions from the past, which will get corresponding reactions in the
future) in the kaarana sareera (causal body). This eventually leads to the strengthening of
bhootaagni.
After one performs homam for a long enough time, ones naadis are cleared of the obstructions
and ones bhootaagni burns brightly. At that juncture, all sadhanas performed by one, including

regular meditation, become much more effective. If bhootaagni can accommodate divine
presence to a larger degree, the meditation becomes more effective.
The goal of all spiritual sadhana, whether one thinks in those terms or not, is actually to cleanse
oneself of all the internal impurities. Various karmas from previous lives hang on to the kaarana
sareera (causal body), making it heavy. These in turn manifest in the sookshma sareera (subtle
body) as various impurities in various nadis (subtle energy channels) that block the free flow of
energy. These in turn manifest in the sthoola sareera (gross body) as various problems of the
body and mind. These also cause dense conditioning of ones mind to sink ones consciousness
in an ocean of delusion. This conditioning of the consciousness due to previous karmas is also
known as maayaa. When one is sunk in maayaa, one is beaten down by the six enemies kaama
(desire), krodha (anger), lobha (greed), moha (delusion), mada (wantonness) and maatsarya
(jealosy). As one makes spiritual progress, ones karmas drop off the kaarana sareera, the
impurities in the nadis are cleansed, ones mental conditioning becomes weaker and one can
resist the internal enemies. All these are inter-related and happen simultaneously. When one
burns all of ones major karmas, one becomes karmically very light. Nadis in the sookshma
sareera are all clear and energy can freely flow anywhere. One is untouched by the internal
enemies then. When one sees all as god, nothing can make one angry or jealous or deluded.
When mental conditioning drops, nothing excites one and nothing saddens one. One stays in a
state of bliss always. Despite the changing nature of the external work and appearance, one is in
the same state internally.
The goal of all spiritual sadhana is to reach that state. Whether through jnaana (knowledge and
wisdom) or through bhakti (devotion and surrender) or both, one has to burn the karmas and
impurities blocking one from reaching that state. The goal of all sadhana is to let ego (the sense
of I-ness) go completely and merge (have yoga) with divinity. If a vacuum can be created
within oneself, then divine presence can fill the vacuum. As long as one has egotism and various
kinds of conditioning (vasanas) of mind, such a vacuum cannot be created. When all those cease
and the mental conditioning is weakened, the mind become extremely calm and a vacuum is
created within. Then divine presence fills one and the result is indescribable bliss.
Homam facilitates this process quickly by burning various karmas that are creating various
layers of conditioning and obstructing spiritual progress.
A lot of Hindu rituals involve invoking divine presence in an idol or a water pot (kalasha) and
offering worship to the idol/pot. Unfortunately, we are living in Kali yuga in which the elements
of earth, water and air are not pure. If the idol has any impurities on account of the time when it
was made, how it was made, the thoughts of the person who made it etc, the impurities heavily
restrict how much divine presence the idol can accommodate.
The only elements that cannot be polluted are space/ether (aakaasa) and fire (agni). It is very
difficult to do spiritual sadhana via the medium of space. So the best medium for sadhana is fire.
One of the Sanskrit words for fire is paavaka, which means the one that purifies. Fire is by
definition pure and purifies everything that it comes in touch with. The wood or coconut used to
sustain fire may have impurities, but fire itself is very pure and accommodates a divine presence
of the highest degree. For a ritual using the earth or water elements as the medium to be

successful, the sadhaka must be quite pure and the sadhakas bhootagni must be reasonably
strong. On the other hand, a ritual using the fire element as the medium can be successful
irrespective of the stature and purity of the sadhaka. For this reason, homam is the most apt
sadhana for most spiritual aspitants in this yuga, especially as the Kali deepens. Unfortunately,
many people have unfounded fears of making mistakes and being punished for them and hence
do not take advantage of the fantastic practice of homam.
Apart from the personal benefits, there are universal benefits of homam. The offerings in the fire
finally reach Sun, who feeds the entire earth. The gross material body of the burnt offerings
reaches the gross material body of Sun. The subtle body of the burnt offerings reaches the subtle
body of Sun. It is the subtle body of Sun that feeds the subtle bodies of all beings on earth. Thus,
feeding it is very important for the smooth running of life on earth. As we enter the Ghora Kali
(terrible age of strife and disorderliness) phase, adharma (un-righteous activities) will be on the
rise in the world and as such the subtle body of Sun will become weaker. If more and more
people perform homam and strengthen the subtle body of Sun, it will balance the adharma and
keep the world away from a total collapse.
Common Mis-conceptions
(1) Misconception: Homam is very difficult to perform. It is for experts only.
Comment: Not really. Several people who did not know anything about how to do any kind of
worship conducted homam by themselves by reading this document. It is a simple practice.
(2) Misconception: One must either do a perfect homam or not do any homam at all. A perfect
homam takes a very long time.
Comment: Though one may eat a sumptuous meal on an important festival day, one does not
necessarily get a lot of energy from it. One gets most of ones energy from the regular dal
(lentils) and rice that one eats everyday.
Though there are complicated versions of homam, it is better to do a simple homam on a regular
basis than to do a complicated version very rarely. A small half-hour or one-hour homam done
on a daily basis is far better for spiritual sadhana than a big annual or half-yearly homam.
(3) Misconception: If mistakes happen in a homam, the consequences will be bad.
Comment: If a homam is performed with a saattwik spirit for saattwik purposes, there are no
risks.
If you act nice with your parents because you want their money, you have to understand their
thinking well, take the advice of people who know them well and act very carefully to get money
from them. Mistakes can be costly and spoil your goal.

But, if you act nice with your parents simply because you love them and want to show your love,
you do not need to be careful. You just show your love in whatever way you know. There is no
need to follow anybodys advice strictly and there are no risks.
Similarly, you have to be careful if you perform a homam for certain material goals (such as
getting money, attracting someone, destroying someone etc). If you perform a homam just to
show your love to god, cleanse yourself spiritually and make yourself worthy of divine
communion, then there are no risks. The procedure taught in this document is based on the
teachings of rishis and it is safe for anybody to use. Small mistakes will not result in any
punishment.
In fact, it is expected that everybody who uses this document is interested in only the second
kind of goal, i.e. spiritual cleansing and upliftment.
(4) Misconception: One not initiated by a guru (master) cannot perform homam or recite certain
mantras.
Comment: If one receives a mantra or a procedure from the mouth of a master, it is analogous to
a millionaire opening a bank account in his sons name with a high starting balance. The son is
lucky, as he is starting off with a big balance. Similarly, some of the siddhi (attainment) the
master has in the mantra or procedure is transferred to the disciple even as (s)he starts out.
If one does not receive a mantra or a procedure from the mouth of a master, it is analogous to
starting off with a zero bank balance. While it is useful to start off with a positive balance, it is
neither necessary nor sufficient. There are sons of millionaires who used up the millions earned
by parents and reduced them to zero, while there are some self-made men who made millions
purely with self-effort. Similarly, one taught by the greatest guru can fall while one not taught by
a guru can reach the ultimate. While it is desirable to have a guru, it is by no means compulsory.
If one is the kind who needs to have a guru figure behind every mantra or procedure, one can
think of the author and/or his spiritual master, Dr Manish Pandit from Pune, India (currently
residing in Manchester, UK) as the guru for this homam procedure.
(5) Misconception: Those who are not learned in Veda cannot recite Veda mantras and perform
homam based on Veda mantras.
Comment: Jnaneshwar was a 12th century master. He was a great Krishna devotee. When he was
asked to not recite Veda by a council of erudite scholars, as he was not formally qualified, he
replied that every being had a right to recite Veda. When he started reciting, they tried to shut his
mouth. Then, a buffalo standing next to him recited Veda! The scholars begged his pardon and
corrected their narrow-minded attitude.
Many great souls like him taught that Veda could be recited by anyone. One engaged in tantric
practices that serve specific purposes and give specific siddhis (attainments) need to be afraid of
side effects and punishments for mistakes, but mantras from Veda were taught by great rishis for

the highest purpose of self-realization. One reciting them need not be afraid of any side effects.
Veda mantras are saattwik, self-correcting and ultimately leading to self-realization.
Those who have an affinity to tantric practices should not be discouraged from learning and
using them, but those who appreciate the teachings of rishis must be encouraged to recite Veda
mantras and perform homam based on Veda mantras. The key is to have an attitude of
submission and a desire for nothing other than self-realization and to do homam without any
expectations whatsoever. Then there are no risks.
The procedure taught in this document contains just a few Veda mantras, which are not very
difficult to pronounce.
(6) Misconception: Those who are not born in a Brahmin family cannot perform homam.
Comment: Ones varna (caste) is not to be determined solely from the family one is born in.
There are examples of men born to parents belonging to various castes performing tapascharya
and becoming rishis. Maharshi Viswamitra, who taught the Savitru Gayatri mantra, was a
kshatriya by birth. Maharshi Valmiki, who taught Brahma Jnana to Maharshi Bharadwaja, was a
shoodra by birth.
One who has affinity to knowledge is a Brahmin (scholar). One who has affinity to power and
authority is a kshatriya (warrior). One who has affinity to money is a vaisya (trader). One who
has affinity to carnal pleasures is a shoodra (worker). If a person born in a Brahmin family is
after money, he becomes a vaisya and not a Brahmin. On the other hand, if a person born in a
vaisya family desires nothing but knowledge and self-realization, he automatically becomes a
Brahmin and very fit to perform homam.
Irrespective of the caste of birth, one who is interested in knowledge (especially knowledge of
self) and one whose interest in power, money and pleasures is decaying is fit to perform homam.
(7) Misconception: Women cannot perform homam.
Comment: There is a big difference between men and women when it comes to the gross body.
But, at the level of subtle body or causal body, there is no difference based on gender. All
spiritual practices operate mainly at the subtle and causal level. So, it makes no sense to have a
total ban on women performing homam.
However, there are some practical reasons behind the biases of tradition. Though there are no
differences based on gender in the subtle body, the differences at the gross body level can come
into play in the initial stages. Women interested in performing homam may carefully consider
the following factors and make their decision.
Any spiritual practice performed well over a period of time eventually results in a Kundalini
awakening and rise. Kundalini is nothing but ones self-identification. It is a microcosmic
representation of the Divine Mother within oneself. It defines how one identifies oneself. Though
everything in the universe is just Brahman, each being forms a separate self-identity and that

self-identity is reinforced quite strongly with time. When one identifies completely with the body
without any kind of questioning, Kundalini is asleep. As kundalini wakes up and rises, one starts
to wonder who am I and ones awareness of self becomes more and more refined. As kundalini
reaches higher chakras, one realizes ones true nature. When Kundalini reaches Sahasrara
chakra, one realizes ones truest nature, i.e. one realizes that one is the formless Brahman.
If Kundalini gets stuck at swadhishthana chakra, ones sexual drive increases and one is tested in
that matter. In this matter, women and men are very different. This phase can be very difficult for
women. This is not to say that this phase is easy for men.
More importantly, some spiritual experiences in a pregnant lady can even kill a fetus, if the soul
in it is not spiritually elevated. On the positive side, if an elevated soul is in the fetus at the time
of such experiences, a siddha may be born.
There is a negative for every positive and it is a matter of balancing the factors and making an
individual decision. Women interested in homam should consider the above factors and decide
whether they want to perform homam or not. If any women are interested, they should be
encouraged to perform homam.
(8) Misconception: Homam is just like meditation. It is not any better. It does not really make
any difference.
Comment: The proof of the pudding is in eating it. If one tries performing a homam to the best of
ones ability on a daily basis for a few months, one will know what homam can do! After doing
homam for several months, one will find that all other sadhanas one does become more effective
as a result of homam.
(9) Misconception: One should get a priest to do homam and not do it oneself.
Comment: Let us revisit a previous analogy. If one wants to be nice to ones parents to get their
money, one may engage someone who will act on ones behalf to get the money of parents. But,
if ones sole purpose is to just love ones parents and show that love, it is better to do it directly
than to engage other people.
(10) Misconception: Before doing homam with any mantra, one must do japam of that mantra by
a count that is ten times the homam count. For example, one must do japam by a count of 10,000
before one does homam by a count of 1,000.
Comment: This convention is not without reason. The true meaning of this convention is that
homam is ten times more powerful than japam. If one does a mantra 1,000 in a homam, it is
equivalent to doing the mantra 10,000 in japam. If one wants, one can offer the mantra entirely in
external fire and there is no need to do any japam before doing homam.
All thumb rules and conventions have exceptions. If a rishi with a very strong bhootaagni does
japam, it is equivalent to a homam and the ten times rule does not apply. However, for most
normal people, homam is ten times more powerful than japam. The bottomline is that the

strength and the purity of the medium that accommodates the presence of the deity who receives
the mantra will decide the effectiveness of the mantra.
About This Document
This document describes a short procedure for performing Kaala Bhairava homam, which takes
30-45 minutes. This document is for those who are interested in performing Kaala Bhairava
homam by themselves every day or week or month. The procedure taught here is simple enough
to do daily and yet retains all the important steps in a full-fledged traditional Vedic homam.
Those who want an even simpler procedure with fewer mantras may refer to Appendix A for a
super-short procedure with bare minimum mantras.
One should consult ones elders and gurus and decide whether one is allowed to perform a
homam or not. If one thinks one is allowed to do homam and is interested in doing homam on a
regular basis but does not know how to do it, then one can use this document to learn one way to
do it. If ones gurus have taught one a different procedure, one may use the procedure taught by
ones gurus. This document is for the benefit of those who do not know any procedure and want
to learn some procedure to do homam. Those who learnt a slightly different procedure from the
previous versions of this document need not worry and either follow what they have already
learnt or switch to the procedure in this document.
Excessive Movement of Body and Mind
Some people move a lot when they meditate. As it was mentioned earlier, the goal of all sadhana
is to calm the mind down and create a vacuum within oneself, so that the deity of the sadhana
can come and occupy the space. One should lose awareness of the body. When meditating, it is a
good idea to keep the back straight without making it too tense. It is a good idea to not move. If
it is not possible to stay still for extended periods, one should at least try to stay still over short
periods of time. It is also a good idea to close the eyes. One can focus ones mind on either a
deity or on the sound of the mantra.
Similarly, when performing homam also, it is a good idea to keep the back straight and minimize
the movement, especially of the back. It is ideal if one keeps the back and head erect and
manages with a minimal movement of just one arm.
If body is stationary, there is some chance that mind too will become stationary for a while in the
middle. That is the goal after all.
Correct Attitude
While it is good to follow the procedure faithfully, it is even more important to surrender oneself
to god, leave ego and identify ones self with the deity in the fire when performing the homam. If
that is there, all other minor errors will have no negative effect. If that is not there, even an
impeccably performed homam will not have any tangible effect. Like mentioned earlier, the goal
is to melt ego (I-ness or sense of self) and create a vacuum within oneself, so that the deity can

fill it. Complete devotion, single-minded focus on deity/mantra/procedure and minimization of

the activity of body and mind can help one achieve that eventually.
If one has an over-active mind, doing pranayama before homam can be useful. The time around
sunrise in the morning is a particularly conducive to a pleasant homam.
Is Alcohol Allowed in Kaala Bhairava Homam?
Some people offer wine/alcohol in a homam to Kaala Bhairava. We do not recommended it.
While Kaala Bhairava is a form of god who saves one from duality and does not distinguish
between alcohol and ghee, the medium we use for making offerings to him is Havyavaaha Agni
who does not like wine. A sadhaka who is still mired in duality and who looks at ghee and wine
differently and whose body and mind react differently to them, is better off propitiating using
Havyavaaha Agni using regular auspicious materials. If a sadhaka on the verge of overcoming
distinctions and duality wants to test oneself and go further, one may perform Kaala Bhairava
homam in a smashaana (cemetary), skip the kravyaadamagnim mantra in agni
pratishthaapana step and make any offering without restrictions, including wine.
Materials Needed
Must have

One homa kundam1 (a copper container with preferably a square shaped base). If a homa
kundam is not available, one can dig a square shaped pit in the ground (with 1-2 foot sides
and half to one foot deep) and arrange a few layers of bricks around the pit.
Dry coconut halves (available in Indian stores) or wood (for burning)
Ghee (clarified butter) from cows milk. It is available in Indian stores. If unable to find, just
get some butter and melt it in low heat. After it melts, some black stuff will separate from the
melted liquid. Filter out the black deposit and use the liquid. It will solidify after a time.
Before the homam, melt it again and use it.
A wooden spoon/ladle to put ghee into the fire
Some akshatas. Those can be made by mixing raw (uncooked) white (or brown) rice grains
with a drop of sesame oil (or some other oil) and a pinch of turmeric powder. Instead of
turmeric powder, one can also use vermilion (kumkum) powder used for the dot on the
forehead.
A small lamp, consisting of a wick that can be lit in sesame oil/ghee. A candle can also be
used as an alternative, though it is better to burn ghee or sesame oil than wax.
A match box to light fire
One tumbler or cup to store water. It should preferably be made of silver or copper or clay. If
unavailable, you may use steel or glass.
One spoon (preferably silver or copper)
Some water

If in India, search for Havan Kund on http://shopping.rediff.com. If in US, search for Kund on
http://indousplaza.com.

Optional

A small idol of Kaala Bhairava or a Shiva linga. If you have none, use a metallic coin or any
metallic object. Actually, you can do without any idol and just invoke Kaala Bhairava in fire.
A mixture of various auspicious materials known as the havan samagri (available in India
stores), if possible.
Some sandalwood powder, turmeric powder and kumkum (vermilion) powder
Some flowers or flower petals
Some sesame seeds, some mamra/murmura (puffed white rice), some nuts, some mildly
popped corn and other materials that can be offered in fire. Small fruits are also fine. Honey
can also be used. All these are optional. The absolute minimum needed is coconut pieces and
ghee.
Some darbhas (dried blades of sacred grass). Check with a local temple priest to find out how
to procure them. If darbhas are unavailable, you may think of creative alternatives. For
example, find some other dry grass or dry leaves or just thin twigs and pray to your ishta
devata (favorite deity) before the homam to make them acceptable.
An incense stick (agarbatti) if available and a holder to stick it to (a banana can be used
instead)
Camphor and a container or plate for lighting camphor and offering haarati
Some food that you can offer to god. Eggs, meat and seafood should not be used in that food.
In fact, do not eat eggs, meat and seafood on the day of homam. Onion, garlic, strong spices
and too much of chillies should also be avoided in the food cooked for God. Fruits are also
fine. Just sugar or brown sugar or rock candy sugar or jaggery can be offered to god too.
When using sugar, please note that the normal white refined sugar used these days has bone
ash in it. Brown sugar, vegetarian sugar or jaggery are to be prefered.
Some milk, if available.

Preparation Before Homam

(1)

(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)

(6)
(7)

Instead of arranging homa kundam directly on the floor, place a wood plank or something
on the floor, wrapped with aluminum foil (or some such thing), and put 4 bricks of the
same height on it and place the homa kundam on the bricks. Thus, there is some air and a
wooden plank under the homa kundam and the floor does not get heated up.
If you want easy cleaning, place some aluminum foils on the floor all around the plank
containing homa kundam. If ghee or something is spilled in that area, it is easy to clean.
If you want, you can also cover the interior of homa kundam with some aluminum foils, so
that it is easy to clean.
Make some food items to offer to god. You can just use rock sugar candy or raisins or dates
or fruits or jaggery also. Please see the notes in the previous section on this.
Cook a little plain white rice. I put a few grains of rice and a little water in a small
container and put it in microwave oven before my homam and cooked rice is ready at the
end when I need it. If this is not possible, take a banana or apple or some other fruit and
make it into 6 slices.
Fill water in the tumbler/cup and place the spoon in it.
Make a seat for yourself in front of the homa kundam. Ideally you should be facing east,
i.e. homa kundam should be on the east from you. On the east of the homa kundam, place a
10

small plate or a wooden plank, make a pile of some rice grains on it and place the idol (or a
metal/clay object such as a coin) on it. You can decorate based on your ability and taste. An
idol is optional. You can worship Kaala Bhairava directly in fire.
(8) From the middle of the western edge of the homam kundam, draw two parallel red lines
with kumkum (vermilion) powder towards your seat. They should go east-west and connect
homa kundam to your seat. Melt the ghee and place the bowl containing it on those lines.
(9) Cut dry coconuts into small pieces. Pieces of 1 inch x 1 inch size are useful.
(10) Important: Do not consume any food within 3-4 hours before the homam (atleast one hour).
Evacuate the bowels before homam and take bath. Stomach should be empty during a
homam for the best experience.

Homam Procedure
Anujnaa (Permission)
Before starting the homam, think in your mind of Mother Earth who is bearing you, Lord
Ganesha who removes obstacles, your ishta devata (favorite deity), your parents, the rishis of
your gothra (if you know them), all the rishis and all your gurus. Then say the following, while
mentally requesting all the gods to co-operate with your homam.
om ddhysma havyairnamasopasadya| mitra deva mitradheya no astu| anrdhn
havi vardhayanta| ata jvema arada savr|

If you have a pavitram (a ring made of darbha or a special ring made of metal), wear it now. If
you dont have a pavitram, take any ring that you have, pray to your ishta devata and wear it. It
should be worn on the right hand ring finger. If you dont have a ring, dont worry and move on.
Aachamanam (sipping water to purify)
Take a little water from the tumbler into your right hand with a spoon. Drink the water after
saying the first item below. Take more water with the spoon into your hand, say the second item
below and drink it. Take more water, say the third item below and drink it. Imagine that Vishnu
who is within you is getting that water.
om keavya svh|

om nryaya svh|

om mdhavya svh|

Vighneswara Pooja (worshipping the remover of obstacles)

In order to not have any obstacles in the pooja, we have to pray to Ganesha in the beginning. Just
read the following verses:
uklmbaradhara viu aivara caturbhuja| prasannavadana dhyyet sarva
vighnopantaye|| agajnana padmrka gajnanamaharnia| anekada ta bhaktnm
ekadantam upsmahe|| vakratua mahkya koisryasamaprabha| nirvighna kuru me
deva sarvakryeu sarvad||

11

Pray within your mind to Ganesha to remove obstacles from your homam. If you have time,
energy and inclination (or when you are doing a longer version), you can even make a small
Ganesha idol with turmeric and water and do shodasopachaara pooja to the idol. But just reading
the above verses and praying to Ganesha in mind should suffice for a short homam that is
performed on a regular basis.
Praanaayaamam (restraining the life force)
Take some akshatas (see Materials Needed for a description of how to make them) in the the
left palm, place the left palm on the left lap, hold the nostrils with the right hand and do
praanaayaamam. Place the little finger and ring finger on the left nostril and thumb on the right
nostril. Close the left nostril, open the right nostril by releasing the thumb and say the Gayatri
mantra mentally while gently breathing in through the right nostril (without making any
breathing sound). If you dont know the Gayatri mantra, use one of the following mantras:
om namo bhagavate vsudevya|

om namaivya| om ga gaapataye nama|

After saying the mantra once, close the right nostril with the thumb and say the mantra once
more while retaining the air previously breathed in. Then open the left nostril by relaxing the
little and ring fingers and say the mantra for the third time while breathing out through the left
nostril. When done, say the mantra once more, while breathing in through the left nostril. Then
close the left nostril with little and ring fingers and say the mantra for the fifth time while
retaining the air previously breathed in. Then release the thumb and say the mantra for the sixth
time while breathing out through the right nostril. While reading the mantra all the six times,
contemplate the formless supreme Brahman (supreme soul of the entire universe) that fills each
being of this universe and also the air being breathed in and out. If you want, you can imagine a
specific form (such as your ishta devata) also and imagine that your ishta devata fills the entire
universe. If you want, you can repeat the above sequence as many times as you comfortably can.
Sankalpam (taking the vow)
Now, declare your intention of doing a homam to please Kaala Bhairava. Transfer the akshatas
to the right hand, place the open left palm (empty) on right lap, place the closed right palm
containing akshatas on the left palm. Then say the following, while mentally thinking that you
are going to do a homa to the best of your ability, to please Kaala Bhairava.
om mamoptta samasta duritakayadvr r paramevara prtyartham r kla bhairava
prasda siddhyartham adya ubhadine ubhamuhrte r kla bhairava homakarma yathakti
kariye|

Then leave the akshatas from your hand in front of the homa kundam or the idol and sprinkle a
little bit of water on the palms. Now light the ghee/oil lamp.

12

Kalasa Suddhi (water purification)

When you are doing a long version of the homam, you can establish a kalasam in the
northeastern side of the homa kundam and invoke Varuna in it and do shodasopachaara pooja to
Varuna and read Punyaaha Vaachanam (Pavamana Sooktam). For a short homam, you can just
do the following.
Place a few akshatas and a flower (if available) in the tumbler containing water. If you can, put
dhenu mudra (else, dont worry). Say the following syllable 11 times to purify the water.
va

Now read the following and think that auspicious essence of various rivers of the world is
entering the water in the tumbler.
gage ca yamune caiva godvari sarasvati |
narmade sindhu kveri jale'smin sannidhi kuru ||
amta bhavatu

Then take a little water from the tumbler with a flower or flower petal or spoon and sprinkle it on
yourself, on homa kundam, on the idol you are going to use and other materials to be used in
homam (like fruits, flowers and food).
Take a darbha (see Materials Needed for a description) and draw 6 lines with the darbha on the
base of the homakundam, in the same order as shown in Figure 1. The direction in which each
line is drawn is indicated by the direction of the arrow in the figure. Say the following six
mantras while drawing the six lines (respectively).
om brahmae nama|
om yamya nama|
om somya nama|
om rudrya nama|
om viave nama|
om indrya nama|

13

Figure 1

Agni Pratishthaapana (fire installation)

Take a darbha. Place it inside the homa kundam (on the base), with the tip of the darbha facing
east and the other end facing west. Take another darbha. Place it inside, with the tip of the darbha
facing north and the other end facing south.
Take a piece of camphor, light it from the lamp and place it in the middle of the homa kundam,
while saying:
om bhrbhuvassuvarom

Place one or more dry coconut pieces (or a log/twig/piece of wood) above the burning camphor
and make sure that it catches fire. Next pray to the fire god using the following mantra from
RigVeda. It requests the fire god to keep an inauspicious form of fire called kravyaada and
carry the offerings to gods through the auspicious form of fire called jaatavedas.
kravydamagni prahiomi dra yamarjo gacchatu ripravha |
ihaivyamitaro jtaved devebhyo havya vahatu prajnan |

Now we have to do samskara (refinement) to the fire. Pour 8 drops of ghee in the fire while
saying the following mantra 8 times.
om bhrbhuvassuva svh|

Take 2 or more darbhas (or twigs). Place them outside the homa kundam, along the eastern
boundary. The tips should be facing north and the other end facing south. Then take another 2 or
more darbhas and place them on the southern boundary, with tips facing east and the other end
facing west. Then take 2 or more darbhas and place them on the western boundary, with tips
facing north. Then take 2 or more darbhas and place them on the northern boundary, with tips

14

facing east. If you do homam on a regular basis, you can leave these darbhas/twigs around the
homa kundam there is no need to do this step every time.
Take some water with the spoon and sprinkle it outside the homa kundam, on its four boundaries
while reading the following 4 mantras. The order and direction of sprinkling is shown in Figure
2. For example, first sprinkle water from the southwestern corner to the southeastern corner, as
shown by the arrow marked 1. Then follow other arrows marked as 2, 3 and 4.
adite'numanyasva| anumate'numanyasva| sarasvate'numanyasva| deva savita prasuva|
Figure 2

Now pray to Agni (fire god) with the following mantra:

catvri gstrayo asya pd dve re saptahastso asya |
tridh baddho vabho roravti maho devo marty vivea |
ea hi deva pradio nu sarv prvo hi jta sa u garbhe anta |
sa vijyamna sa janiyama pratyamukhstihati vivatomukha |
prmukho deva| he agne| mambhimukho bhava|

Now think within your mind of Lord Ganesha, your ishta devata (favorite deity), rishis of your
gotra (if you know them), all rishis, your gurus, various gods and other beings of this universe.
Dikpaalaka Pooja (worshipping the rulers of directions)
Now, take some akshatas and also some flowers (if available) and offer them to the rulers of
directions. Starting with the eastern edge of the homa kundam, go clockwise (i.e. east, southeast,
south, southwest etc) and offer akshatas and flowers in the eight directions. You can place them
on the edges of the homa kundam. After the eight directions, offerings are made to Brahma (ruler

15

of the upward direction) in the middle of northeast and east and to Sesha (ruler of the downward
direction) in the middle of southwest and west.
Then offer akshatas and flowers to Agni in the middle of the homa kundam. Finally, touch your
heart and offer respect to the self (soul). For the 8+2+1+1=12 offerings, say the following 12
mantras:
om indrya nama | om agnaye nama| om yamya nama| om nirtaye nama| om varuya
nama| om vyave nama| om somya nama| om nya nama| om brahmae nama| om
eya nama| om agnaye nama| om tmane nama|

Poorvaangam (preliminary offerings)

Now hold the wooden spoon/ladle pointing from northwest towards southeast and offer a ghee
drop in the fire for Prajapati (progenitor of all beings), with the following mantra.
om prajpataye svh| prajpataya ida na mama|

Now hold the wooden spoon/ladle pointing from southwest towards northeast and offer a ghee
drop in the fire for Indra (ruler of gods), with the following mantra.
om indrya svh| indryeda na mama|

Offer a little ghee to Agni (fire god) in the middle of the fire with the following mantra:
om agnaye svh| agnaya ida na mama|

Then offer a little ghee to Soma (god of nourishment and well-being) in the upper half of the
northern side of the homa kundam with the following mantra:
om somya svh| somyeda na mama|

Now, we have to offer a forgiveness offering to Prajapati again to request his forgiveness for
all the mistakes that happened in the homa upto this point, with the following mantra:
rambhaprabhti etatkaaparyanta madhye sambhvita samasta doa pryacittrtha
sarva pryacitta hoymi| om bhrbhuvassuva svh| prajpataya ida na mama|

After making an offering to the basic gods as shown above, one can invoke Ganesha in the fire.
After the above preliminary offerings and before invoking Ganesha, one can also make offerings
to rishis. One can, for example, make offerings to the rishis of ones lineage. It is optional.

16

Quick Homam for Mahaganapathi

Before calling the main deity of homam (Kaala Bhairava) into fire, a quick pooja of
Mahaganapathi in fire needs to be done for the removal of obstacles. Mahaganapathi can be
invoked in fire while chanting the following.
om ga gaapataye nama| asun te punarasmsu caku puna pramiha no dehi bhoga|
jyokpayema sryamuccarantamanumate may na svasti| om r mahgaapati
praaktyai nama| atra gaccha| vhito bhava| sthpito bhava| sannihito bhava|
sanniruddho bhava| avakuhito bhava| prasda prasda|

Now, we have to offer worship with several servies to Mahaganapathi in the fire. Say the
following and offer sandalwood powder/paste to Mahaganapathi in the fire. You can also offer
turmeric powder and kumkum.
la pthivytmane nama| gandha samarpaymi|

Say the following and offer a flower (or a flower petal) to Mahaganapathi in the fire.
ham ktmane nama| pupa samarpaymi|

Say the following and offer dhoopam (incense) to Mahaganapathi in the fire and the idol. Light
the tip of the incense stick, let the fire burn brightly and then extinguish the fire. There should be
no fire on the stick but smoke coming from the burning tip. Show the smoke to the fire in the
homa kundam. You can also offer the incense stick completely into fire.
ya vyvtmane nama| dhpam ghrpaymi|

Say the following and show the deepam (light/lamp) to Mahaganapathi in the fire.
ram agnytmane nama| dpa daraymi|

Say the following and offer some food to Mahaganapathi in the fire. You can use cooked food or
a fruit or jaggery or sugar. Show it to the fire and offer a little bit into the fire. If you cooked only
one item, keep it for Kaala Bhairava and use something else for Mahaganapathi. You can offer
just a raisin or a little sugar also.
vam amttmane nama| naivedya samarpaymi|

Say the following and offer some akshatas to Mahaganapathi in the fire. This mantra means that
we are offering all services to Him.
sa sarvtmane nama| sarvopacrn samarpaymi|

17

Now say the following offer ghee (or other allowed materials mentioned at the beginning) into
fire for Mahaganapathi. Repeat that 4 or 8 or 12 times.
om ga gaapataye nama svh|

Praana Pratishthaapanaa (invocation of main deity)

Now we have to invoke the deity in the idol and the fire. If you know how to do anganyaasam
and karanyaasam, do it while saying the following. Otherwise, just read the following.
asya r prapratihpana mantrasya brahma viu mahevar aya gyajussmtharvi
chandsi r klabhairavo devat| hr bja| hr akti| hrau klaka| hrm
aguhbhy nama| hr tarjanbhy nama| hr madhyambhy nama| hraim
anmikbhy nama| hrau kanihikbh nama| hra karatala karaphbhy
nama| hr hdayya nama| hr irase svh| hr ikhyai vaa| hrai kavacya hu|
hrau netratrayya vaua| hra astrya pha| bhrbhuvassuvaromiti digbandha|
dhyna - om mohaghna jnada nitya vauka muktidyaka| kpuranivsa ca
klabhairavamraye||

Now invoke the deity in the fire and the idol with the following mantra. While saying it, imagine
that Kaala Bhairava who is in your own heart is entering the fire and the idol.
om hr hr hrau ya ra la va a a sa ha a ka| om hasa so'ha
so'ha hasa| r kla bhairavasya pra iha pra| jva iha sthita| sarvendriyi
vmanastvak caku rotra jihvghra prpnavynodnasamn ihaivgatya sukha
cira tihantu svh| snnidhya kurvantu svh| asun te punarasmsu caku puna
pramiha no dehi bhoga| jyokpayema sryamuccarantamanumate may na svasti| hr
hr hrau| hrau hr hr| om r kla bhairava praaktyai nama| atra gaccha|

Now read the following and make the aavaahani, samsthaapani, sannidhaapani, sannirodhini and
avakunthana mudras with your hands if you know them. If not, dont worry and just read.
vhito bhava| sthpito bhava| sannihito bhava| sanniruddho bhava| avakuhito bhava| deva
prasda prasda| yvaddhomvasnakam| tvattva prtibhvena mrtau agnau ca sannidhi
kuru|

While saying this, pray to Lord Kaala Bhairava in your mind and ask him to stay in the fire and
the idol till the end of the homam. Now, till the end of the homam, you should firmly believe that
Kaala Bhairava is in the fire and treat him with respect and love.

18

Panchopachaara Pooja (worship of god)

Now, we have to offer worship with several servies to Kaala Bhairava in the fire and idol. There
are several options. One can do a panchopachaara pooja with 5 services or a shodasopachara
pooja with 16 services or a chatusshashtyupachara pooja with 64 services. For simplicity, a
panchopachara pooja is recommended in a homam. Those who have a lot of time and want to
perform a shodasopachara pooja may refer to Appendix B and use that procedure instead of what
is given in this section.
Say the following and offer sandalwood powder/paste to Kaala Bhairava in the fire and the idol.
You can also offer turmeric powder and kumkum.
la pthivytmane nama| gandha samarpaymi|

Say the following and offer a flower (or a flower petal) to Kaala Bhairava in the fire and the idol.
ham ktmane nama| pupa samarpaymi|

Say the following and offer dhoopam (incense) to Kaala Bhairava in the fire and the idol. Light
the tip of the incense stick, let the fire burn brightly and then extinguish the fire. There should be
no fire on the stick but smoke coming from the burning tip. Show the smoke to the fire in the
homa kundam.
ya vyvtmane nama| dhpam ghrpaymi|

Say the following and show the deepam (light/lamp) to Kaala Bhairava in the fire and the idol.
ram agnytmane nama| dpa daraymi|

Say the following and offer some food to Kaala Bhairava in the fire and the idol. You can use
cooked food or a fruit or jaggery or sugar. Show it to the fire and idol and offer a little bit into
the fire.
If you made only one food item, it is a good idea to offer it at the end of the homam. There will
be a naivedyam (food offering) again. Offer something else for now. The offering at the end is
the main one.
vam amttmane nama| naivedya samarpaymi|

Say the following and offer some akshatas to Kaala Bhairava in the fire and the idol. This mantra
means that we are offering all services to Him.
sa sarvtmane nama| sarvopacrn samarpaymi|

19

Parivaara Devata Aahutis (offerings to associates)

If one is in a hurry, just one aahuti (offering) of ghee can be made for all deities together:
om kla bhairava parivra devatbhyo nama svh| kla bhairava parivra devatbhya ida
na mama||

If one has time, aahutis can be made individually by chanting the following instead. Make an
offering of ghee whenever you encounter svaahaa (svh).
om ga gaapataye nama svh| om ke ketraplakya nama svh| om va vaukya
nama svh| om yo yoginbhyo nama svh| om am asitga bhairavya nama svh|
om ru ruru bhairavya nama svh| om ca caa bhairavya nama svh| om kro
krodhana bhairavya nama svh| om um unmatta bhairavya nama svh| om ka kapla
bhairavya nama svh| om bh bhaa bhairavya nama svh| om sa sahra
bhairavya nama svh|

Pradhaana Homam (main part)

Now, you can offer any mantras of Kaala Bhairava you want. Suggested count for each mantra is
4 or 8 or 11 or 12 or 16 or 21 or 28 or 108 or 121 or 1008. Pick a count with each mantra and try
to meet that count. At the end of the mantra, you have to add the following and then make an
offering in the fire.
svh

When making the last offering with a mantra (i.e. you are going to stop that mantra after this
offering and switch to a different mantra), you add the following instead of the above:
vaua

The offering can be a drop of ghee or sesame seeds or murmura/mamra (puffed white rice) or
havan samagri or small dry coconut pieces or small pieces of darbha. If you are doing homam on
a big scale with a big fire, you can even put banana slices, full coconuts, various fruits, nuts
(cashews, almonds etc), dates, raisins, sugar cane pieces, several sweets and snacks etc. But, if
you are doing on a small scale with a small fire, stick to sesame seeds, dry coconut pieces, puffed
white rice and ghee drops. At any cost, avoid spicy substances like any kind of pepper,
cinnamon, cloves etc and products containing eggs, meat etc. In general, sweet substances are
better. Just offering ghee when you do not have any other substances is also fine.
The following mantras of Kaala Bhairava may be used. But you can really use any mantra you
like. Read a mantra several times before moving on to a different mantra. Actually, it is
advisable to pick any one mantra you like the most and repeat it as many times as you can,
instead of doing a little bit of several mantras. If one wants water, one should dig deep in one
20

place instead of digging a little in ten places. Several options are being given so that people can
pick one based on their taste and mental conditioning from previous karmic debts. All of them
are good and powerful. Please pick the one you are attracted to the most.
A couple of options are suggested below.
om kla bhairavya nama| svh||
om hr vaukya paduddharaya kuru kuru vaukya hr| svh|
om hr va vaukya paduddharaya vaukya hr| svh|
om hr hr hr hrai hrau ka ketraplya kla bhairavya nama| svh|
om klaklya vidmahe klttya dhmahi| tanna kla bhairava pracodayt| svh||

Again, instead of trying to do a little of each, pick one mantra for the pradhaana homam and do
it as many times as you can. That discipline will help you get the most from your homam. Kaala
Bhairavaashtakam (eight verses in praise of Kaala Bhairava) composed by Aadi Shankara in
praise of Kaala Bhairava at Kaashi is an excellent choice for a homam.
devarja sevyamna pvanghri pakaja| vyla yaja stramindu ekhara kpkara|
nraddi yogivnda vandita digambara| kik purdhintha klabhairava bhaje||
svh|
bhnukoi bhsvara bhavbdhi traka para| nla kahampsitrtha dyaka trilocana|
kla klamambujkamaka lamakara| kik purdhintha klabhairava bhaje|| svh|
la aka pa daa pimdikraa| yma kyamdi devamakara nirmaya|
bhmavikrama prabhu vicitra tavapriya| kik purdhintha klabhairava bhaje||
svh|
bhukti mukti dyaka praasta cru vigraha| bhakta vatsala sthita samasta loka
vigraha|
vinikvaanmanoja hema kiki lasatkai| kik purdhintha klabhairava bhaje|
svh|
dharmasetuplaka svadharmamrganana| karmapamocaka suarmadhyaka
vibhu|
svaravaraeapaobhitgamaala| kikpurdhinthaklabhairava bhaje|| svh|
ratna pduk prabhbhirma pda yugmaka| nityamadvityamia daivata nirajana|
mtyu darpa nana karla dara mokaa| kik purdhintha klabhairava bhaje||
svh|
aahsa bhinna padmaja koa santati| diptta naa ppa jlamugra sana|
aa siddhi dyaka kapla mlikdhara| kik purdhintha klabhairava bhaje|| svh|
bhtasagha nyaka vila krti dyaka| ki vsa loka puya ppa odhaka vibhu|
nti mrga kovida purtana jagatpati| kik purdhintha klabhairava bhaje|| svh|

21

Punah Pooja (worship again)

After all the offerings with mantras, we offer a quick worship again to Kaala Bhairava in the fire.
Say the following and offer some food to Kaala Bhairava in the fire and the idol.
om kla bhairavya nama| naivedya samarpaymi|

Light a small camphor piece in a plate and show it to the fire while saying the following. At the
end, you can throw the camphor piece into fire.
om kla bhairavya nama| nrjana samarpaymi|

If one has time, a panchopachara pooja can also be done as the punah pooja. But the above two
things will suffice.
Now get up and do pradakshinas to the homa kundam. If someone stands on the roof (or in the
sky) and looks down at you, it should look like you are going around the homa kundam in the
clockwise direction. Do one or three rounds and then sit down again in front of fire.
Uttaraangam (vote of thanks)2
Now, offer one drop of ghee to Prajapati, then the controllers of the three worlds (bhuh fire
god, bhuvah wind god, who controls space too, suvah sun god for all the non-material
spiritual realms), to Agni who processes the food for gods and makes it consumable and finally
Prajapati again. Read the following and offer a drop of ghee at each swaahaa.
om prajpate na tvadetnyanyo viv jtni pari t babhva| yatkmste juhumastanno astu
vaya syma patayo raym| svh| prajpataya ida na mama||
om bh svh| agnaya ida na mama||
om bhuva svh| vyava ida na mama||
om suva svh| sryyeda na mama||
yadasya karmao'tyarrica yadvnynamihkaram| agniat sviakdvidvn sarva svia
suhuta karotu svh| agnaye sviakta ida na mama||
om bhrbhuvassuva svh| prajpataya ida na mama||

Now do pranaayaamam again. The procedure of pranaayaamam is explained earlier.

Now, make three offerings to the fire god, asking for forgiveness for any mistakes committed
knowingly or unknowingly, while using fire as the medium. Read the following and offer a drop
of the ghee in the fire at each swaahaa.

Skip this and go to the next section to find a shorter procedure for uttaraangam.

22

anjta yadjta yajasya kriyate mithu| agne tadasya kalpaya tva hi vettha
yathtatham| svh| agnaya ida na mama||
puruasammito yajo yaja puruasammita| agne tadasya kalpaya tva hi vettha
yathtatham| svh| agnaya ida na mama||
yatpkatr manas dnadak na| yajasya manvate martsa| agniaddhot kratuvidvijnan|
yajiho devn tuo yajti| svh| agnaya ida na mama||

Next, three offerings are made to the fire god, wind god and sun god, the controllers of the three
worlds. Read the following and offer a drop of the ghee in the fire at each swaahaa.
om bh svh| agnaya ida na mama||
om bhuva svh| vyava ida na mama||
om suva svh| sryyeda na mama||

One final offering to Prajapati is made to beg for forgiveness for various mistakes made in the
homam, with respect to pronunciation, actions, procedure, devotion, materials used etc. Read the
following and offer of drop of ghee.
asmin homakarmai madhye sambhvita samasta mantralopa tantralopa kriylopa bhaktilopa
raddhlopa niyamalopa nihlopa dravyalopdi samasta doa pryacittrtha sarva
pryacitthuti hoymi| om bhrbhuvassuva svh| prajpataya ida na mama||

An offering to Vishnu and an offering to Rudra must be made. Read the following two lines and
offer a drop of ghee for each line. Think of Vishnu and Kaala Bhairava.
om r viave svh| viave paramtmana ida na mama||
om namo rudrya paupataye svh| rudrya paupataya ida na mama||

After making an offering to Rudra, wash the hand once. You can simply sprinkle a little bit of
water on the right palm for that purpose.
Uttaraangam shorter version (vote of thanks)
When you are in a hurry, you can perform uttaraanham in a brief form by saying the following
and making an offering of ghee with each line.
om bh svh| agnaya ida na mama||
om bhuva svh| vyava ida na mama||
om suva svh| sryyeda na mama||
om bhrbhuvassuva svh| prajpataya ida na mama||
om r viave svh| viave paramtmana ida na mama||
om namo rudrya paupataye svh| rudrya paupataya ida na mama||

23

Suddhaanna Bali (sacrifice of pure rice)

Now, we have to offer bali (sacrifice to other associated beings). Get the cooked white rice (or
banana slices or some other fruit slices or raisins). Just place a small token amount as bali. You
need to place bali in six different places outside the homa kundam. First, place it on the east of
the homa kundam. Then on the west, then on the north, then on the south and finally two more
on the east (a little north to the previous bali(s) placed in the east). The order and positions can
be found in Figure 3. While offering balis in six places, the following sentence can be said:
om pradebhyo nama| bali samarpaymi|
Figure 3

The rice remaining after offering balis should be thrown away and not consumed. If cooked rice
is not available, small banana slices or some other fruit slices can be used. Again, any fruit pieces
left over after bali should be thrown away and not consumed.
Vasordhaaraa (stream of excellence)
Take a little ghee into the ladle and pour it slowly on the burning dry coconut pieces in the homa
kundam while reading the third verse from Rudra Chamakam. It is given below.
Dont pour too much ghee if you dont want much smoke. Just take one teaspoonful of ghee in
the wooden ladle and manage with it slowly. This ghee should be just enough to make the pieces
burn well so that poornaahuti (about to be offered) burns well.
om a ca me mayaca me priya ca me'nukmaca me kmaca me saumanasaca me
bhadra ca me reyaca me vasyaca me yaaca me bhagaca me dravia ca me yant ca me
dhart ca me kemaca me dhtica me viva ca me mahaca me savicca me jtra ca me
sca me prasca me sra ca me layaca mata ca me'mta ca me'yakma ca

24

me'nmayacca me jvtuca me drghyutva ca me'namitra ca me'bhaya ca me suga ca

me ayana ca me s ca me sudina ca me||

Poornaahuti
Now, we have to prepare a package for poornaahuti (complete offering). The normal
procedure is to place a full dry coconut, some metal coins, some turmeric, some sandalwood,
some kumkum, some akshatas, samples of some of the materials used in homam as offerings in a
cloth and tie the cloth.
For a simple homam with a small fire, you may take a dry coconut half and place a few akshatas,
one coin, little sandalwood powder, turmeric powder, kumkum powder and samples of materials
offered earlier in it. If you do a small homam everyday in a western country and need to
minimize the smoke, you may put just a small coconut piece as poornaahuti. If you are doing
homam in a big firepit that is dug in ground, you may want to experiment with a regular full
coconut that has little water. It is a more accurate representation of the ego of a normal person.
Place the poornaahuti on the wooden ladle, say the mantra below and then place the poornaahuti
in fire carefully with hand (if you drop it on a small fire from the wooden ladle, it can extinguish
the fire and also loose materials can spill everywhere in the homa kundam).
om prhutimuttam juhoti| sarva vai p rhuti| sarvamevpnoti| atho iya vai p
rhuti| asymeva pratitihati|
om pramada pramida prtpramudacyate| prasya pramdya
pramevvaiyate||
om kla bhairavya nama| prhuti samarpaymi|

While (or after) placing the poornaahuti in the fire, say the following mantra.
om brahmrpaa brahmahavir brahmgnau brahma huta| brahmaiva tena gantavya
brahma karma samdhin||

Imagine that you are completely surrendering yourself to Kaala Bhairava. Poornaahuti basically
means complete surrender. The full (or half) coconut used in the poornaahuti is a symbol of
ones head, i.e. ego (I-ness), which is to be sacrificed (surrendered) to Kaala Bhairava. Think
of Kaala Bhairava as a manifestation of the Supreme Cosmic Being who fills the whole universe
and who is the true owner of your body, mind, existence, thoughts, knowledge and actions.
Surrender to Him fully. Without that inner sense of complete surrender, an elaborate poornaahuti
ritual with pristine materials has no meaning. Most Vedic rituals are symbolic of certain inner
changes that you bring about within yourself, to remove obstacles within your sookshma sareera
that are blocking self-knowledge. The purpose of Veda is the knowledge of self (Aatman) and all
rituals are ultimately for that purpose. Doing rituals blindly is a good starting point, but at some
stage, one has to wonder about the inner meaning.

25

Winding Up and Meditation

The fire god (Agni) has carried all our offerings to various gods. So the final offering is to him.
Read the following and offer a drop of ghee in the fire.
sapta te agne samidha saptajihv sapta ayassapta dhma priyi| sapta hotr sapta
dhtv yajantisaptayonrpasv ghtena svh| agnaye saptavata ida na mama||

Take some water in a spoon and sprinkle it around the homa kumdam as shown in Figure 2. This
is similar to what we did at the beginning, but the mantras to say are slightly different. Instead of
the four mantras used earlier, use the following four mantras when sprinkling water along the
four arrows marked as 1, 2, 3 and 4 in Figure 2:
adite'nvamasth| anumate'nvamasth| sarasvate'nvamasth| deva savita prsv|

The ritual of homam cleanses one internally. The powerful divine presence in the fire has a great
ability to cleanse one. Especially, a sincerely offered poornaahuti creates a lot of positive energy
as it burns. One can take advantage of it by meditating in front of the fire as the poornaahuti
burns. The time when the poornaahuti burns is the best time to meditate.
Sit still with a straight back in front of the fire and meditate. Make sure that the back is erect and
yet not too tight. Make sure that the neck and head are also erect. Close the eyes, imagine your
favorite deity in a form you like and meditate on that form with your favorite mantra. You can
meditate on Kaala Bhairava also. It can be the mantra with which you did homam or any other
mantra of any deity. Try to forget about the your body and what you are doing and get into the
mantra fully. Think that the deity you are imagining is a manifestation of Supreme Cosmic Being
and think that all beings and all objects of this world are expressions of the play of that deity.
Think that that deity is the true Doer of all actions by all beings of this world. Your chances of
losing consciousness of your body and immersing in the mantra fully are the maximum at this
point of time than any other (while the poornaahuti is burning)! Take advantage and meditate for
atleast 5-10 minutes with maximum focus now. Consider this an essential part of the homam.
Rakshaa
Now, take the darbhas placed at the beginning outside the homa kundam on the western side (or
new darbhas, if you did not place any darbhas along the boundaries due to lack of darbhas),
apply a little ghee to them and place the tips in fire. When they catch fire, remove them from the
fire, place them in a container and let the whole darbhas burn. The black ash you get is called
rakshaa (protection). At the end of the homam, you can apply a little rakshaa to the forehead of
the idol and then a little to your own forehead and the foreheads of others. This is believed to
protect from evil forces. You can store the rakshaa for future use on important occasions.
If your fire is too small and does not last till this point, you may consider taking rakshaa before
meditation.

26

It is not necessary to take raksha. One can skip this step. Alternately, one can skip now and later
mix the ashes of the materials burnt in the homa kundam with ghee and use that as rakshaa.
Udvaasana (good bye)
Take a couple of darbhas in your right hand and a couple more darbhas with your left hand. Take
some flowers or akshatas also if available. Hold the darbhas with the tips facing away from you
and the bases in your hands. Now touch the two sides of the homakundam with the darbhas in
the two hands. Then touch the idol with those darbhas and leave the akshatas and flowers on the
god. Imagine that the energy from the homakundam has been transferred into the idol. To
simplify this, you can also place your fists containing a few akshatas on top of the northern and
southern sides of homa kundam and then deposit the akshatas in those fists at the feet of the idol.
Say the following and show your heart with your hands. Imagine that Sri Mahaganapathi has
exited the fire and came back into your heart.
asmdagne rmahgaapati yathsthna pratihpaymi|

Say the following and show your heart with your hands. Imagine that Kaala Bhairava has exited
the fire and the idol and came back into your heart.
asmnmrteca agneca kla bhairava yathsthna pratihpaymi|

Now, we have to say goodbye to the fire god too. Say the following and bow to the fire god.
agne naya supath rye asmn vivni deva vayunni vidvn| yuyodhyasmajjuhurameno
bhyih te nama ukti vidhema| agnaye nama||

Conclusion
Say the following three verses. Think of Krishna and imagine that you are not the doer and
Krishna is the doer who is acting through you. While you do it, place a few akshatas on the tips
of the ring and middle fingers of the right hand, place the palm on the small deposit bowl and
wash it such that the water and akshatas are deposited in the deposit bowl.
mantrahna kriyhna bhaktihna hutana| yaddhuta tu may deva paripra
tadastu te||
pryacittnyaei tapa karmtmakni vai| yni temae r kasmaraa
para|| r ka ka ka|
kyena vc manasendriyairv buddhytman v prakte svabhvt| karomi yadyat sakala
parasmai nryayeti samarpaymi||

Say the following finally. Imagine that Sri Kaala Bhairava became pleased with your homam.
Surrender the doership of the homam to Krishna and pray for peace.

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anena divya magaa homena bhagavn sarvtmaka kla bhairava pryatm| om tatsat|
sarvam r krpaamastu| om nti nti nti|

After this, you should not think of yourself as the doer of the homam just finished, for you have
surrendered the doership to Krishna!
The naivedyam (food) you offered can be eaten now and served to others. The rakshaa (holy ash)
can be mixed with a drop of ghee and applied on the forehead as a dot or a line.
If you used a kalasam (water pot) in addition to an idol to invoke the god, you can take a bath
with the water in the kalasam. Pour the water on yourself after you finish your bath, while saying
a mantra of Kaala Bhairava. After pouring that water on yourself, dont pour any more regular
water. The water from kalasam should be the last water you pour on yourself in the bath. In other
words, you should absorb the energy in that water for a while.
It is possible to put a kalasam and use it everyday without changing water. One may change the
water every weekend or on every Ashtami or Ekadasi day and take bath with the old water.
:: Sarvam Sri Krishnarapanamastu ::

:: Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih ::

Appendix A: Super-short Homam (minimum mantras)

For those who are uncomfortable with Sanskrita and yet want to perform homam, the procedure
given in this document may still be difficult. For such people, I can recommend a much shorter
procedure. It is hoped that those who start with this super-short homam will eventually make an
effort to switch to the main procedure given in this document, after they get some practice and
become comfortable with mantras in Sanskrita.
Mantras offered to a deity in fire are powerful irrespective of the procedure used. Instead of not
doing homam at all, it is better to do this super-short homam.
This appendix will describe a super-short procedure very briefly. If some details are unclear,
please contextualize them by reading the rest of the document. The Sanskrita mantras are
minimized in this super-short procedure.
Preliminary Procedure
Think in your mind of Mother Earth, Lord Ganesha, Kaala Bhairava, your parents, rishis of your
lineage (if you know them), all rishis and all gods. You can use a language that you are
comfortable with (e.g. English or Hindi or Russian) and say something in an intuitive way to
remember all of them.
Take a tumbler or glass of water. Take three spoonfuls of water from the tumbler and drink them
while saying: This is for Keshava (keava), This is for Naaraayana (nryaa) and This is
for Maadhava (mdhava).

28

With akshatas in hand, pray to Ganesha: O Ganesha (gaea)! Please remove obstacles from my
homam. Do praanaayaama (see the section on it in the main document), possibly with the Om
sound or a mantra given earlier.
Now take a vow: I shall now perform a homam to the best of my ability, for the pleasure of
Lord Kaala Bhairava (kla bhairava).
Leave the akshatas in front of the idol or homa kundam.
Early Offerings
Light a lamp. Put some akshatas in the water tumbler and say vam (va) 11 times. Take the
water with the spoon and sprinkle it on yourself, on the homa kundam, on the idol and on the
food, fruits and flowers.
Homa kundam should be on your east and you should be facing east. Draw two red parallel eastwest lines with kumkum (vermilion) connecting the middle of the western edge of homa kundam
with your seat and place the container with melted ghee on those lines.
Take a small camphor piece, light it in the lamp and place the burning camphor piece in homa
kundam while saying the following.
om bhrbhuvassuvarom|

O Fire god, please co-operate with me and make my offerings reach gods in a state of purity.
Place dry coconut pieces or wood above it and make sure that they catch fire. Now offer five
drops of ghee while saying the following:
om prajpataye svh|
om indrya svh|
om agnaye svh|
om somya svh|

This is for forgiveness of my mistakes so far.

om bhrbhuvassuva svh|

Qucik Worship of Ganesha in Fire

Say O Ganesha (gaea), please come into this fire. Say the following while showing the fire
with folded palms (as though you are telling someone come here):
vhito bhava| sthpito bhava|

29

Put some akshatas in the fire and say O Ganesha (gaea), please be pleased with these services
from me. Now repeat the following mantra of Ganesha 4 times with an offering of ghee or
something else.
om ga gaapataye nama| svh|

Main Homam of Kaala Bhairava

Say O Lord Kaala Bhairava (kla bhairava), please come into this fire. Say the following
while showing the fire with folded palms (as though you are telling someone come here):
vhito bhava| sthpito bhava|

Put some akshatas in the fire and say O Lord Kaala Bhairava (kla bhairava), please be pleased
with these services from me.
Now repeat the mantras of Kaala Bhairava that you know 4 or 8 or 11 or 12 or 16 or 21 or 28 or
108 or 121 or 1008 times. Some mantras are suggested in the main document (see pages 22-27
before). At a minimum, do the following simple mantra as many times as you can.
om kla bhairavya nama| svh|

Each time you say this, offer ghee or akshatas or sesame seeds or some other materials described
earlier in this document in the fire. If you do the above mantra many times and not do any other
mantras, it is acceptable.
At the end of the offerings, take some food you cooked (or fruit), show it to the fire and say O
Lord Kaala Bhairava (kla bhairava), please accept this and throw a small bit into fire. Then
stand up and go around the homa kundam once or 3 times. If someone looks at you from the roof
or from the sky, it should look like you are going around the homa kundam in clockwise
direction. At the end, you can bow in front of the fire. Finally sit down in front of the fire in your
original place.
Final Offerings
Say the following lines and offer a drop of ghee in the fire after each line:
om bh svh|
om bhuva svh|
om suva svh|
om bhrbhuvassuva svh|
om viave svh|
om rudrya svh|

30

At the end, sprinkle a little water on your right hand.

If it is possible, now offer six chunks of cooked white rice or fruit slices in the six places shown
in Figure 3, while saying these are for the associates of Lord Kaala Bhairava (kla bhairava).
Otherwise, you may skip this step.
Poornaahuti
While saying Om, pour a stream of ghee from the spoon into the fire. When the fire becomes
big, you can offer poornaahuti.
Please read the section on poornaahuti in the main document for the description of materials
needed, meaning of poornaahuti and the spirit to be followed. Instead of the mantras in the main
document, just say the following:
om kla bhairavya nama| prhuti samarpaymi|

Then drop the full coconut or half coconut or coconut piece in fire. Offer one more drop of ghee
while saying:
om agnaye saptavate svh|

Now, meditate with any mantra you like for 5-10 minutes as the poornaahuti burns. For some
useful tips, please refer to the main document.
At the end of the meditation, show your heart with your hands and say O Ganesha (gaea) and
O Lord Kaala Bhairava (kla bhairava), please come back into my heart. Also, thank the fire
god mentally for his co-operation in the ritual. Then say:
sarvam r krpaamastu| om nti nti nti|

If you minimize the entire procedure and spend maximum time chanting a mantra of Lord Kaala
Bhairava with offerings into fire and then meditating as the poornaahuti burns, you will get the
most out of your homam and not lose much! After some practice, you can compare this supershort procedure with the procedure given in the main document and keep adding mantras from
the main procedure and eventually switch to the main procedure. But even this super-short
procedure, when performed sincerely, can give good results.

Appendix B: Shodasopachaara Pooja

[If you want to perform a shodasopachaara pooja (a worship consisting of 16 services) to Kaala
Bhairava who is in fire and the idol, instead of the panchopachaara pooja mentioned in this
document, please use the procedure in this appendix instead. This will take more time.]

31

Say the line below and think in the mind that you are offering a nice seat to Kaala Bhairava to sit
on. While imagining that, just offer a few akshatas to the idol and the fire.
om kla bhairavya nama| nama| sana samarpaymi|

Now, say the line below imagine that you are washing his feet. While imagining that, show a
little water with the spoon to the fire and leave the water in a small empty bowl (we will call it
the deposit bowl from now onwards).
om kla bhairavya nama| pdayo pdya samarpaymi|

Say the line below, imagine that you are washing the hands of Kaala Bhairava, show a little
water in the spoon to the fire and leave it in the deposit bowl.
om kla bhairavya nama| hastayo arghya samarpaymi|

Say the line below, imagine that you are offering drinking water to Kaala Bhairava s mouth,
show a little water in the spoon to the fire and leave it in the deposit bowl.
om kla bhairavya nama| mukhe uddhcamanya samarpaymi|

Say the first sentence below, imagine that you are giving a bath to Kaala Bhairava, show a little
water in the spoon to the fire and leave it in the deposit bowl. Say the second sentence below,
imagine that you are giving drinking water to Kaala Bhairava s mouth after bath, show a little
water in the spoon to the fire and leave it in the deposit bowl.
om kla bhairavya nama| snapaymi| snnnantaram camanya samarpaymi|

Say the line below, imagine that you are offering a pair of nice clothes (one in the top and one in
the bottom, i.e. like a shirt and a pant) and offer a few akshatas to the idol and the fire.
om kla bhairavya nama| vastri dhraymi|

Say the line below, imagine that you are offering a yajnopaveetam (sacred thread) and offer a
few akshatas to the idol and the fire.
om kla bhairavya nama| yajopavta samarpaymi|

Say the line below, imagine that you are offering nice jewelry and offer a few akshatas to the
idol and the fire.
om kla bhairavya nama| bharani samarpaymi|

32

Say the line below and offer a little bit of sandalwood paste, turmeric powder, kumkum powder
and akshatas to the idol and the fire. If you dont have all these, just sprinkle a few akshatas on
the idol and the fire.
om kla bhairavya nama| gandhn dhraymi| haridr kukuma samarpaymi| akatn
samarpaymi|

Keep sprinkling a few flowers or flower petals or akshatas on the idol and the fire while reading
the following 16 names of Kaala Bhairava. Make sure you put very little amount of materials in
the fire, so that you dont extinguish it accidentally. Offer most things to the idol instead. Just
offer a token amount in the fire.
om kla bhairavya nama| pupi samarpaymi|

Say the following line and show the incense stick lighted before to the fire and the idol.
om kla bhairavya nama| dhpam ghrpaymi|

Say the following line and show the lamp lighted before to the fire and the idol. Then show a
little water in the spoon to the fire and idol and leave it in the deposit bowl.
om kla bhairavya nama| dpa daraymi| camanya samarpaymi|

Say the first sentence below, show one of the two food items you prepared (or fruits) to god and
imagine that he tasted it. If you know the standard procedure of offering naivedyam with the
Gayatri mantra, you can do it. Else, dont worry and just say the line below. When saying the
second line, imagine that you are offering a nice taamboolam (paan) to Kaala Bhairava and
offer some akshatas in their place to the idol and the fire.
om kla bhairavya nama| naivedya samarpaymi| tmbla samarpaymi|

Place a little camphor on a camphor container or a plate, light it and make a clockwise vertical
circle in the air with the plate in front of the fire. Say the line below while you do it.
om kla bhairavya nama| karpranrjana samarpaymi|

Take a small flower (or some akshatas) in your right hand, say the following and offer the flower
to the idol (and perhaps a couple of petals into the fire). If you know Narayana Sooktam and/or
Mantrapushpam (and if you have time), read them first and then say the line below. Otherwise,
just this line will do. Imagine that you are offering a flower that captures the essence of all
mantras.
om kla bhairavya nama| mantrapupa samarpaymi|

33

Say the following and bow before Kaala Bhairava mentally. Of course, you can also get up, go
around the homa kundam once or thrice and bow down (or kneel down or lie down) in front of
the fire, if you are not in a hurry. If someone looks at you from the roof or sky, it should look
like you are going around the fire in clockwise directions.
om kla bhairavya nama| pradakia namaskrn samarpaymi|

While you do all this, make sure that the fire gets going. Keep placing more dry coconut pieces if
necessary to keep the fire going. It may be tricky the first few times, but you will get used to it.
When necessary, you can sprinkle a little camphor powder in the fire to make it bigger.

Appendix C: Practical Tips and Hints

Here are some hints related to practical aspects of homam:
(1) In the beginning, there may be problems with maintaining the fire. New dry coconut pieces
(or wood pieces) have to be put in the fire while old pieces are still burning, in order to keep the
fire going. Ones ability to estimate how long a dry coconut piece can sustain fire will improve
with time.
(2) If the fire completely goes away, sprinkling some camphor powder on the hot pieces can
bring the fire back. That fire can be sustained by placing new pieces.
(3) If only a small amount of akshatas are offered during pooja (one or two akshatas each time)
and placed on a coconut piece, they will eventually burn.
(4) When offering a flower, if only a petal is placed on a coconut piece and the rest of the flower
is placed near the idol, it has a better chance of burning fully in the fire without creating
problems to the fire. Of course, in a homam performed with a big fire, full flowers burn easily.
(5) If small amounts are offered, it works better (when the fire is also small).
(6) If merely a drop of ghee is offered each time, less smoke is generated.
(7) Wood generates smoke. But dry coconut generates very little smoke. It generates smokes
mainly at the end when the fire goes away. If the homa kundam is close to a window and the
window is opened at the end, that may be sufficient to drive the little smoke out.
(8) Apart from mantras of Kaala Bhairava, mantras of other deities can be offered in the fire
while imagining them and Kaala Bhairava to be different manifestations of the same Cosmic
Being.
(9) It is a very good idea to keep the body as still as possible, with minimal movement of only
those body parts that must move (e.g. arm and mouth). It will maximize the positive spiritual
benefit from homam.

34

(10) It is a good idea to keep atleast two coconut pieces burning all the time. Even if the fire in
one becomes weak, the other piece can help re-ignite it.
(11) If one puts a lot of oil or ghee in a pan and heats it, it generates smoke as the ghee burns. If
one puts too little oil in a pan and tries to fry vegetables, they burn and generate smoke. If one
puts the right balance of oil and vegetables, they get cooked properly and there is no smoke.
Similarly, if one puts the right balance of ghee and solid materials, they burn without smoke.
There will be some smoke only at the end, when the fire goes off. Wood, on the other hand, is
different from dry coconut and generates more smoke.

35