Adhyaya 149

Lord Agni teaches, within the Yuddhajayārṇava tradition, a homa system that protects in war and upholds sovereignty. The chapter declares homa effective for immediate victory, gaining rulership, and destroying obstacles, yet grounds it in prior purification through Kṛcchra observance and disciplined prāṇāyāma. It prescribes preparatory japa and breath-control (including bīja-like utterances) and fixes the proper times for offerings into the consecrated fire, with a one-meal-per-day regimen to maintain purity until completion. The rite is graded by count—ayuta (10,000), lakṣa (100,000), and koṭi (crore/immense number)—with corresponding fruits: minor attainments, removal of afflictions, and comprehensive wish-fulfilment with protection. It is also presented as a universal pacifier of ominous portents (utpāta), subduing calamities such as drought, excessive rain, pests, and hostile beings. Finally, it gives operational details for large performances: numbers of priests, approved mantra-families (Gāyatrī, graha-mantras, deity-specific sets), permissible oblations (grains, sesame, milk, ghee, kuśa, leaves), and measured construction of the homa-pit—showing Agneya Vidyā as precise ritual engineering in service of dharma and polity.