Gita - sloka

Gita Chapter 4 sloka 24.

I am sure all of us at some time or the other have experienced uncomfortable moments when close friends expressed their critique on matters very sacred to us, but (a) out of need to maintain decorum we were just mute listeners, and/or (b) we did not have satisfying counters.

It was one such incident in the long past, when one of my closest friend’s mother expressed her dismay at what she felt about offering precious items as “aahuthi” in a sacred fire in say a “Chandi Yagyam/homam” , which according to her would better be distributed to poor etc.

The debate about wasting money/ material on rituals versus distributing alms to poor is one which is an altogether different subject, and I would let this pass, as the subject for my piece is about “aahuti, Yagyam, and a Gita sloka which talks about these”, and which to my mind is quite a scintillating one and worth sharing. To be honest the view expressed by the lady, did strike a feeble chord though there was no doubt in my mind even at that time that there must be a very significant meaning to such apparently meaningless offerings which amounted to sheer waste according to this lady.

In an “yagyam” the “aahuthi”(offerings) part is considered very important. The yagya is considered fulfilled/accomplished in its entirety and satisfactorily, when all the offerings lose traces of their individual identity and dissolve/merge into that sacred fire which is the ultimate brahmn in “one”. (In a very crude translation of Hindi “ Jitne bhi saadhan hain sab saadhya roop ho jaaye thabhi ve yagya hote hain”, only when all causes and effects merge it is called Yagya.)

This is a preamble to the translation of gita sloka 24 of chapter 4, given by swami Ramsukhdas. Seen in this profound spiritual plane, it is clear that unless one is able to transcend the material level, the ladies anguish can never be countered. The choice is one’s own.

Coming to the sloka it goes like this:

Brahmaarpanam brahma havihibrahmaagnau brahmana hutham,

Brahmaiva thena ganthavyam, brahma karma samadhinaa.

The translation in my interpretation goes like this:

“The vessels for yagya, the materials there-for, the doer of the yagya , the sacred agni (fire), the very act of offering, every one of these is “brahmn”. The doer who has fixed his mind in deep contemplation of the true nature of brahmn, in which the act of performing the yagya itself has merged, the fruits of such action is also verily the brahmn.

In other words, a person who perceives no independent identity of anything other than “brahmn”, the fruits of his action can only be union with that brahmn.

Experiencing the oneness with that universal soul is not just a feeling, it is the reality.”

I am tempted to end this piece at this stage as I feel intoxicated with this profoundly beautiful sloka, like the namboodari who after a sumptuous lunch feels so happy that he decides to write off all his wealth to charity!!. I have nothing to offer to charity though!!!

But on a sober reflection, I think this piece will not be complete without touching about the alleged practice of narrating this sloka at the time of partaking of food as this is considered a yagya. The full meaning in the context goes like this:

The food, the hands which feed, the partaker of the food, the fire in the belly “jaataraagni” the digester of the food, and finally the very act of offering the food as aahuthi to the fire all of these are verily the brahmn.

Hope there is no dilution of the beauty of the original sloka, and all of you pardon me for assuming that you will be able to savor this as much as I do, in case you don’t.

Love

Vichu