Categories: opinion

Yagnya: Part 1

A simple meaning of the word yagnya is “giving with respect”. The other commonly understood and used meaning is that of the ritual where one makes offerings in a lit fire, chanting mantras, taking the light and heat of the fire to represent the divine. When one offers whatever one can, not regarding it as one’s own, for the welfare of the society, it is called yagnya.
The spirit of sacrifice is: “Idam Na mama” (this offering belongs not to me). This selfless attitude helps to slowly shift your attention from the objective world to the power that created that fascinating world. The ritual is just a dramatisation of the spirit of sacrificing that, which in any case was neither made by you nor that of which you can claim ownership!
The world works on the principle of give and take. Giving with thankfulness and devotion, uplifts you by the rare joy of this selfless act. The five elements are constantly giving and taking. The biggest giver, the Sun, gives out light, heat and nourishment, it dispels darkness and banishes the crippling cold. Water, in a true spirit of yagnya saturates with a life sustaining sap, the plants, animals and humans, withdrawing the mortifying effects of dehydration. Air purifies, seamlessly and gracefully flowing through hill and dale and is the greatest sustainer of life.
The Earth, in a continuous selfless spirit of yagnya provides for almost all our needs, be it food, clothes, dwellings, medicines and other products. It consumes all the waste, the filth and the rot that the world produces, returning it to us as nourishing food! Space accommodates all, rejecting none. All nature radiates with the spirit of yagnya and teaches us that if you are a Receiver then you also need to be a Giver.
Prarthna Saran, President, Chinmaya Mission, Delhi can be reached at prarthnasaran@gmail.com

Prarthna Saran