Yajña as a Model of Spiritual Communication: A Semiotic and Ritual-Discourse Analysis of the Yajurveda
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31305/rrijm.2026.v11.n01.002Keywords:
Yajña, Yajurveda, semiotics, ritual discourse, Ṛta, Agni, Vedic ritualAbstract
The Yajurveda, the Veda of ritual formulae, presents yajña (sacrifice) as the central rite of Vedic religion – a structured offering into the sacred fire to sustain cosmic harmony (ṛta) and commune with the divine. Drawing on Vedic texts and contemporary scholarship, this paper uses semiotic theory and ritual-discourse analysis to examine yajña as a multifaceted act of spiritual communication. In Vedic ritual, mantras (sacred utterances), Agni (the sacrificial fire-god), and offerings function as interconnected signs: mantras are symbolic formulas that articulate devotion and request, Agni is the indexical mediator who carries offerings to the gods (as the Rigveda calls him “the messenger of the gods, the perfecter of this rite”), and offerings themselves are gifts that enact reciprocity. The ritual’s precise sequence and materials embody cosmological concepts and the agent (yajamāna/priest) becomes an extension of ṛta. Performatively, each verbal and embodied act enacts meaning (per Peirce’s triadic sign model and Bell’s ritual discourse), enabling devotees to “speak” with the sacred. In maintaining ṛta through sacrificial order, yajña exemplifies transcendental communication: a dialogue between mortals and the cosmic order. This analysis shows that yajña is not mere ceremony but a living semiosis – an interchange of signs – through which the human and divine worlds are continuously linked.
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