Yajna (yagya)
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The concept
As explained in Bhagwad Gita
Yajna, sacrifice, is often considered as havan performance only , where offerings are made to fire.The Bhagwad Gita provides a deeper and wider meaning, that yajna is the route for all development and growth of the universe. The idea of Karma Yoga in the Gita is essentially based on sacrifice.Krishna says, “Yajnarthat karmano nyatra lokoyam karm abandhanah sama cara“ (3:9), that is, when actions are not performed for the cause of yajna, one is bound by his own actions.As per karmic account, one has to take rebirth to complete the debit-credit circle of actions. Hence one should perform duties for the sake of sacrifice, without any attachment.
If actions are performed with the spirit of yajna only , one is absolved from the cycle of birth and death and attains salvation. Here yajna means, when you carry out your duty selflessly , without pride and attachment, for the benefit and welfare of all beings. If you don't perform your duty and contribute your share for the sake of Humanity , then you are not part of the growth and evolution of the universe, the scripture advises. When we perform yajna, gods bestow us even with gifts we did not wish for. If one enjoys these gifts without sharing them, we would be behaving like a thief, and being ungrateful (3:12). Scriptures impart to us the culture of gratitude and thankfulness.There are various debts we incur, they're called rinahas. We need to clear them. Some of these are classified as matri rinh these are classified as matri rinha, mother's debt; pitri rinha, father's debt; dev rinha, debts of gods; social debt, teacher's debt and debt of the land. From whichever person, place or source you get something or are bestowed something by them, you must repay it. You should be grateful and thankful to them. This is a noble and typical characteristic of our culture and civilisation. The pious and benevolent person who partakes and accepts leftovers, after the sacrifice, is cleared of the guilt of all sins (3:13). The practice of accepting the fruit after distributing to all after the yajna (yajna sistasinah) gives us the thought of “judicious sharing of wealth“. It is the finest form of socialism, the summum bonum of any economy . The economy of yajna in karma yoga is being management studies of many taught in management studies of many universities of the world.
Krishna says, “He who doesn't act according to the wheel of existence or carry out his duties or contribute to the evolution of the universe, he lives in vain“ (3:16). His birth is futile and goes waste.
No society can evolve until there is a balance of responsibilities and rights. It is applicable to all, from family units to institutions, societies, nations and entire civilisation. The lack of balance between duties and rights, responsibility and freedom, trigger many chaotic conditions. Most people, including leaders, tend to harp on only one aspect the rights. They hardly talk of responsibilities or duties for fear of becoming unpopular. It is imperative in fact it is leaders' moral duty to make their followers aware of their duties also to make a future that is peaceful and hassle-free.
So let's become true karma yogis, by following Krishna's sage suggestions on the spirit and form of yajna in the third chapter of Karma Yoga in the Bhagwad Gita.
Doing Your Duties Is Yajna
Hasmukh Adhia, Oct 17, 2019: The Times of India
Hasmukh Adhia is former finance secretary, Government of India.
The first part of the Vedas gives us the technology of yajna by which one can fulfill all desires. There is a yajna prescribed for every conceivable desire. Do you want to go to heaven? Do you want children? Do you want name and fame? The Vedas offer yajnas for all of these and more. Yajna means a homa – oblations are offered to Devatas, strictly as per Vedic prescription. Yajna, in the form of homa, is an expression of our gratitude to Devatas who are believed to be in charge of sunlight, water, earth, wind and space. Without these essential elements, we would not have survived.
But that is not the only meaning of yajna. In the Bhagwad Gita, chapter 3, Krishna explains the ecological cycle of life: ‘The bodies of all beings are sustained by food. Food is produced because of rain. Rains come by yajna. Yajna becomes possible because of karma.’ The word yajna here refers to the collective action of all beings, which sustain the food cycle and make this world worth habitation.
The world we live in is what it is today, because of evolution, in which large numbers of people have contributed – scientists, engineers, doctors, teachers, supervisors and labour, for instance. Every individual plays a small or big role in the making of a better world order.
So also, by performing our chosen role with best efforts, we can express our gratitude to all other individuals who are trying to make this world a better place to live in. If we believe in karma theory, if we take more from the world and do not reciprocate equally by way of performance of our duty, we are gathering more paap, sins or exhausting our punya karma, fruits of merit deeds. Therefore, Gita’s prescription of yajna points at performance of one’s chosen duty without selfishness, carelessness and ego.
A person is meant to do five types of yajna every day: Dev Yajna, Rishi Yajna, Pitru Yajna, Atithi Yajna And Bhoot Yajna. Dev Yajna is expression of gratitude to Devatas like Agni, Varun and Vayu. It is done by offering some food to the fire. Rishi Yajna is expression of gratitude to sages whose knowledge gave us wisdom of how to live life. It is performed by reading or listening to scriptural knowledge, every day. Pitru Yagna is expression of gratitude to our forefathers who are now in different Lokas. It is performed by offering a pot of water and some food to them, in front of the Sun.
Atithi Yajna is expression of gratitude to our fellow beings. It is done by feeding an unexpected guest or by going out and feeding at least one hungry person every day. Bhoot Yajna is done in order to express our gratitude to other biological species such as animals, ants and birds by offering grains to birds, food to cows or other animals and insects. All these five yajnas are to be done daily.
These five yajnas are in addition to the main yajna that we all have to do. That is, to perform one’s duty properly, and by accepting gladly whatever results come as divine prasad. Krishna says such people are liberated from all sins and that when you express your gratitude to Devatas and other beings, they all bless you with prosperity and peace. What more do we need?
Why Yajnas
Offering Oneself To The Supreme
Pinak Pani Prasad Sharma, June 23, 2021: The Times of India
According to the Bhagwad Gita, our entire life is a yajna, an offering, self-sacrifice. You pour out everything so as to worship the Almighty – Parameshwara – Paramasatta. He in turn helps you in getting rid of the bondage of rebirth and many lives of suffering. Yajna is neither simply what we come across on many religious occasions, nor is it merely the enactment of sanskaras.
The bigger picture is that we should see life as a huge yajna, offering, to the Supreme, which could be of several types. Krishn talks about these in the fourth chapter of the Gita. He mentions tapo-yajna; jnanayajna; svadhyaya-yajna; and pranapana-yajna – pranayam. Virtually our entire life is a yajna and that alone brings one a higher quality of life and knowledge.
The yajna in the Gita means to pour out, offer as ahuti all that you gain in life, and surrender to Krishn. In the Gita, chapter 4, Krishn mentions that even breathing, the very manifestation of life, is a yajna. Breathing in is prana and breathing out is apana. Krishn says that a yogi should offer prana into apana and, conversely, apana into prana. One should practise it with suitable holding of breath regularly which creates a cycle, the pranapana cycle. This is called yajna, an offering without any dravya, material, except your own breath. In the Yog Sutras, Patanjali has propounded pranayam as one of the eight parts of the yogic practice. It takes the sadhak to the ultimate objective of samadhi.
Earlier in the Gita the same is variously mentioned as siddhi, nirvana, and Brahma-nirvana or paramagati. To practise it for the entire life as an offering qualifies for pranapana-yajna. The other types of yajna such as tapo-yajna, dravya-yajna and svadhyaya-yajna are mentioned in the Gita.
In dravya-yajnas, offerings are made through hawan ahutis to the deities as prescribed in the shastras.
The practice of yog is mentioned as daiva-yajna, also known as yog-yajna. The yogi may or may not sacrifice any material. Even reading of religious and spiritual works is described as svadhyaya-jnana-yajna. Actually, jnana-yajna is supposed to be the purest of all.
There is nothing as sacred as jnana or wisdom. Of the three gunas, qualities, namely, satva, rajas and tamas, it is the satva-guna that yields jnana, wisdom. Krishn further says that whichever yajna is chosen, it is invariably received by him.
The jnana-yajna is essentially worshipping him, which removes all illusion and, thereby, yogis achieve the unpolluted vision of reality. They are saved from moha, ignorance, or attachment of all kinds. Krishn describes himself as the Yajna Purush.
People who have no desire for rewards from a successful yajna and perform offering as an incumbent moral duty are said to be saatvik-yajna performers.
The above examples show that yajna is living in a noble way, in the spirit of ‘work is worship’. It is about conducting oneself in such a way that it becomes an example for persons with enterprise, without desire for any reward, exerting themselves only for the sake of duty; and for persons heading for spiritual upliftment through knowledge or wisdom.
Thus, Krishn in the Gita has prescribed that we must steer clear of desires and offer ourselves for attaining maximum good for self and humanity.
