Transcript (Not Corrected)

Vedic Teachings: Ṛtam, Dharma, Yajña, and Dhī

Opening Prayer

ॐ सह नाववतु ।

सह नौ भुनक्तु ।

सह वीर्यं करवावहै ।

तेजस्वि नावधीतमस्तु ।

मा विद्विषावहै ।

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ।

हरिः ॐ ।

Transliteration (IAST):

Om Saha Nāvavatu

Saha Nau Bhunaktu

Saha Vīryaṃ Karavāvahai

Tejasvi Nāvadhītamastu

Mā Vidviṣāvahai

Om Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ Śāntiḥ

Hariḥ Om

Translation:

Om, may Brahman protect us both.

May Brahman bestow upon us both the fruit of knowledge.

May we both obtain the energy to acquire knowledge.

May what we both study reveal the truth.

May we cherish no ill feeling toward each other.

Om, peace, peace, peace be unto all.

Introduction: The Four Great Truths of the Vedas

So, the important points we are discussing are the teachings of the Vedas. The Vedic Ṛṣis or Seers had found out four important truths about life. What are these four? At the very beginning of my talks, I had reminded you of the essence of the Vedas: that there is one reality which is called Brahman, and everything is sacred, everything is interconnected, and everything has a meaning.

The Concept of Ṛtam

Understanding Ṛtam and Anṛta

This discovery starts with the idea of Ṛtam, and the moment we do not understand this and try to guide or regulate our life, then our life becomes Anṛta. A popular meaning of the word Anṛta is untruthfulness, but the real meaning is: it is unreal, meaningless, wasted life. So this concept of Ṛtam is the most important discovery.

The whole basis of a Hindu's life is dependent upon the understanding of this concept of Ṛtam. Ṛtam means universal harmony. It has five important characteristics which I will come to shortly.

From Ṛtam to Dharma

This Ṛtam later on turned into the concept of Dharma. From the cosmic point of view it is called Ṛtam; from the individual point of view it is called Dharma. Now, all of us are integral parts of this Ṛtam, the principle of Ṛtam.

If we are not in harmony with this universal principle, then we become—or our life becomes—Anṛta. Anṛta means, as I said, untruthful. Untruthful means we will not be happy; we will be frustrated. We will have diseases at the physical level, disease at the mental level or intellectual level, disease at the spiritual level, and continuous rebirth and suffering.

What Buddha used to call "life is full of suffering"—this is what he meant: Anṛta. So our attempt to integrate, to live in harmony with this universal integration, is the goal of life.

The Four Essential Concepts

1. Ṛtam – Universal Harmony

The concept of how we can integrate ourselves with this universal harmony is named by our Vedic seers as Yajña. So here is Ṛtam, here is Dharma, and here is Yajña—three important concepts.

2. Dhī – The Faculty of True Understanding

But how to understand and put it into practice? For that we need a special faculty, and that faculty is called Dhī. Later on, it in a way degenerated into the popular idea of Buddhi. By Buddhi, usually Hindus mean intelligence, intellectual understanding. That's not what Dhī really means.

Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's Illustration

Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa clarifies the point for us. There are paṇḍitas—scholars who understand, who read the scriptures every day and think they understand. How beautifully Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa brings out this concept through a small story.

There was a king who wanted to study the Bhāgavatam. He employed a Bhāgavata paṇḍita. Every day the paṇḍita used to read out and explain the Bhāgavatam, and at the end of it he would ask, "Have you understood?" And the king used to ask, "Have you understood?"

So this man was a sincere man. He went back and studied it: "Am I missing something?" Then he came the next day, and again the same thing happened. Several times this happened, and one day the Bhāgavata paṇḍita felt hurt. He prayed to God: "Lord, am I missing something? I know all the commentaries, sub-commentaries, the word meanings, everything. What does the king really mean? He is not a fool."

He prayed to God. As a result of praying to God, suddenly the understanding came. The Dhī had awakened in him, and the Lord, in the form of the understanding, conveyed the message: "You fool! All along, what have you understood? What is the essence of the Bhāgavatam? Human life is meant to love Me and realize Me, and here you are running after a king, trying to exploit him so that you can get some money or name and fame. The real meaning of the Bhāgavatam is that you should cultivate love for Me, and if you love Me, you will run away from the world and become a monk."

And that's what he did. So he sent a note to the king: "Oh King, now I understood. Now you can employ somebody else to teach you the Bhāgavatam."

The Gāyatrī Mantra

Every morning, Hindus in the past—all the three upper classes—used to go to a river bank or the seashore, and they used to utter a famous mantra. You know what it is? The Gāyatrī mantra. And what is the meaning of the Gāyatrī mantra? There is a special meaning which I will come to later on, but briefly what it means is: "Oh Lord, awaken Dhī in me." Dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt—"Let me have that faculty to understand life."

Two Results of Awakened Dhī

Then what happens when I understand, when my Dhī awakens? Two things happen:

My understanding becomes perfect. But many of us have understanding; unfortunately, we do not have that desire to put it into practice.
We have a strong desire to put these things into practice—first to understand, second to practice. That is how we know a person is really an intelligent person or not.

Otherwise, all paṇḍitas understand—even intellectually, they understand many things rightly—but unfortunately, they do not feel like practicing it.

Summary of the Four Concepts

So these are the four concepts:

Ṛtam
Dharma
Yajña
Dhī

Briefly, I will discuss these four concepts.

Detailed Explanation of Ṛtam

The Nature of Ṛtam

About Ṛtam: The Vedic seers saw reality as an eternal, self-regulating, universal order or harmony which is the foundation and essence of all that exists. To these sages, this ultimate truth—and to live in tune with it—is true life. Not to live in tune with it is called un-Ṛtam, falsehood, false life, or vain life.

I also told you that this has got certain characteristics. From this word Ṛtam came the word "right" and "righteousness." Later on, emphasis has been made on Sat, Satya. This Satya is an important point to understand. Sat means existence. Sat also means purity, holiness.

Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa says, "Cultivate the company of the holy"—Sat Saṅga. Here, Sat means holiness.

The Three Aspects: Satyam, Śivam, Sundaram

So this concept of Ṛtam has turned into three important ideas:

1. Satyam – Truth/Truthfulness

First, Satya means truthfulness or truth.

2. Śivam – Goodness

Second, Satya means it is good. Why is it good? Because if one lives in accordance with this truthfulness or Ṛtam or Dharma, then life becomes good for him.

You know, the Hindu law of karma explains why some people enjoy life while some people suffer. What is the simple explanation? Law of karma. What is the law of karma? The person who enjoys had done some good deed. He lived a life of Satya, whereas the person who did the opposite suffered. Not to be in harmony with this universal concept of harmony is Adharma.

3. Sundaram – Beauty

The third is beauty. Now, beauty is intimately connected with both truth and goodness. Anything that is beautiful must be true, must be good.

For example, if you see something in a cinema which is very beautiful, you won't give it any value. You only give it the value of entertainment. Do you follow me? It has entertainment value only. However beautiful it is, it doesn't give you any lasting joy. But anything that is real—true means real—must also be good. If it is not good, it is not beautiful at all.

Satyam, Śivam, Sundaram—truth, goodness, and beauty, in that order. This is what later on this concept of Ṛtam expanded into.

The Five Characteristics of Ṛtam

As I mentioned, this Ṛtam has five parts. What are the five parts?

1. Self-Regulating

The first part is: Ṛtam is self-regulating. This means there is no force from outside, but it is there within, from within.

Universal Application: It occupies the whole universe, the living as well as the non-living. Just to give an example: Scientists tell us that this Earth is elliptical—it's not round, it is slightly oval-shaped. If it had not been exactly in the shape it is now, but if it changes its position by even one-hundredth of a degree, life on Earth would become extinct. This is what scientists tell us. Now who is there to explain why exactly it is like that and it never changes its position? There is some self-regulating mechanism.

Scriptural Support: This idea has been given in the Upaniṣads, especially in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad and also the Kaṭha Upaniṣad. "Out of fear of this, the sun rises and sets, and out of fear of this, Agni and Indra do their respective duties, and Mṛtyu, the deity of death, promptly reclaims lives whose time on Earth has run out."

This means that the whole universe has a self-regulating, self-balancing capacity, and that is done by whom? By the principle of Ṛtam. Something is inside.

Everyday Examples: To give you another example: Whenever we go out of balance, then immediately there is a mechanism which automatically tries to restore it. Is it right? You are walking, about to slip—what do you do? You try to regain your balance. Who is telling you to do that? We are born with it. Even a tottering newborn calf slips, but there is a self-regulating mechanism which tries to make it stand properly. Or if you are riding a bicycle, what do you do? Constantly you are trying to maintain a balance. When you are driving a car, what are you doing? There is a balance. There is something within.

Bodily Examples: You are eating food. Something within says, "I am still hungry; it's not enough," and you eat more. Something says, "You have overeaten. Be careful." If you are hungry, the self-regulating mechanism says the body needs fuel. If you are tired, the self-regulating mechanism says—it is all within, whether it is a small baby or a man about to die. It's a self-regulating mechanism.

Just as life has a self-regulating mechanism, death also has something which tells you, "Look, it is better for you to die." We do not wish to die, but there is a self-regulating mechanism which says: If you do not die at the right time, then who will suffer? You will suffer. It is self-regulating.

2. Harmonious

It is harmonious. This is the most wonderful concept which I briefly mentioned in my last class: Everything in this universe is in perfect harmony with everything else.

Within the human body there is a symbiotic relationship between certain bacteria and our life forces. So the bacteria help you to live, and as a payment, they also take something. Without them we will not be able to survive. Everything has a harmony with everything else.

3. Interconnected

Everything has interconnectedness. No part is redundant. Everything has its own role and place. That is called a holistic attitude.

4. Meaningful

Everything has a meaning. This is the hardest part for us to understand. Yes, when I am very happy, I can understand it has a meaning. But when I am suffering, what is the meaning? When I am sick, what is the meaning?

Try to find out what is the meaning. "I am having a headache. Why is there this headache? What does it tell us?" It tells us something has gone wrong. "I am living a life of Anṛta, false life. Correct yourself. If you do not correct, you will suffer."

5. Corrective (The Self-Regulating Nature of Maya)

What is the most wonderful thing? I said it is a self-regulating mechanism. So what happens is: If we do not correct ourselves, it will correct us, and until we become all right, it is not going to leave us.

This is a concept which has turned into what is called in modern Indian philosophy the concept of Māyā. What is Māyā? The self-regulating mechanism.

"You lead a good life, then you will go to God, back to God. You do not lead a good life? I will take you to God, but I will drag you to God by your ears!" Who does that? The Guru does that. That is why he is called Karṇadhāra.

That is what nature does for us. If we do it ourselves, then it's fine. If we do not, then nature does it. That is why this beautiful concept: Holy Mother used to say, "You know, my child, everybody will get food. Nobody will go starving, but some people will get food only at midnight."

What a profound statement! Everybody will go to God. Nobody will be left out. This is Vedānta's very special philosophy.

Question of Sinners: Then are there no sinners? Yes, there are sinners. And who is a sinner? An adharmic fellow is a sinner. An unrighteous fellow is a sinner. And who is an unrighteous fellow? He who doesn't live in harmony with the universal Ṛtam—he is adharmic. But he will not be left out.

The Stream of Life: Nature—life is a mighty stream. It will not allow anyone to be left behind. It will carry everyone. But if you don't go along with the stream consciously, then on the way you will be smashed against rocks. You will be pulled through thorny bushes. You will suffer a lot, badly bruised. Ultimately you will reach the ocean, because no one will be left behind. This is the most beautiful concept arising from this: There is a self-regulating mechanism.

Summary of the Five Characteristics

So these are the five concepts:

Self-regulating
Universal
Harmonious
Interconnected
Meaningful

When Swami Vivekananda said, "Each soul is potentially divine," that's what he meant. What is potential divinity? Divinity is within us. It will not allow you to just live as you like. Yes, it will give you some choice, but even that choice is fraught with suffering.

Dharma: Living in Harmony with Ṛtam

Definition of Dharma

How to live in integration with this concept of Ṛtam? From the cosmic point of view, there is a harmony, an interconnectedness, a meaningfulness in this whole universe. From the individual point of view, we have to consciously live in harmony with that concept, and this attempt to live in harmony with the universal has come to be known as Dharma.

The word Dharma in Sanskrit has a very beautiful connotation. What is Dharma? That which upholds a thing is called Dharma.

The Essence of Each Thing

What is the meaning of upholding? A human being has humanness. A cow has cowness. A book has bookness. So humanness, cowness, bookness—that is the Dharma of that particular object, and there is no way we can deviate.

You see, you can dress a person like a bear. Will he become a bear? You can dress a book in the shape of a table. Will it become a table? It can never lose its essence. If it loses its essence, it will become non-existent. That is the first concept: Everything has its own special essence which makes that object that unique object.

Now, to protect that uniqueness is called observing Dharma in practice.

Human Dharma

Let us take human beings. Every human being has his own Dharma: humanness. So what is this humanness? It is only a Western concept, but according to Swamiji, every human being has what? Potential divinity.

So the first attempt should be: he should be a human being. The second attempt: he should be a spiritual being. So what is Dharma? To be a human being, to be a spiritual being—to try one's level best with all one's time, energy, and intelligence. That is called observance of Dharma.

The Fruits of Dharma

So what happens? When Dharma is protected, Dharma protects that person. It gives good results. Then what happens? The result would be: life becomes Ṛtam, Satyam. Life becomes holy. Life becomes good. Life becomes beautiful—Satyam, Śivam, Sundaram.

Varieties of Dharma

We have to be dharmic. Dharma means—I will deal with this special subject called Dharma in my future class: How many types and how we can be dharmic? That is a special subject by itself. But here I am briefly telling you: Individual attempt to live in harmony with the universal—that is called Dharma.

Naturally, a child's Dharma will be different. A grown-up person's Dharma will be different. A doctor's Dharma is different. A lawyer's Dharma will be different. A soldier's Dharma is different. And this concept has been explored by Lord Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad Gītā so beautifully. We will come to that later on.

Yajña: The Practice of Dharma

Definition of Yajña

So how to practice Dharma? That attempt to practice Dharma in individual life is called Yajña. What is this idea of Yajña? Yajña means how to put Dharma into practice. Practical Dharma is called Yajña.

Misconception About Yajña

Now there are two types of Yajñas. You know, you hear the word Yajña. Vedic Ṛṣis used to perform Yajña. All that picture that comes to your mind is: They will be lighting a fire and wasting a lot of clarified butter and other things into the fire. Even now you see many people doing it.

But the concept of Yajña is: Every second we are performing Yajña. The whole universe is doing Yajña. The Lord Himself, in the form of the universe, is performing Yajña.

Two Types of Yajña

1. Divine Yajña

So there are two types of Yajñas: the divine and the human. What is divine Yajña? That is the attempt to sustain, to keep up this Ṛtam, universal harmony, so that the universe will not fall into pieces and become non-existent. What the good Lord does is Yajña—divine Yajña.

How Divine Yajña Manifests: How does He do it? Do you see the Lord sitting somewhere and lighting up some fire and offering something? Every day the sun rises and the sun sets. What is it? The wind is constantly moving. The clouds are pouring rains. The rivers are flowing all the time. The earth is being bountiful. All these are part of divine sacrifice.

This is what I would like to speak of in brief: The creation and maintenance of this whole universe, the constant rejuvenation of the earth through the rising and setting of the sun, the fall of rain, the flow of rivers, the blowing of wind, the growth of plants and animals, and all other countless, ever-recurring processes of creation, maintenance, and destruction going on all over the universe—all these are the result of the cosmic Yajña of the divine.

The Three Functions of Divine Yajña: This divine Yajña has three functions. What are those three functions? Sṛṣṭi, Sthiti, and Laya—creation, maintenance, and dissolution.

The Story of Śiva and Pārvatī: If the Lord takes leave for one day, what will happen to us? There is a beautiful story illustrating this point. Lord Śiva and Pārvatī were sitting on Mount Kailāsa, and Pārvatī was in a playful mode, and so she wanted to play a little bit with Śiva because there was nobody else to play with. He was looking down at the beautiful earth. So she went behind him, put her hands behind his eyes, and closed his eyes—just for a moment—and opened them.

Śiva became very grave, serious. He said, "Devī, what have you done? Don't you understand that the whole of life could have become extinct?" Because the two eyes of Lord Śiva are the sun and the moon. One moment of Śiva's time is 100 million years on the earth. So when she closed them, the sun and the moon had taken a holiday—a long, long holiday. What would have happened? The whole creation would have come to an end.

That's when they say, as soon as she closed his eyes, a third eye had popped up. He opened the third eye, and light, air, fire, heat, everything—as usual, the world went on.

The Meaning: In the form of this story, the mythology is trying to tell us that this divine Yajña—this whole creation, maintenance, and dissolution—these are all part of the divine Yajña. This concept that the Lord is sacrificing, is making this Yajña to maintain this universal life, Ṛtam, was beautifully depicted in the Puruṣa Sūkta. The Puruṣa sacrificed Himself.

Not a One-Time Act: It is not a one-off act. Yes, He did that at one time. After that, God took rest for the seventh day. He took rest. There is a legend, you know, some of the Bible versions are there: Six days He worked hard; the seventh day He took rest. If the Lord takes rest for one day, what do you think is going to happen to you and me?

The Ongoing Nature of Divine Yajña: So this divine Yajña—constantly the Lord is doing this for us. And not only is He doing it in the form of nature, He is doing it in the form of trying to awaken people.

The Concept of Avatāra: One of these concepts is called Avatāra. Why does the incarnation occur? Why does the Lord incarnate Himself? What for does He incarnate? Do you know what the Gītā says about it? Hindus must know. You have been attending these classes for years and years and years.

When does the Lord incarnate? Whenever there is an upset of Dharma, when Dharma is lacking, when vice prevails and virtue declines. This means when Dharma goes down, the only purpose is: Dharma-saṃsthāpanārthāya sambhavāmi yuge yuge—"For the establishment of Dharma, I incarnate age after age."

What is Dharma? How human beings should regulate themselves in order to live a proper life. And for that, God Himself descends. What is it? From the state of God, He enters into human life. It is the worst type of degradation in life, and yet He does it happily, voluntarily. That is why Swami Vivekananda called Him—Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa—Prāṇārpaṇa Jagat-tāraṇa, "one who had offered his life."

The Eternal Nature of the Avatar's Sacrifice: When did he offer his life? From which year to which year? Not from which year to which year—his whole life, from the time of his decision to come into this human life until the time he passed away. When did he pass away? Did he pass away? Where did he pass? From this room to the other room. He is still there in his subtle body, and he is still there helping all of us. If he doesn't maintain this balance, this earth would have been extinguished long, long back. Prāṇārpaṇa Jagat-tāraṇa.

Jesus Christ as Divine Sacrifice: About Jesus Christ it is said: "God Himself sent His own son as sacrifice for the sins of this world." It's a cryptic statement, but what it really means is that this Jesus Christ—who was Jesus Christ? God Himself in the form of Jesus. He had sacrificed his life, and he is still sacrificing his life. What did he say? "Wherever there are two people gathered in my name, I am there." Still he is doing it. He will do it in the future.

The Endless Cycle: This is one concept. Also, what did we say? Divine Yajña progresses in three phases in an unending cycle: Sṛṣṭi, Sthiti, Laya—creation, maintenance, dissolution. And this is not a one-off act. There will be creation, there will be maintenance, there will be dissolution. This is called Brahma-cakra, the wheel of the universe. Constantly it is going on.

So what is death? The beginning of life. What is life? The beginning of death. So be careful about celebrating your birthday. "I am 40 years old." Forty years old means you are nearer to death—40 years. But you go a little beyond and say, "I am 40 years nearer to a new life." Don't you ever forget. The result is that this creation, maintenance, and Pralaya or dissolution is also part of this divine Yajña.

2. Human Yajña

Definition: Then what is human Yajña? What can a human being do? As I said, what is Yajña? The attempt to live in harmony with this universe—that is called Dharma, and Dharma in practice is called Yajña.

Converting Life into Sacrifice: So if a man wants to attain harmony and peace, he too must imitate the divine and convert his whole life into a sacrifice, into Yajña.

The Example of Swami Tūrīyānanda: You know Swami Vivekananda? One day, after his return from America, he promised, "I will send one of my brother disciples. I only preached"—he was very modest—"I only preached, but I will send you one who has really realized and is practicing those principles in life." So he asked Swami Tūrīyānanda, "You must go to America." He said, "No." Then Swamiji scolded him. He said, "No."

What to do? Swamiji was a wonderful actor, you know. He fell on the shoulder of Swami Tūrīyānanda and started sobbing. He said, "Hari Bhai, I am shedding my blood drop by drop. Would you all just go on seeing and will not try to lift a hand to help me?" If a person like Swami Vivekananda, who returned from America, starts sobbing like that, who can resist it? This is what I call Brahmāstra. Nobody can resist it. Even God cannot resist.

What does Rāmakṛṣṇa say? "Weep for three days, and He will come running." Weeping is the last resort. Hari Mahārāj immediately had to accept it.

Joyful Sacrifice: What was Swamiji doing? Was he simply telling? Did he not shed his blood drop by drop? But he did not take it in a negative way. He did it joyfully. He did not do it involuntarily.

Rāmakṛṣṇa's Voluntary Descent: Rāmakṛṣṇa—you know that beautific vision—he went into Saptarṣi Maṇḍala, where the seven sages were sitting, and he lovingly put his hands around the neck of one of the Ṛṣis and said, "I am going down. You must come with me." And the Ṛṣi consented by his just look, and then a ray of light came down. So he did not do it involuntarily, in a forced way. He had to come down from that state, from the highest state. He had to come down. But why did he come down? Because it is a joy.

The Nature of Spiritual Sacrifice: This is what I will discuss now: That giving up this wonderful state in order to help other people, converting one's own life into a whole Yajña—whole life is a Yajña, a sacrifice—not in the English sense, in the Indian sense. It is a joyous participation in the divine sacrifice, universal sacrifice, Viśva-yajña. And that is what Rāmakṛṣṇa did, what Christ did, that's what Buddha did, that's what Swami Vivekananda did, that's what all of us are doing.

So if a man wants to attain harmony and peace, if he wants to develop his potential divinity and attain supreme peace, then he has to do it.

The Two-Way Nature of Yajña

Yajña is a two-way process, of which giving is only one part, receiving being the other. Why? We can only give what we receive, and without receiving anything, what will we give?

The Bengali Saying: In Bengali, this beautiful concept has been put so beautifully: Gaṅgā jale Gaṅgā pūjā—"You want to worship Mother Gaṅgā. What will you do? Take a little water from her."

A small child wants to feed its mother. What will it do? It will take a tiny bit of food from its cup and put it into the mouth of the mother. Who gave the child that tiny cup of food? It is the mother only.

So this is what God gives us, and we have to give back.

The Cosmic Drama

The Vedic idea of Yajña may be described as participation in the living drama of the cosmos. The essential point in participation is non-retention, not holding back.

Life gives us food, air, energy, ideas, knowledge, love, rest, joy, life itself. It is an unceasing flow which can only be maintained by giving back to it what is taken out of it.

The Cycle of Receiving and Giving

So what is the concept of Yajña? Whatever we receive, we should give back. So what is the first part of this? We have to receive. And how can we receive? By giving back.

You see, Mother gives you food, and she wants to give you a second time. How will you receive a second time? You must digest whatever you have already received. Not only that—you know what happens when you eat food? Two things happen after you eat food. You know what happens? First thing is: You digest part of the food and absorb it, and it becomes you. Right? What is the second part? Something goes out.

And that going out is not merely what we have eaten. Some part of ourselves also is added to it and goes out. So now, you see, how does a plant grow? You add manure. What is manure? What is given out by the animals, plants, etc.

The Universal Cycle: The idea I am driving at is: The whole universe, the cycle, the unending cycle is going on. We take, we receive, and if we don't give what we receive—death. You breathe in and don't breathe out. Then what happens?

The Cycle of Breath: You know, every process of breath is Prāṇāgni. See, what the whole universe in the form of plants is breathing out is called oxygen. We are breathing in, and what is it we are giving? Are we giving a little bit of oxygen? We are giving back carbon dioxide. But what is this carbon dioxide? It is oxygen for the others. So this continuous cycle is going on.

The Danger of Selfishness: If anybody tries to retain it, that is called selfishness. Then what happens? Who will be the person harmed? That person will be harmed.

The Fate of the Miser: How wonderfully it is stated, you know: If there is a miser and if he doesn't use his money properly—you know what happens? In a Sanskrit verse it says that either the rogues of his children will take it and waste it away, or the king in the form of taxes will take it away, or thieves will come and take it away.

Many times it is seen that people who do not voluntarily give what they legitimately should give—nature will come and hold the hand, and then it will be taken forcefully. The result is very painful. In the process, we suffer.

The Gītā's Teaching

So every individual must convert his life into a Yajña, and how to convert that Yajña is the whole topic matter of the Mahābhārata, Rāmāyaṇa, Dharmaśāstras, Bhagavad Gītā, etc

The Yajña-cakra (The Wheel of Sacrifice)

The Gītā calls this process of taking something in and giving something out the Yajña-cakra. There is a special verse, and it says: "One who does not participate in this Brahma-cakra by not converting his whole life into an act, a sacrificial act—such a person lives a vain life, and he becomes unhappy; suffering is his lot."

So how can a person convert his life into a Yajña? That is where the scriptures give us steps on how to do it.

The Meaning of Sacrifice in Yajña

You have understood life has to be converted into a sacrificial act, but it doesn't mean—again, do not take the English word. Sacrifice in English means suffering. No, it is not suffering. You take, you retain what you need, and what you do not need, you give it back. This is the idea.

The Two Preconditions for Yajña

So if the first step in converting our life into Yajña—we must become conscious. Now, many of us here are all devotees. So what do we do? We sit for meditation. And why is it that this meditation is not proving very beneficial? Why is it that even after 50 years we are the same persons? Why? Because the first condition of any meditation is—later on, you know, this Yajña converted itself into meditation in the form of Gāyatrī prayer and all that—one must become self-aware.

Whatever we want to do, we should not do unconsciously. We should do it consciously. What does it mean? It's a beautiful subject.

Self-Consciousness, Not Mere Wakefulness

Suppose a Hindu goes to a temple, and as an act of going to the temple, he has to give something to the temple. You know, a lot of devotees come here. There is a praṇāmi box, and they drop a little bit of money there. Are they doing it in their sleep? I wish they would do it, because instead of putting one pound, at least they will put five pounds!

They do it very consciously. That's not what is meant. What is meant? They are awake, but they have not really understood the significance of why they are giving. Then why are they giving? Because of tradition. Unconsciously they are following the process—they have been drilled that whenever you go to a temple, you should give something. It is not a self-conscious act. Yes, he is awake, he is giving, he is doing it, but it's not a self-conscious act.

The Two Essential Conditions

So two conditions must be fulfilled if our life has to be converted into a Yajña:

First: It must be self-conscious. What is self-consciousness? We must awaken to the fact that what we are giving, we are not giving. What we are receiving, we take whatever is necessary and give back what we do not really need.

Second: It must be selfless. What is selflessness here? Selflessness means that I have nothing to give. I am only a medium, a pipe. Water is coming from God. It flows through a pipe. It enters into our kitchen. If the pipe says to us, "Be careful, you worship me, because it is I who is giving you water," then what would you do? You will break that pipe and bring another pipe.

The Story of Kṛṣṇa and Indra

There is a very significant story in the Bhāgavatam. Śrī Kṛṣṇa was at Gokula. Those people used to worship Indra before. Then Śrī Kṛṣṇa once said, "Why do you want to worship Indra? What big benefit is he conferring upon us? It is this hill which is giving the beautiful grass, and it is sustaining all the animals, us, fruits, flowers, and all these things—beautiful water. We should worship this. Who is this fellow called Indra whom we have to worship?"

And of course, they were very afraid on one side. On the other side, they had tremendous faith in Kṛṣṇa's words. So they said, "Okay, what you said seemed to be reasonable. Let us worship."

Then, you know, in the form of the legend, Indra became very angry: "What? They stopped my worship! I will destroy them!" And he poured and poured rains. You know the idea is this: The Lord lifted this Govardhana Giri with his little finger, and Indra could not do anything.

The Symbolism

What is the symbolism of this act? The symbolism is: Indra is only a pipe. Who is the real giver? The Lord Himself is the real giver.

So you may wonder, "Instead of worshipping Indra, they only worshipped a hill." No. Śrī Kṛṣṇa gave them that Dhī, understanding: "It is the Lord who is within the hill who is giving you this." The idea is: Connect everything with God.

Seeing God in All

This was the great act that Hindus understood. That is why a river is a goddess. A mountain is a goddess. A plant is goddess—Tulasī, for example, etc. Every animal is connected with some God or goddess. A cow is goddess.

What is the idea? The idea is: It is not that the cow that we see externally is God or goddess. It is not the jackal which is the vāhana. It is not the lion. It is that which is within, and the outside is but an expression of what is within. This beautiful Upaniṣadic principle or teaching is put into a practical term by deifying everything.

The Example of Rāmakṛṣṇa's Photo

Take another example, a concrete example. Here is Rāmakṛṣṇa's photo. We worship it. Whom are we worshipping? Are we worshipping the body of Rāmakṛṣṇa? It is not there. What is there? A piece of paper, photographic paper, a wooden frame, a bit of light behind. Is it not? Is that what we are really worshipping?

Whenever we worship that, we are remembering the divine Lord who manifested the most in that particular person's life some time back. So the historic person is only a symbol, but the eternal person is the real target of our worship.

The Deeper Meaning of Worshipping Govardhana

When Śrī Kṛṣṇa told these people, "You worship the hill," he is not asking them to worship that particular piece of stone—maybe a little big, with plants and flowers. He is asking that the real worship belongs to the divine Lord. Through this external manifestation, He is giving it.

Summary: The Two Aspects of Yajña

All of us must become aware of these two facts:

First, we must become self-conscious. What is self-consciousness? We must awaken to the fact that what we are giving, we are not giving. What we are receiving, we take whatever is necessary and give back what we do not really need.

That is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa told to Madhur Babu in a beautiful way: "You are not the owner of this zamindari. You are only a trustee."

The Story of Swami Vivekananda and Rockefeller

And today, to every rich person, this is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa would say. And interestingly, when Swami Vivekananda was in USA—California, I think—somebody told Rockefeller, "Come and meet. Swamiji is a great man. He is a great man." So Rockefeller came and stood. He was very proud: "I am one of the richest persons."

Swami Vivekananda did not even look up. After a long time, he looked up, and he told him, "Look, all the money that you have doesn't belong to you. God has given it to you. You enjoy your life, but become a trustee." The man said, "Who the hell are you to give me advice?" He got very angry, and he went away.

Of course, you know, when a person like Swami Vivekananda tells something, it will never go in vain. You know why? Because Swami Vivekananda never told a lie in his life. So it is said: If a person observes truthfulness for 12 years, whatever he speaks will come true. If such a person tells a miser, "Be generous," the miser will become generous. If such a person tells a dead person, "Come back to life," he will come back to life.

So Rockefeller didn't understand that. He went away. But you know, like an acid, it entered into him and started corroding. Corroding what? His haughtiness, his egotism, his miserliness.

After a few days, he came hurriedly, without again any appointment. He just gate-crashed into Swami Vivekananda's room, and he said, "I have made a trust. Thank me." Swami Vivekananda calmly looked up and said, "Thank me for giving you the suggestion."

And today there is a big Rockefeller Foundation. Millions of rupees. See, Bill Gates—he said that he would dedicate all his remaining wealth as a trust, trying to do some charity. Perhaps he understood that "I am a trustee. I must use this for a good purpose." There are people like that.

The Two Essential Points Restated

So the point is: If our lives have to convert themselves into a Yajña, two points have got to be kept in mind:

One: It must be a self-conscious act, in the sense that we understand, "This is not mine; this belongs to God. So what I am giving is—I am only an instrument. I am giving."

Two: There must be no selfishness involved. What is the selfishness here? "I want name and fame. I want recognition. I want any other sort of joy or pleasure in doing this." There must be only one sense: "This is my pūjā to the divine Lord. This is my worship to the divine Lord."

These are the two important steps if we have to convert our life into a Yajña.

The Three Stages of Yajña

So in these Yajñas, there are three steps, because even though we would like to convert our life into a Yajña, we cannot simply become Einsteins. There are three steps, and there are varieties of Yajñas.

These two concepts—Bhagavad Gītā, in the fourth chapter—we get briefly told:

The first step in the process of converting our life into Yajña is not to do anything wrong.

The second step is to do everything that is right.

The highest step is to realize that the divine Lord is doing everything. All that I need to do is not to stand in His way but to become a right instrument.

Arjuna's Journey in the Gītā

How do we know? In the Gītā, what was Arjuna's first reaction? "I will not do it." He learned his lesson. "Okay, I will not take wrong decisions."

The second step: "Okay, I will do it."

The highest step: Then the Lord Himself told him in the 11th chapter—we get it—Nimitta-mātraṃ bhava savyasācin—"Become merely an instrument, O Arjuna."

"I have already done what I decided to do. Everything is running according to My will. I sit in the hearts of all beings and move everything according to My will."

Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṃ hṛd-deśe'rjuna tiṣṭhati

Bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni yantrārūḍhāni māyayā

"The Lord dwells in the hearts of all beings, O Arjuna, causing them to revolve by His Māyā as if they were mounted on a machine."

Types of Yajña

So these three steps—in the fourth chapter of the Gītā we get. Briefly, there are:

1. Dravya-yajña (Material Offerings)

This is in two forms again:

One is in the form of giving money and other things.

Second form is of doing service. If you are educating an illiterate boy, if you are serving a patient, you may be poor—anybody can do it. But if you are having anything, then you give it: money, food, clothes, housing, whatever you can give.

So one is materials; another is in the form of personal service.

2. Jñāna-yajña (Mental/Intellectual Sacrifice)

The second type of Yajña is called mental Jñāna-yajña. I am talking to you about these beautiful concepts. Depending upon what attitude I have towards you, it can become a Yajña. And you are listening. Depending upon what attitude you are having towards this action of listening—you are doing it consciously, you are doing it selflessly, you are having the highest motive—then that becomes a Jñāna-yajña.

Gītā Jñāna-yajña. Upaniṣad Jñāna-yajña. In Chinmaya Mission, that is the name they give: "A teacher is giving Jñāna-yajña." A doctor is also giving Jñāna-yajña when he is treating a patient. Scientists are doing their Jñāna-yajña. So many people are doing, on a mental level—anybody who is offering his or her services through the intellect in the right way, that is called Jñāna-yajña.

3. Spiritual Yajña

Then there is a spiritual Yajña. The last step, which is a joyous participation—the devotees call it Līlā. Yogins, Karma-yogins call it Karma-yoga. Jñāna-yogins call it Ātma-yajña. Devotees call it Līlā, and Yogis call it meditation.

Meditation is a form of Yajña.

Service by the Karma-yogins is a form of Yajña, the highest form of Yajña.

Participating joyously in the world process is the Bhakta's point of view of Līlā, Yajña.

Those who meditate: And Swami Vivekananda—lest you may misunderstand—this is my creation. It is not my creation. Swami Vivekananda said: "Higher than even the incarnations of God, there is one type of person about whom the world knows nothing, because they sit somewhere. What do they do? They just sit and meditate."

What is their meditation? It is only one meditation: "May all beings be happy. May no one, no person, no being ever suffer. May this whole earth be filled with peace and bliss, from birth to death, from morning to evening." This is their one single, continuous, uninterrupted prayer. That is how a Yogi participates in this universal Yajña in his way.

But without going through these steps, a person can never attain to that step.

Dhī: The Faculty of Awakened Understanding

Briefly, I will talk about this and another important concept: Dhī. What is Dhī? How to awaken the Dhī? How is Gāyatrī so important? And certain—there are so many Vidyās in the Upaniṣads—but one sample Vidyā I will talk to you about, how profoundly it affected modern, even modern Hinduism.

These points I will talk about in my next class.

Conclusion

The progression from Yajña to meditation represents the evolution of Vedic practice into forms accessible to later generations. What began as external ritual fire ceremonies transformed into internal spiritual practices:

Yajña (Vedic sacrifice) evolved into Pūjā (ritualistic worship)

Vidyā (Vedic contemplation) evolved into Mānasika-pūjā (mental worship)

The awakening of Dhī (through Gāyatrī) evolved into Dhyāna (meditation)

For retired people, for Vānaprasthīs, this mental worship and meditation become the primary forms of Yajña. The modern concept of meditation, which became very popular in the 1960s through Maharishi Yogi and continues to be widely discussed today, has its roots in this ancient Vedic practice of awakening Dhī.

The devotees who have taken initiation from the Ramakrishna Order usually receive a booklet called "Upāsanā"—a way of contemplation. In this practice, one's own chosen deity becomes the focus. The ancient Gāyatrī has become now the modern chosen deity. Formerly it was the Sun. Now it could be Rāmakṛṣṇa, it could be Kṛṣṇa, it could be Devī, it could be Rāma, it could be anybody. And every god or goddess has his or her own Gāyatrī mantra.

What is the purpose of meditation? To awaken the Dhī. What our ancient Vedic seers used to do early morning—praying to the Gāyatrī, symbolizing the inner awakening—that turned into the modern concept of meditation or Upāsanā.

Closing Prayer

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः

Om Śānti, Śānti, Śānti.

Om, peace, peace, peace be unto all.

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