THE HOLY GITA
CHAPTER 4
JNANA KARMA SANYASA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF RENUNCIATION OF ACTION IN KNOWLEDGE OR THE WAY OF KNOWLEDGE:
VERSE NUMBER 31
Text in Transliteration:
yajnnasishtaamrrta bhujo yaanti brahma sanaatanam
naa’yam loko ‘sty ayajnasya kuto ‘nyah kurusttama
Text in English:
The eaters of the nectar, the remnant of Yajna go to the Eternal Brahman. This world is not for the non-sacrificer, how then the other, O best of the Kurus?
COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:
Whatever a man does must be conducive to the common welfare. The food consumed by him becomes nectar to the extent he relegates selfishness. Every act of self-denial aids man take a step towards perfection. And self-annihilation is the godliest of all of his endeavours. When the man in an individual is crucified, the divine in him manifests itself. He who offers his jivahood as oblation regains Brahmanhood, his Original State. There is no gain superior to the gain of Eternal Brahman.
When the very Highest can be gained by the performance of Yajna (sacrifice), the gaining of the lower things by his means would undoubtedly be easy. This earthy possession is verily the easiest for man to procure. But even this is not obtainable to him who fails to perform Yajna. The self-seeking man shrinks; he thrives nowhere; and the world views him with disdain. The attainment of heaven which is superior is beside the point to such a man.
COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:
The law of the world is sacrifice and he who violates it cannot obtain mastery either here or beyond.
COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:
They go to the eternal Brahman in course of time after attaining the Knowledge of the Self through purification of the mind by performing the above sacrifices. He who does not perform any of these is not fit even for this miserable world. How then can he hope to get a better world than this?
Comments by the blogger:
What is the nectar? The food that is left off after the sacrifice is nectar. In other words, the remnant of Yajna or Sacrifice is the nectar! And he who eats the remnant of Sacrifice goes to the Eternal Brahman. This world is not for the non-sacrificer, how then the other?
The Lord of the Gita speaks of the various Sacrifices from verse number 25 to 30. In verse 31 he utters that who eats the nectar which is the remnants of Sacrifice go to the Eternal Brahman. Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu are the manifestations of this Eternal Brahman who is ineffable and can only be experienced. For that Man has to sacrifice in any one of the various Sacrifices listed by Krishna from verse 25 to 30. For example, ‘some yogis perform sacrifices to the Devas alone. They perform sacrifice to the Rig-Vedic gods and goddesses. And what is left of the oblation such as gee or melted butter, pinda or rice cake and fruits may be eaten by the performers of such Sacrifices. Some yogis sacrifice their self as sacrifice. It is said in the same verse. Such performers offer the self as sacrifice by the self verily in the fire or knowledge of Brahman. While such performers offer their own self to the Eternal Brahman, what remains to be eaten by them? Why the Eternal Brahman Himself. Their mixing with and become one with the Brahman is allegorically said as the act of eating.
In verse number 26 the Lord of the Gita says the some offer hearing and other senses as sacrifice in the fire of restraint, while others offer sound and other sense-objects as sacrifice in the fire of the senses. Here in the former sacrifice, in the fire of restraint the yogis offer as sacrifice hearing and other senses. They, like Gandhi’s three monkeys, do not see what should not be seen. But they see what can be seen. That is the remnant of their olfactory sacrifice. They do not hear what should not be heard, and the remaining things that can be heard, for example the recitation of the Lord’s names and glories, and this is auricular nectar they eat. They do not speak what should not be spoken and the remaining things are the Lord’s countless names and ineffable glories of which the can speak and sing and this is the nectar to be consumed by them orally. And some yogis are said to offer sound and other sense–objects as sacrifice in the fire of the senses. But there are sense-objects such as hearing Lords Holy names and His glories that can be enjoyed. Ant these sense-objects like seeing the Lord’s pictures and speaking about the Lords glories as sense-objects are nectar. And they go to the Eternal Brahman after their earthly sojourn. In verse number 27 the Lord says that others again offer all the actions of the senses and the functions of the life-energy as a sacrifice. Offering all the actions of the senses means they do nothing than speaking, seeing the Lords glories. And when they eat they do it sparingly for the maintenance of the bodily functions. There too they see the Lord inside of them and offer the food as to Him only as sacrifice. Thus they eat, see, hear, speak and touch what is left off their sacrifice in the fire of self-control kindled by knowledge.
In the verse number 28 the Lord says that yet others offer wealth, austerity and yoga as sacrifice, while still others, self denial and extreme vows, offer sacred study and knowledge as sacrifice. Here wealth offering is easy to understand. They offer honestly obtained wealth as sacrifice, and only enjoy that portion of wealth for their and their families’ maintenance and that is turned into nectar. In the case of offering austerity and yoga as sacrifice, they do not covet the natural power and spiritual prowess that rise out of such austerity and yoga. They offer that too to the Lord. Some others of self-denial and extreme vows, offer sacred study and knowledge as sacrifice! The study of sacred books enlightens one and givs him or her intuitive knowledge about God. They would not blow their own trumpets about such gains. And this self denial is nectar and they offer that too to the Brahman. Then all that is left off is the Eternal Brahman Himself and they partake of Him in the sense they mingle with him.
In the verse number 29 the Lord says, “Yet others offer as sacrifice the outgoing breath in the incoming, and the incoming, in the outgoing...” Here while normal persons enjoy more than thirty incoming and outgoing breaths per minute in their worldly exertions, the meditating saint enjoy only one incoming and outgoing breath. All others enjoyed by the worldly men are offered as sacrifice. And what they actually enjoy per minute give them knowledge of Brahman due to their regulation of the flow of outgoing and incoming breath. They are occupied solely in the regulation of life-energy, which is wasted by others.
In the verse number 30 the Lord says, “Still others of regulated food habit offer the pranas the functions thereof. Mahatma Gandhi speaks of one form of fasting: it involves taking fifteen handful of cooked rice on the full moon day and progressively reducing the number of the handfuls to 14, 13 and finally on the moonless day the yogi would not eat anything. And then, starting from moonless day, counting it as zero-food-day, they will increase the food taken as the moon waxes from 1, 2 and like this they would take fifteen handfuls on the full moon day. This is an extreme vow. These kinds of yogis give rest to the ten pranas established in their body. The remaining food for them too is the Eternal Brahman!
Thus, the Lord says in the verse 31 that the eaters of nectar eat the remnants of Sacrifice and they go to the Eternal Brahman.
A question may arise that what about those good people who do some or great service to his neighbours or to the entire Humanity and other people who observe small time fasts and austerities? They too would get their deserved deserts as good birth in their next incarnation and would start from where they left off. There is a promise in the Gita for the whole humanity about this matter of continuing in the next birth the discontinued austerity in the previous birth owing to their demise.
So take heart my dear friends and brothers and sisters and if you and me can’t be full time yogis, let’s do good to the limit of our means in this birth so as to fetch a better rebirth in a better family! Never lose heart. Gita is there! It is for all the suffering men and women of the world!
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