Passage 3

In English

What has been given to you yesterday as the meaning of the word swadha is also the meaning of the word swaha according to the Vedas. This word swaha is something in which there is considerable importance. Some persons have argued that the origin for this word swaha is not in the Vedas. It has been said that this word swaha has something to do with the ceremony of homa (offering ritual articles in sacrificial fire) and is not directly derived from the Vedas. In the context of homa, while we offer something to the Gods, the word which describes the offering usually ends with swaha, and hence people thought that it has nothing to do with the Veda. Others believed that the word swadha has some relationship to our forefathers because we use the word swadha when making an offering to our forefathers, while in fact, the word swaha is associated with gods. The meaning of these two words swadha and swaha has been explained as if the two are related to each other. This word swaha has also been seen as an ending for words such as Kesava ya swaha, Madhava ya swaha, Indra ya swaha and so on. In our daily ritual, these words have been occurring quite frequently. While making the offering, we use several words and several materials are placed in the fire and the word swaha is used to mean that everything should be burnt up and digested. They also use the word Suhuta to mean the same thing.