Significance of Yagna - 11.10.1972 Divine Discourse of Bhagavan

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Yajna - What it Teaches

 

Discourse of Sathya Sai Baba, Prashanthi Nilayam, 11 Oct 1972

Published by Sri Sathya Sai Books and Publications Trust

Web posted at Feb 17, 2002

 

The Vedhapurusha Sapthaaha Jnaana Yajna, being celebrated every

Dhasara at Prashanthi Nilayam, is a rite that promotes the welfare

and prosperity of the whole of mankind. But, it is difficult to

convince doubters and disbelievers that this is the truth. Many feel

that since such Vedhic ceremonies can be performed in orthodox style,

with all the Manthras uttered in correct style, only in India, their

efficiency, if any, is confined to this land only, and so, they ask,

how can this be beneficial in other regions where people have no

faith in such rituals and hymns?

 

Such doubters restrict the meaning of the word, Yajna. Yajna

means, 'any activity dedicated to the glory of God', not merely, this

activity prescribed in the ancient scriptures. Activity dedicated to

the glory of God is being done, and can be done in all climes, in all

realms, by all races. The 'dedication' ensures success. Without it,

there will inevitably arise anxiety, fear and faction. Every activity

in the world is God-directed, God-ward moving, whether you know it or

not. Only one has to be aware of it and share in the thrill of that

knowledge. If God is not the inspirer and motivator, how can the

universe be moving in harmony, wheeling so smoothly? Else, there will

be chaos, anarchy and an inferno of gamble.

 

Charity and Self-control are integral Parts of Yagna

 

Do not think that the Yajna is only this ceremony performed in this

enclosure, marked out as specially holy, attended by readings and

recitals from sacred texts and the chanting of Vedhic hymns, and

nothing other than this. No. Yajna is a continuous process; every one

who lives in the constant presence of God, and does all acts as

dedicated to God is engaged in Yajna.

 

Three processes go together in spiritual discipline, as laid down by

the sages; Yajna, Dhaana and Thapas (sacrifice, charity and self-

control). They cannot be partitioned and particularised thus. Charity

and self-control are integral parts of Yagna. That is why Yajna is

translated as sacrifice, for, the process of charity or Dhaana is

essential in Yajna. Also Thapas, that is to say, strict regulation of

emotions and thought-processes, to ensure peace and faith.

 

There are various Yajnas prescribed by the Vedhas. This is the

Vedhapurusha Yajna, a sacrificial ceremony dedicated to the Purusha

extolled in the Vedhas, the Purusha mentioned in the Purusha Suuktha

as constituting the universe and subsuming it wholly as the limbs of

His cosmic body.

 

Every householder has the duty of performing for his own welfare and

the welfare of the society in which he lives, five Yajnas like

Pithryajana (Yajna by which the forefathers are worshipped),

Rishiyajna (Yajna by which the sages are honoured, that is to say, by

the study and practice of their teaching), Bhuuthayajna (Yajna by

which the animals and lower-beings are revered, that is to say, by

provision of shelters, fodder etc.) and Dhevayajna (worship of God).

 

The Vedhapurusha is the Purushotthama (the supremest person) for by

His will He manifested Himself as the cosmos and its components, out

of Himself. There is nothing that is not He; so, how can you be

different? In these matters, faith comes first; it has to. Believe

that you are divine; conduct yourselves in accordance with that

sovereign status; then, you will be blessed with the Anubhuuthi - the

experience, the vision, the realisation, the awareness, the bliss.

And, as a result, you are merged in that everlasting Aanandha.

 

The only one God can be reached by a thousand Names

 

Remember, you cannot have the Anubhava (experience) and the Aanandha

(bliss) first. And, you cannot postpone faith, until you get them.

You cannot bargain: "Give me the Aanandha and then, I shall have

faith". See the Purushotthama in all Purushas. Purusha means, he who

lives in the Pura (port, city, or town). Each one of us is the

resident and the sole resident of a distinct house of God. But, the

Purushotthama - the supreme resident in all the cities - is God. You

can recognise this Purushotthama, if you educate yourselves properly.

 

Take this Yajna performed here. In this one fire, offerings are made

concurrently with the recitation of the names of God, enclosed in

elaborate hymns. More than 3560 offerings are made each day, for

seven days. Each name describes God as having a special form. But

this one fire consumes all the offerings, and through its

intermission every one of the offerings reaches the one God, the one

that really 'is'.

 

Or, consider this: You perform worship with 1008 names, a rite called

Sahasranaama Archana. You keep an idol or picture before you and

offer one flower at a time at the feet of that symbol of God,

repeating the names, one at a time. The one symbol of the one God is

only one, though He can be reached by a thousand names.

 

Though you are acknowledging only one in all these rites, proclaiming

the one Adhwaithic (non-dualistic) divine, your sense and your

intellect and your mind, its pack of desires, insist on running after

the many. This is the Maaya (delusion) that casts its enchantment on

weak and ignorant men. It urges man towards wild prolific greeds of

the many-faced senses.

 

When you take Food, do it in a prayerful Mode

 

To realise the one, the universal absolute, which personalises itself

into God and creation, there is no discipline more valuable and more

effective than Seva. All the 1008 names of the Sahasranaama Archana

reach the one. All the 1000 names of thousand-faced society connote

only the one God that plays in those 1000 roles. The one appears as

if it is enshrined in the 1000 bodies. This is the truth you have to

realise and cherish as the most precious in life.

 

You have observed that the Vedhic Pandiths (priestly scholars) are

pouring Ghee into the fire, every time the recitation of a hymn is

over. Every day, when you take food, you are offering eatables to the

fire that God has lit in you to digest food. You have to eat in a

prayerful mode, in profound gratitude. The Geetha says that the fire

which cooked the meal is God, the meal is God, the eater is God, the

purpose of eating is to carry on the work entrusted by God or

pleasing to God, and that the fruit of that work is, progress towards

God.

 

You must perform another Yajna too, every day. Pour the egoistic

desires and emotions, passions, impulses and acts into the flames of

dedication and devotion. In fact, that is real Yajna, of which there

are reflections and prompters, guides and prototypes. This Yajna is

only the concrete symbolic representation of the abstract underlying

truth. Just as a child is taught to pronounce the words, head, net,

wave, garland, by making it associate the sounds and the letters-

forms with pictures of the objects so named, through this Kshara

(temporary) symbol the Akshara Thathwa (the eternal principle) is

brought before the consciousness.

 

Make every Thought a longing for God

 

This Puuja, this Yajna, and this Homa, are arranged here every

Dhasara, in order to help you to learn that other, everlasting,

abstract Yajna, which every one of you has to do, to save yourselves

from fear, grief and anxiety.

 

You must have noticed that the Pandiths close each day's Yajna with a

prayer that calls for world peace, peace for all mankind, peace and

happiness, for there can be no peace without happiness and no

happiness without peace. "Lokaasaamasthaas Sukhino Bhavanthu", they

pray - "May all the world have happiness, and peace."

 

Peace of mind cannot be gained by wealth or fame or scholarship or

skill. For that, you have to clean the mind, purify the heart, yearn

for service of the divine forms that move around you. Do every deed

as an act of worship; make every thought a longing for Him; change

every word that comes from your tongue into a hymn in His praise.

 

This is the lesson that you have to learn from Prashanthi Nilayam,

every Dhasara, during the week the Yajna is celebrated.