Source: HPI
PORT-OF-SPAIN, TRINIDAD, August 22, 2010: Amid chants of Agni, Varuna, and Rudra, with oblation in sacrificial fire pit at the lawns of beautiful St. Augustine Campus of University of West Indies in Trinidad, were sitting some of the highest academic, scholars, and intellectuals to explore the meanings of these ancient practices and to make sense of them for the modern world.
The occasion was the 8th biennial International Conference of the World Association of Vedic Studies (WAVES) that was inaugurated by the Indian High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago, H.E. Malay Mishra, and the Foreign Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Surajrattan Rambachan. The conference was held along three tracks: Academic Symposium on Vedic Knowledge for Civilizational Harmony, Deep Dive into Understanding Vedic Practices, and a Youth Summit.
The Vedic practice of Yajna was much discussed as a journey of self-discovery and transformation and explained in detail; the fire ceremony was performed by Shri PVR Narasimha Rao. “Yajna is a fire ceremony that has deep macrocosmic symbolism and has lessons for the modern man’s quest for environmental rejuvenation and balance in society,” said Shekhar Shastri, the program chair for WAVES 2010.
Prof. Subhash Kak, a leading scientist, described the astronomical significance of the Vedic Yajna especially the number 108 which corresponds to the distance between the earth and the Sun, and also the distance between the earth and the Moon – and that the Yajna is a symbolic inner journey to the inner cosmos.