CH 4, Verse 28

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Chapter 4

Verse 28

 

Dravya-yajnaas tapo-yajnaa yoga-yajnaas tathaa'pare /

svaadhyaaya-jnaana-yajnaash cha yatayaH

sa.nshita-vrataaH //

 

Others again offer wealth, austerity and yoga as

sacrifice, while still others, the ascetics of rigid

vows, offer study of the scriptures and knowledge as

sacrifice.

 

LESSONS FROM BHAGAVAD GITA – 40

As taught by Parama Pujya Sri Swamiji

Compiled by: Swami Dattananda

Bhakti Mala, March 1996

 

Sri Krishna continues his descriptions of the numerous

types of yajnas or sacrifices. Any sacrifice is a

yoga, because in every sacrifice a lower form of self

is sacrificed to a higher form of Self. Worship or

adoration of Gods or deities is a sacrifice. When a

man worships his chosen deity he forgets his lower

Self and thinks of the Higher principle. To that

extent, he sacrifices his lower self in the direction

of the achievement of the Higher Self. Thus the

worship of the chosen deity or God culminates in the

“offer of the Self as sacrifice by the self in the

fire of Brahman.” It means sacrifice or surrender of

the individual Self into the Supreme Self.

 

“Others again offer wealth, austerity and yoga as

sacrifice, while still others, the ascetics of rigid

vows, offer study of the scriptures and knowledge as

sacrifice” (Chapter 4, Verse 28).

 

Drava Yagna is sacrifice with the use of both wealth

and material objects. The rich people, in order to

help the poor, spend their wealth in different ways.

They establish and run institutions meant to help the

people get free medical aid, food and clothings. They

construct public tanks and reservoirs of water for the

use of the people, and provide free education and

asylums for the homeless. Some others give away their

material possessions to the needy. They give as gifts

cows, rice, wheat and other food materials, cloths,

vessels, money, etc.

 

Some others perform sacrifice in the form of

austerities or penance. Austerities mean putting up

with the inclemencies of weather like extreme heat or

cold and carrying out one’s duty without making any

fuss or complaint, practicing control of the senses

and the mind, observing vows, fasts, etc. in order to

purify one’s own Self.

 

Some others perform yoga as sacrifice. They follow

eight parts of the discipline of yoga, which are:

 

1. Yama (Self-restraint)

2. Niyama (fixed observance of rules)

3. Asana (Posture)

4. Pranayama (regulation of breath)

5. Pratyahara (abstraction of the senses from

their objects)

6. Dharana (concentration)

7. Dhyana (meditation)

8. Samadhi (trance)

 

This type of sacrifice is practiced by the votaries of

yoga for their spiritual upliftment. So this yoga is

also called a yajna or sacrifice.

 

Some others offer study of the scriptures as

sacrifice. After the completion of the study of the

scriptures, they carry out the sacrifice in the form

of imparting the knowledge to others. This is called

Jnana Yajna or knowledge sacrifice.

 

Thus, different people perform different types of

sacrifices according to their inclination (Samskaras)

and attain self-realization. Such people who work for

their spiritual upliftment are people of rigid vows.

 

 

 

 

 

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