The entire content of this mail is from Swami Chidbhavananda's translation of The Bhagavad Gita, published by Ramakrishna Mission.
The greatness of Yajna -9-13
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| Sabari's selfless devotion to her Acharya and Rama |
Tad artham karma kaunteya mukta sangah sam achara II sloka 9
यज्ञ अर्थात कर्मणः अन्यत्र लोकः अयं कर्म बन्धनः ।
तद अर्थं कर्म कौन्तेय मुक्त संगः सं आचर ।। श्लोक ९
The world is bound by actions other than those performed for the sake of yajna. Do therefore, O son of Kunti, earnestly perform action for yajna alone, free from attachment.
Competition cooperation and self dedication are the three ways in which beings make life a fulfillment. The lowest order of creation exists by sheer competition. In this stage, the struggle for existence is an endless warfare. The physically strong and the fittest thrive and prosper while the weak and the feeble are either left in the background or exterminated. This law of survival of the fittest inexorably prevails in life at the physical level. Plants, birds and beasts bear testimony to it.
In the life at the mental plane, cruel competition gets minimised. Intelligent cooperation gains ground here. This process is also known as social life. Man is a social being though corporate life is not his exclusive prerogative. Other beings are also found very well at it. Corporate life is more conducive to growth and progress than the competitive one. The civilization of man is mainly based on his gregarious instinct. Collective peace and security are the bases for prosperity and progress in arts and sciences. Man enjoys these advantages much more than the lower order of creation.
Self dedication is the highest law of life. It prevails at the ethical and spiritual planes. It is given to the enlightened man alone to practise self dedication. The act of offering the best and the most useful in one for the welfare of the others. Both the giver and receiver stand to gain through this sacred act. It is like draining water away from a copious well into a fertile field. This bounteous act goes by the name of yajna which literally means sacrifice. As fresh water springs out from an emptied well, the man who performs yajna becomes more and more enlightened and prosperous. BY imparting one's learning to others the capacity to teach increases. By sharing one's knowledge and wisdom with others, one's fund of knowledge and wisdom increases. By supplying manure to the soil its capacity to yield is made more potential. By giving the labourer his due wage the urge in him to turn out more work is made keen. BY sharing one's wealth with all those who have been responsible for its growth, security and further expansion are ensured. the personal weal is ever unfailingly contained in the public weal. Giving effect to this inviolable law of nature is the practise of yajna.
Meritorious act untainted by selfishness, disinterested service, work of any kind performed for general welfare, adoration of the Almighty, ethical and spiritual endeavours - all these salutary activities are contained in yajna.
Dedicating oneself to spiritual life amounts to performance of yajna. Waging a righteous war to wipe out wickedness from the world is an act of yajna. Increasing the wealth of the country not for self aggrandizement but for people's welfare is definitely yajna. Humble and obscure labourers such as the hewers of wood, drawers of water. tillers of soil and carriers of load are also performing yajna when they assume the attitude that with the sweat of their brow they are serving the Lord and his creation. It is the attitude that transforms the soul entangling karma into the soul emancipating yajna. Divinity reveals itself best where yajna takes place. That "yajna is Vishnu" is an Upanishadic statement. Performance of yajna leads man to sreyas.
He lives in vain who does not utilise the human birth which is very rare to obtain, for the attainment of Divinity
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
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