Srimad Bhagavad Gita -Ramanujacharya 91

Srimad Bhagavad Gita -Ramanujacharya

Chapter-3 Karma Yogaḥ

Sri Krishna stresses the need for sustaining the body only by the remnants of sacrifices in respect of those who are devoted to all [the four approved] goals of human life (1. Dharma — social duties, 2. Artha — material prosperity. 3. Kāma — pleasure, 4. Mokṣa — liberation from suffering). He denounces those who nourish the body by things that have not been offered in sacrifice: — saha yajñāiḥ prajāḥ sṛṣṭvā purovāca prajāpatiḥ | anena prasaviṣyadhvam eṣa vo’stviṣṭa kāmadhuk || 10 || 10. In the beginning the Lord of all beings, created humans along with the sacrifice, saying: 'By this shall you prosper; this shall be the cow of plenty granting all your desires.' Commentary Because of the Vedic text — 'The Lord of Universe…..' , it is justifiable to take the term Prajāpati (Lord of Beings) in its wider sense and interpret it to mean Nārāyaṇa who is the Lord of all beings, the 'Creator of the Universe' and the 'Self of all beings' and the 'Supreme Abode'. In the beginning, at the time of creation, the Lord of beings, saw all beings submerged within Himself, in a state devoid of the distinctions of name and form. They were helpless due to their total identification with insentient matter and were incapable of attaining the four goals of human existence. The supremely Compassionate One, with a desire to redeem them, projected them into being together with sacrifice in order that they might perform sacrifices as His worship and said:— 'By this sacrifice, shall you prosper', ie. accomplish your development and prosperity. May this institute of sacrifice fulfil your supreme desire of liberation (Moksha) and also the other desires that are in conformity with it. How, then should this be done?