March 7 – Bhagavadgita Chapter 3; Verses 3.13 (Day 67) Karma Yoga

 March 7 – Day 67

Verse 3.13

यज्ञशिष्टाशिनः सन्तो मुच्यन्ते सर्वकिल्बिषैः ।

भुञ्जते ते त्वघं पापा ये पचन्त्यात्मकारणात् ॥ ३-१३॥ 

yajna śhiṣhṭāśhinaḥ santo muchyante sarva kilbiṣhaiḥ
bhuñjate te twaghaṁ pāpā ye pachantyātma kāraṇāt (13) 

யஞ்ஞஶிஷ்டா¹ஶின: ஸன்தோ¹ முச்¹யந்தே¹ ஸர்வகி¹ல்பி³ஷை: |
பு⁴ஞ்ஜதே¹ தே¹ த்¹வக⁴ம் பா¹பா¹ யே ப¹ச¹ன்த்¹யாத்¹மகா¹ரணாத்² ||13|| 

13. The righteous, who eat of the remnants of the sacrifice, are freed from all sins; but those sinful ones who cook food (only) for their own sake, verily eat sin. 

COMMENTARY: Those who after performing the five great sacrifices, eat the remnants of the food are freed from all the sins committed by these five agents of insect slaughter, viz., (1) pestle and mortar (2) the grinding stone (3) the fireplace (4) the place where the water-pot is kept, and (5) the broom.  These are the five places where injury of life is daily committed. The sins are washed away by the performance of the five Maha-Yajnas or great sacrifices which every Dvija (twice-born or the people belonging to the first three castes in Hindu society, especially the Brahmin) ought to perform:

1.     Deva-Yajna: 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 Rishins,

3.       Pitri-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. 

Commentary by Swami Venkatesananda 

Not the ritual called ‘yajña’, but the simple universal daily act of cooking food itself is regarded as ‘yajña’ or sacrifice here. It is symbolic and illustrative, but not descriptive and exhaustive. Even so, all our actions should be acts of self-sacrificing, selfless service – always for others, never for ourselves. We are ‘the other’ of others! 

That settles once and for all this futile wrangling over ethics – what is good and what is evil? Self-sacrificing, selfless and desireless service is good; selfish action is evil. It does not matter what the action appears to be externally – an act of selfless service is good. It does not matter how grand and philanthropic it looks – a selfish action is evil. 

The spirit of sacrifice was woven into the very fabric of our life, so that we were almost compelled to feed our fellow-men and animals and insects before we ate. Self-sacrifice is our religion. Charity is our supreme duty. Our prayer to the Lord is that everyone should be happy; all beings should enjoy peace, happiness and prosperity. Bali-dāna (popularly, an animal sacrifice or its symbolic equivalent) is the culminating point of yajña. According to Bhāgavataṁ, king Bali gave everything to the Lord and eventually offered himself too, in an act of supreme self-sacrifice. True Bali-dāna is total sacrifice of our whole being, our very soul, at the altar of God so that in the full and direct realization that the ‘I’ is and has always been a non-entity, a shadowy dividing factor, even the thought ‘I do this’ or ‘I enjoy’ or ‘I suffer’ is no more in our heart. Charity involves sacrifice. Sacrifice leads to self-sacrifice. We are freed from sin. 

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