THE HOLY GITA
CHAPTER TWO
KARMA YOGA OF THE YOGA OF ACTION OR THE METHOD OF WORK
VERSE NUMBER 13
Text in Transliteration:
yajnasistaasinah santo mucyante sarva kilbishaih
bhunjate te tv agham paapaa ye pacanty aatmkaarandt
Text in English:
The good who eat the remains of Yajna are freed from all
sins; but the sinful ones who cook food only for themselves, they verily eat
sin.
COMMENTARY BY SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:
Karma in itself is neither good nor evil. The motif behind
it make it good or evil. A deadly war waged with the object of edterminating
the wikced is a virtuous act. A pious prayer to the Almighty for a selfish end
may not be a sin; but it is not so meritorious as a prayer offered for common
weal. An action becomes sacred to the extent the ego gets obliterated. All
thoutht, word and deed require to be directed to the glory or the Lord and the
good of the world.
Partaking of food is an obligatory work. Cooking the daily
food has therefore to go on as a matter of course. But one ought to think of
and provide for the hungry and the needy as much as for oneself.he who is
exclusive and self-centred in the procurement of food and in the partaking of
it, is a sinful man. What he eats is nothing but sin. The bodage of sin that he
creates for himself is boundless.
A SCENE FROM MAHABHRATA AS CITED BY SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:
The king Yudhishthira
perfomed a great Rajasuya Yajna when he ascended the throne after the great war
was over. The learned and the wise unanimously praised that Yajna as
unparalleled. A mongoose having one side of its body turned golden, entered the
sacrificial hall, rolled on the ground and pronounced the extollers as liars.
But the assembly opinion and that they did not lie. The half-goden creature
then explained itself:- “A few year back a terrible famine raged in a
particular province causing death to people in large numbers. A pious teacher,
his wire, son and daughter-in-law lived a humble but dutiful life in that
region. In the midst of privation the teaching went on regularly. When life was
somehow lingering in the family, a scanty offering of flour was made to it by a
devoted disciple. The famished four baked four pieces of bread with that flour,
offered them to the Lord and sat to partake of the sanctified food, when there
was a knock at the door. The family felt itself blessed because the deity of a
guest had arrived just in time when they had the semblance of a meal to offer. All
the four fading souls reverently parted with their little shares, intent on
appeasing the increasing hunger of the new comer. He blessed them heartily for
their hospitality and went his way. But the whole family perished of hunger. Just
then i entered their hut and rolled on the floor. The remnants of the flour
there came in contact with a half of my body and turned it golden as you all
see. It was so because of the purity of the motive and of the intensity of the
spirit of self-sacrifice in their act of cooking and serving the guest. Since then
i am on the look-out for another Yajna as it has not brought any change whatsoever
on my body.” The assembly meekly submitted to the view of the strange mongoose.
COMMENTARY BY SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:
A day passed bereft of the performance of Yajna is a day
gone to waste. Such is the injunction enjoined in the scriptures. An ideal
family man is he who engages himself dily in the five great yajnas. All the
five of them form his nitya karma—obligatory
work.
Fist and foremost among them is Deva Yajna –the worship of God. The day invariably begins with it. This
has to be gone through devoutly and to the best of one’s knowledge. This has to
be gone through devoutly and to the best of one’s knowledge. It may be
augmented with rituals according to traditions and individual tastes.
The second in order is Rishi
Yajna –the adoration of the Enlightened. The great ones who have had
cod-realization have not allowed their rare experiences to go into oblivion. Out
of compassion for the ignorant humanity they have passed them on to posterity
in the form of scriptures and sacred books. A devoted study, assimilation and
practice of the principles contained in them constitute this yajna. Expounding the holy scriptures
with a devotional attitude to the ardent enquirers with a devotional attitude
to the ardent enquirers and devotees is also an aspect of this Yajna. Expounding the holy scriptures and
devotees is also an aspect of this Yajna.
Pitru Yajna come
third in rank. It has its two aspects. The living parents have to be revered
and devotedly served every day. He who pleases not his parents cannot please
anybody here of hereafter. This is the first part of this Yajna. Thinking daily holy and auspicious thoughts for the welfare
of the departed ancestors is its second part.
Fourthly comes Nara
Yajna—the devoted service rendered to mankind. Individuals are the limbs of
the community. At all levels and in all fields the enters of the limb should be
subordinated to that of the main body. Any position reverse to this is
definitely harmful. That man who places the public interest above the personal
and acts accordingly is doing Nara Yajna.
This age is indeed in need of emphasis on this Yajna.
Bhuta Yajna or a
reverent relationship with all the living being completes the list. Since all
creatures have come from Fod, the Cosmic
Life, they have to be treated with due regard.the domastic animals and birds require
to be tended on a par with a human. The cow’mother--Gomata is lierally worshipped in this great land. Bhuta Yajna does not, however, preclude
stern steps being staken afainst terrific and venomous creatures that prove a
menace to human. Life.
SRI RAMAKRISHNA AS QUOTED BY SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:
It is God Himself who has become the entire Creation. All beings
are therefore is to be revered as the various manifestations of Narayana. The tiger-Narayana,
however, has to be respected from a safe distance.
Once again swami chidbhavananda:
Through the meticulous practice of these five great
sacrifices—Pancha maha yajna the life of man on earth becomes prosperous
and auspicious. Again, all the activities in life can be converted into Yajna
by the knowing ones.
COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:
Those who,after performing the five great sacrifices, eat
the remnants of the food are freed from all the snins commintte by these five
agents of insect slautghter, viz,.. (1 )the pestle and mortar, 2, the grinding
stone, 3, the fireplace, 4, the place where the water-pot is kept and 5the
broom. These are the five places where injury to life is daily committed. The
sins are washed away by the performance of the five Maha-Yajnas or great
sacrifices which very Kvija (twice-born or the people belonging to the first
three castes in Hinju socieyy, especially the Brahmin) ought to perfom:
1.
Deva –Yagna: Offering sacrifices to the gods
which will satisfy them.
2.
Brahma-Yajna or Rishi –Yajna: Teaching and
reciting the scriptures which will satisfy Brahman and the Rishis.
3.
Piti-Yajna: offering libations of water to one’s
ancestors which will satisfy the manes.
4.
Nri-Yajna: the feeding of the hungry and the
guests, and
5.
Bhuta-yajna: the feeding of the sub-human
species, such as animals birds etc.
Commnts by the blogger:
In those distant days, travelling by
ordinary people was mostly on foot. So it was not possible to travel to distant
places without the people fostering the guests from distant places. There were
no lodges then and most of the land was comprised of villages. So only sayings
like “adidi devo bhav” –the gusts must be treated as the Lord. The divine poet
in Tamil literatue, Tiruvalluvar has written some two thousand years ago that
an ideal housholder’s wife would propitiate the incoming guest and after
sending them off will wait for the next guest. Now times have changed. There are
lodges everywhere and entertainment of guests need not be given the kind of
importance as given some two thousand years ago. But that does not mean we can
disregard the guest with impunity. But the same kind of rigorousness need not
be attached.
Thus cooking food for self and family is a
sin cannot stand the test of the modern one-baby time. But this might be
changed into giving abundant donations to various and genuine charities. It is
with this thinking in mind this sloka should be read. And the five-fold duties
of the householders, namely, Dheva Yajna, Rishi Yajna, Pitru Yagna, Nara Yagna
and Bhoota Yajna are a must for the ordinary householders. All the yajnas must
be scrupulously followed.
One of
the beauties of the Hinduism is even Scriptures can be interpreted according to
the changing times. Because, it was not started or founded by one man. It does
not dependent on one man’s life and incidents that took place in his days. Even
swadharma can be interpreted according to the changing tide of time. These are
some of the reasons how this way of life has endured so long without any
interruption.
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