April 7 – Bhagavadgita Chapter 4; Verses 4.23-4.24 (Day 98) Karma Yoga

 Sacrifice and Its Symbolic Value

April 7 – Day 98
Verse 4.23-4.24

गतसङ्गस्य मुक्तस्य ज्ञानावस्थितचेतसः ।

यज्ञायाचरतः कर्म समग्रं प्रविलीयते ॥ ४-२३॥ 

gata-saṅgasya muktasya jñānāvasthita-chetasaḥ
yajñāyācharataḥ karma samagraṁ pravilīyate (4.23) 

க³த¹ஸங்க³ஸ்ய முக்¹த¹ஸ்ய ஞானாவஸ்தி²த¹சே¹த¹ஸ: |
யஞ்ஞாயாச¹ரத¹:க¹ர்ம ஸமக்³ரம் ப்¹ரவிலீயதே¹ ||4.23|| 

23. To one who is devoid of attachment, who is liberated, whose mind is established in knowledge, who works for the sake of sacrifice (for the sake of God), the whole action is dissolved. 

Commentary: One who is free from attachment, who is liberated from the bonds of Karma, whose mind is centered and rooted in wisdom, who performs actions for the sake of sacrifice, in order to please the Lord – all his actions with their results melt away.  His actions are reduced to nothing.  They are, in fact, no actions at all. 

ब्रह्मार्पणं ब्रह्म हविर्ब्रह्माग्नौ ब्रह्मणा हुतम् ।

ब्रह्मैव तेन गन्तव्यं ब्रह्मकर्मसमाधिना ॥ ४-२४॥ 

brahmārpaṇaṁ brahma havir brahmāgnau brahmaṇā hutam
brahmaiva tena gantavyaṁ brahma-karma-samādhinā (4.24) 

ப்³ரஹ்மார்ப¹ணம் ப்³ரஹ்ம ஹவிர்ப்³ரஹ்மாக்³னௌ ப்³ரஹ்மணா ஹுத¹ம் |
ப்³ரஹ்மைவ தே¹ன க³ன்த¹வ்யம் ப்³ரஹ்மக¹ர்மஸமாதி⁴னா ||4.24|| 

24. Brahman is the oblation; Brahman is the melted butter (ghee); by Brahman is the oblation poured into the fire of Brahman; Brahman verily shall be reached by him who always sees Brahman in action. 

Commentary: This is Jnana-Yajna or wisdom-sacrifice, wherein the idea of Brahman is substituted for the ideas of the instrument and other accessories of action, the idea of action itself and its results. By  having (entertaining) such an idea the whole action melts away, as stated in the previous verse (No.23).

When one attains to the knowledge of the Self or Self-realisation his whole life becomes a wisdom-sacrifice in which the oblation, the melted butter or the offering, the performer of the sacrifice, the action and the goal are all Brahman.  He who meditates thus wholly upon Brahman shall verily attain to Brahman.

The sage who has the knowledge of the Self knows that the oblation, the fire, the instrument by which the melted butter is poured into the fire and himself have no existence apart from that of Brahman.  He who has realized through direct cognition (Anubhava) that all is Brahman, does no action even if he performs actions.  (Cf. III.15) 

Commentary by Swami Venkatesananda:

The sage who is established in wisdom regards his whole life itself as a sacrifice. Yajña (sacrifice) is Viṣṇu (God) – God sacrificed his unity, as it were, in the fire diversity, creating infinite beings and imposing on himself the duty of preserving and redeeming them.

Nothing can be ‘outside’ the infinite God. Nothing can be apart from his being. This creation, too, is within him. All the activity that is experienced takes place within him. The only suitable analogy is the dream in which the dreamer creates space, time and material diversity within himself and views the phenomenon as if he were apart from the other dream-objects, which derive their power, intelligence and individuality from the dreamer himself. Hence, the world is often spoken of as God’s dream.

This knowledge should be sustained even in our waking state of consciousness. God is in all. God is the all. God is the all-in-all. The symbol of the Indian ritual of yajña or havan can be extended to include all actions. The performer of the action, the instruments used, the act itself and the one to whom it is directed – all are God only.

God or the reality is not a static existence but a process, beginningless and endless. Thus, there is nothing unsacred in the universe. To live in this spirit is brahma-karmasamādhi or egoless participation in the will of God, described in verse twenty-one as ‘doing mere bodily action’ without the least trace of egoistic notion which creates isolation from the totality. The wise man sees that the bodily functions are already and always will be independent of the ego! 

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