Srimad Bhagavadgita-Rahasya OR Karma-Yoga-Sastra -Bal Gangadhar Tilak
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CHAPTER 3
सहयज्ञा: प्रजा: सृष्ट्वा पुरोवाच प्रजापति: । Translation:-(10) In ancient days, Brahmadeva created living beings (praja) together with the Yajna and said (to them): 'By- means of this (Yajna), may you grow ; may this be to you a kama-dhenu (that is, something which fulfils all desires). (11) By this Yajna, do you give pleasure (that is, prosperity) to the gods ; (and) may those gods (in return) give you pleasure (that is, prosperity) ; pleasing each other (in this way), may you (both) attain the highest kreya (that is, benefit); (12) because, the gods, being satisfied by the Yajna, will give you (all) desired enjoyments. He who enjoys ( by himself alone ) what has been given by them, not giving it (back) to them, is indeed a thief. Description:- [After Brahmadeva created this Universe that is, the world of the gods and all the other worlds, he was filled with anxiety as to how all these worlds would be maintained. He, therefore, performed austere religious practices for a thousand years ; and having thereby pleased the Blessed Lord, He (the Blessed Lord) created the Activistic cycle of Yajnas for the maintenance of all these worlds, and directed both the gods and the men to follow that arrangement and thereby protect each other: such is the description given in the Narayaniya doctrine mentioned in the Mahabharata[1] ; and the same has been repeated in the above stanza, slightly differently and with minor verbal alterations. This fortifies the proposition that the doctrine enunciated in the Activistic Bhagavata religion is propounded in the Gita. But, as the Bhagavata religion considered the slaughter of animals included in the Yajnas as objectionable[2], Yajnas by sacrifice of wealth took the place of the sacrifice of animals; and ultimately, the opinion that the Yajna by means of prayer[3], or by means of Knowledge[4] was the most superior Yajna, came into vogue[5]. It is clear that the word Yajna' means, all the Action (duties) prescribed for the four castes ; and that this Yajna-ritual or Yajna-cakra (cycle of Yajnas) has to be kept going without a. hitch in the interests of the maintenance of society[6]. Nay, the Yajna-cakra' (cycle of Yajnas) mentioned later on in the 28th stanza is a kind of universal service (lokasamgraha),[7] It is, therefore, stated even in the Smrtis that the Action productive of universal welfare, which the Blessed Lord thus created in the beginning of the world for the welfare both of the world of men and of the world of gods, should necessarily be kept going ; and the same meaning has been made perfectly clear in the next stanza. ] |
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