Bhagwad Gita - Post 43

Dear All,

We shall continue with our contemplation on "Yagna" or " Sacrifice".

Another dimension of Sacrifice

When we were created by God, He created us together with an impulsion to sacrifice. Sacrifice means the cooperation that has to come from us in respect of other beings in the world. 

Prajapati, the Creator, appears to have created individuals with an injunction that they will survive only by sacrifice. If we are not able to do any kind of sacrifice by way of cooperation with another, we will not be able to survive; our existence as persons will be annihilated. 

The survival instinct in every individual also implies the recognition of an equal survival instinct in other people. If we want to survive, others also want to survive; and if we want to survive in a qualitatively good manner, others also would like to be equally good qualitatively. 

Hence, we have to be considerate enough in respect of other beings that whatever be the manner in which our survival instinct operates, we must have the capacity to appreciate that the survival instinct operates equally in them. That is, we cannot interfere with the life of another individual. That is the meaning of cooperation.

Ultimate dimension of “offering”

Let us now see another inspiring dimension of sacrifice. Here, sacrifice means “offering” and not sacrifice in literal sense.

In a temple, the pujari offers sweets etc. as offering to God and then partakes the same (besides offering to others.). 

In olden days, the Pujari / Priest / Monks used to partake only the prasad that has been offered to God and would fast entire day, if no offering comes for the Lord from devotees on that day. 

How beautiful the world would be, if we place all our actions

as offering to God in the above manner as Pujari offers and partakes the results of all those actions as prasad, in the similar way the pujari partakes the prasad.

In Prasad, we do not make any choice, we do not give our preferences, we do not say, "we will take only some types of prasad and will not take the other types". We just take the prasad as a gift from God and do not judge the taste of the same. 

Similarly,

All actions are to be offered to the Supreme Lord as Prasad

and 

Results of such actions are to be accepted without preference, without any judgement, without any preferences, as Prasad (received back after we have offered our actions) to the Lord.

With this state of mind, all such actions are purified, and they do not lead to Bondage!!!

A monk goes a step further and standing at the door of the temple, he prays to God and says, "accept all these human beings coming in as Prasad". What a noble thought, what a prayer!!!

Swami Says,

“One must not offer all types of objects and all types of actions to the Lord. Before you offer anything to the Lord, you must first make it pure, you must make it sacred and great. Then it will be a fit offering for the Lord.

For example, if you want to offer a rose to the Lord, you first select a beautiful, fragrant bloom. Then you remove the insects from the flower. 

Next you remove the thorns and any imperfect leaves from the stem; and in a number of other ways you make your offering as beautiful and as pure as possible. Only then do you offer it to the Lord. 

Every action you perform should be like this flower which you offer to the Lord. 

Just as a fine fragrance is inherent in the flower you offer, so also your actions must be saturated with the fragrance of love and sacredness. 

Just as the flower that you offer is beautiful and pure (without insects and thorns), so also your actions must be good and pure."

(Source - Sai Baba Gita)

Love.

Bhagwad Gita - Post 42

Verse 9

Yajnaarthaat karmano’nyatra

loko’yam karmabandhanah;

Tadartham karma kaunteya

muktasangah samaachara.

The world is bound by actions other than those performed for the sake of sacrifice; do thou, therefore, O son of Kunti, perform action for that sake (for sacrifice) alone, free from attachment.

The statements of living entities being bound to material nature by their actions refers to actions which are contrary to divinity and righteousness as delineated in Vedic scriptures.

Lord Krishna uses the word sanga which means attachment which will be there when the action is undertaken for self-service but as an offering to the Supreme Lord one is free from such ulterior motivations. 

Everyone in the world is locked and bound to the material existence by actions. The renunciates state that since all actions lead to bondage they should not be performed.  

But refuting this Lord Krishna states “yagna-arthaat”, sacrifices done for the Supreme Lord without expectation of reward are exempt from bondage.

How does one undertake this sacrifice? This is where YAGNA enters into the picture.  

Swami has mentioned about five kinds of Yagnas.

1)                Rishi Yagna - Related to devoted study of scriptures

2)               Pitru Yagna - Related to adoration of Parents

3)               Deva Yagna - Reverential homage to God.

4)               Athithi Yagna - Adoration of Guests

5)       Bhuta Yagna  - Unselfish acts done while dealing with trees, plants, animals etc….

We can observe that in each of the above Yagnas, the spirit required is SELF LESS ness. 

Swami says, “Karma is a yoga, action dedicated to God become qualified to be called a sacrifice or Yagna. Thus, it is appropriate to replace “Yagna” with this understanding with “offering”.

Thus, performing actions for the sake of sacrifice means, performing each and every action as an offering to the supreme lord, Brahman where, the one who is offering, the one for whom it is being offered – all are but Brahman. 

All activities when done as an offering to the Supreme Lord without  anticipating any reward become consecrated through yagna or acts of worship done for the pleasure of atma-purusha, the Supreme Lord internally within the heart and externally pervading all existence. 

Continued...

Love.

Bhagwad Gita - Post 41

Verse 3

Sri Bhagawan Uvaacha:

Lokesmin dwividhaa nishthaa

puraa proktaa mayaanagha;

Jnaana yogena saankhyaanaam

karmayogena yoginaam.

The Blessed Lord said:

In this world there is a twofold path, as I said before, O sinless one, the path of knowledge of the Sankhyas and the path of action of the Yogis!

Sankhya (Path of Knowledge) and Yoga (Path of action, as per this chapter) are something like the two wings of a bird, or like the two legs with which we walk, or the two hands with which we grab and hold.  

They are complimentary; and one being rooted in the other, or one being necessary for the other, does not imply any difference in the structure of Sankhya and yoga; it means that they are inseparable elements in the total perspective of life.

One cannot have merely an understanding of Sankhya in a theoretical sense minus involvement in the work of prakriti, or action; nor is it possible to be engaged only in action without its being rooted in the knowledge of Sankhya. 

If there is only an emphasis on Sankhya or only an emphasis on yoga, it is a one-sided emphasis in which knowledge remains a theory and action becomes blind. Unintelligent movement cannot be regarded as yoga. Yoga is an intelligently directed movement in a given fashion, with perfect understanding of Sankhya.

Verse 4

Na karmanaam anaarambhaan

Naishkarmyam purusho’shnute;

Na cha sannyasanaad

Eva siddhim samadhigacchati.

Not by the non-performance of actions does man reach action less ness, nor by mere renunciation does he attain to perfection.

In the first line, Sri Krishna says that mere abstinence from work does not result in a state of freedom from karmic reactions. The mind continues to engage in fruitive thoughts, and since mental work is also a form of karma, it binds one in karmic reactions, just as physical work does. A true karma yogi must learn to work without any attachment to the fruits of actions. This requires cultivation of knowledge in the intellect. Hence, philosophic knowledge is also necessary for success in karma yoga.

In the second line, Sri Krishna declares that the sānkhya yogi cannot attain the state of knowledge merely by renouncing the world and becoming a monk. One may give up the physical objects of the senses, but true knowledge cannot awaken as long as the mind remains impure. 

Author often quotes in spiritual sessions about a sanyasi may leave everything and settle in Himalayas, fascinated by the story of Swami Rama and so many other saints who have lived in Himalayas as realized yogis. What happens if he wants that morning filter coffee when he gets up from the cave he stays in the Himalayas? There may be no possibility of getting a coffee in a distance of 50 Km from his cave residence. All his tapas, his meditation will lose their impact as mind is now filled with desire for coffee and pain on not getting that coffee. 

Thus, realized knowledge will not appear in an impure heart by mere physical renunciation. It must be accompanied by congruent action that purifies the mind and intellect. Therefore, action is also necessary for success in sānkhya yoga.

Yoga does not mean merely performance of action in a blind manner without understanding the rationale behind it. Reason is the philosophical aspect of action, and action is the implementation of reason. Both have to go together as complimentary aspects of a daily routine of our existence. 

Human individuals alone are capable of practicing yoga. Sub-human species cannot understand Sankhya or yoga because there is a peculiar privilege, as it were, that is bestowed upon the human individual—namely, the worth of reason.

There is a kind of mind instinctively operating in the lower animals also, but logic or reason is available only in the human being. That is, human reason can draw conclusions from existing premises, but animals, which are instinctive, cannot draw such conclusions. 

The pathway to reducing desire is the Path of Action. Just as you need a thorn to remove another thorn embedded in your foot, you need to deploy action to free yourself of action. Remove action from its very root. Symptomatic relief does not cure a disease.

Love.