BHAGAVAD-GITA 3:14

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BHAGAVAD-GITA 3:14

 

annad bhavanti bhutani

parjanyad anna-sambhavah

yajnad bhavati parjanyo

yajnah karma-samudbhavah

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

annat--from grains; bhavanti--grow; bhutani--the material bodies;

parianyat--from rains; anna--of food grains; sambhavah--production;

yajnat--from the performance of sacrifice; bhavati--becomes possible;

parjanyah--rain; yajnah--performance of yajna; karma--prescribed

duties; samudbhavah--born of.

 

TRANSLATION

 

All living bodies subsist on food grains, which are produced from

rains. Rains are produced by performance of yajna [sacrifice], and

yajna is born of prescribed duties.

 

PURPORT

 

Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana, a great commentator on the Bhagavad-gita,

writes as follows: ye indrady-angatayavasthitam yajnam sarvesvaram

visnum abhyarcya tac-chesam asnanti tena tad deha-yatram sampadayanti,

te santah sarvesvarasya yajna-purusasya bhaktah sarva-kilbisair

anadi-kala-vivrddhair atmanubhava-prati bandhakair nikhilaih papair

vimucyante. The Supreme Lord, who is known as the yajna-purusa, or the

personal beneficiary of all sacrifices, is the master of all the

demigods, who serve Him as the different limbs of the body serve the

whole. Demigods like Indra, Candra and Varuna are appointed officers

who manage material affairs, and the Vedas direct sacrifices to

satisfy these demigods so that they may be pleased to supply air,

light and water sufficiently to produce food grains. When Lord Krsna

is worshiped, the demigods, who are different limbs of the Lord, are

also automatically worshiped; therefore there is no separate need to

worship the demigods. For this reason, the devotees of the Lord, who

are in Krsna consciousness, offer food to Krsna and then eat--a

process which nourishes the body spiritually. By such action not only

are past sinful reactions in the body vanquished, but the body becomes

immunized to all contamination of material nature. When there is an

epidemic disease, an antiseptic vaccine protects a person from the

attack of such an epidemic. Similarly, food offered to Lord Visnu and

then taken by us makes us sufficiently resistant to material

affection, and one who is accustomed to this practice is called a

devotee of the Lord. Therefore, a person in Krsna consciousness, who

eats only food offered to Krsna, can counteract all reactions of past

material infections, which are impediments to the progress of

self-realization. On the other hand, one who does not do so continues

to increase the volume of sinful action, and this prepares the next

body to resemble hogs and dogs, to suffer the resultant reactions of

all sins. The material world is full of contaminations, and one who is

immunized by accepting prasadam of the Lord

(food offered to Visnu) is saved from the attack, whereas one who does not

do so becomes subjected to contamination.

 

Food grains or vegetables are factually eatables. The human being eats

different kinds of food grains, vegetables, fruits, etc., and the

animals eat the refuse of the food grains and vegetables, grass,

plants, etc. Human beings who are accustomed to eating meat and flesh

must also depend on the production of vegetation in order to eat the

animals. Therefore, ultimately, we have to depend on the production of

the field and not on the production of big factories. The field

production is due to sufficient rain from the sky, and such rains are

controlled by demigods like Indra, sun, moon, etc., and they are all

servants of the Lord. The Lord can be satisfied by sacrifices;

therefore, one who cannot perform them will find himself in

scarcity--that is the law of nature. Yajna, specifically the

sankirtana-yajna prescribed for this age, must therefore be performed

to save us at least from scarcity of food supply.

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.