Aupasana is a

yajna Yajna ( sa, यज्ञ, yajña, translit-std=IAST, sacrifice, devotion, worship, offering) refers in Hinduism to any ritual done in front of a sacred fire, often with mantras.SG Nigal (1986), Axiological Approach to the Vedas, Northern Book ...

performed daily by

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

s who have been initiated during

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

Hindu marriage The Hindu marriage () is the most important of all the samskaras, the rites of passage described in the Dharmashastra texts. Variously defined, it is generally described to be a social institution for the establishment and regulation of a prope ...

is conducted with offerings made in the fire. Aupasana, which must be performed every day, is commenced in this fire and it must be preserved throughout one's life. The seven pakayajnas (see: Shrauta), rites including

upanayana ''Upanayana'' ( sa, उपनयनम्, lit=initiation, translit=Upanāyanam) is a Hindu educational sacrament, one of the traditional saṃskāras or rites of passage that marked the acceptance of a student by a preceptor, such as a ''guru'' ...

and shraaddha, must be conducted in the aupasana fire. The son lights his aupasana fire during his marriage from his father's aupasana fire. The son's fire, like his father's, must be maintained throughout his life. Thus, without any break, the sacred fire is kept burning in the family generation after generation. All rites in which the aupasana fire is used and pertain to an individual and his family are "Grhyakarmas". The seven pakayajnas also belong to this category. They are related exclusively to the family and are not very elaborate. Even so, they are conducive to the good of the world outside also.

Grhyasutras Kalpa ( sa, कल्प) means "proper, fit" and is one of the six disciplines of the Vedānga, or ancillary science connected with the Vedas – the scriptures of Hinduism. This field of study is focused on the procedures and ceremonies assoc ...

deal with such rites. They belong to the

Smritis ''Smriti'' ( sa, स्मृति, IAST: '), literally "that which is remembered" are a body of Hindu texts usually attributed to an author, traditionally written down, in contrast to Śrutis (the Vedic literature) considered authorless, th ...

and are called "Smarta-karmas".

References

Aupasana from ''Hindu Dharma''
{{Worship in Hinduism Yajna