Yadnya - the way to complete protection

 

 

When we look for a job we consider job security as the most important criteria. We search for organizations that are known as best employers - that have good human resource policies, that assure their employees of the job sustenance even when there is market crisis, essentially, the organizations that offer their employees and the families of employees a sense of financial security. In return organization looks for commitment and dedication from employees to work towards the vision of the organization. Through the commitment alone employee experiences the job security offered by organization.

 

So also they say that to experience the protection of God one has to perform the work of God with commitment, dedication and sincerity. Without a commitment how can we expect God to protect us?

 

The question is what does it mean by working for God. It means participating in continuing the cycle of life – srushtichakra. How to participate in this work? By performing Yadnya.

 

 

What is srushtichakra? They say that all beings were born out of food (anna). When a human being performs Yadnya by making offerings to fire god, those offerings reach Sun god. Pleased by those offerings Sun god causes rain (parjanya). Rain causes crops to fertilize. Crops provide food for human being. By eating food human beings get health and they become a cause for reproduction of human beings again. Those human beings perform Yadnya and cycle goes on. They say that when this cycle is continued all great five elements namely space, air, water, fire, earth and their presiding deities are pleased and they work in favor of human beings. But when this cycle is broken it causes imbalance and human beings start suffering.

 

 

Nowadays practice of yadnya is diminishing. It is the responsibility of every human being to perform yadnya and help in continuing srushtichakra to prevent direst calamities to happen.

 

Shri Saibaba used to visit five homes every day begging alms. He did this to remind people about atithi yadnya. They say that while performing duties in family one commits five sins “Panchasuna”- five sins by the names kandani, chulli, peshani, udakumbhi and maarjani (sins committed by involuntarily killing very minute numerous animals). To compensate these sins for every family man there are five yadnyas prescribed (pancha maha yadnyas), to be performed every day. Rishi yadnya – studying scriptures written by rishis, deva yadnya – instantiating fire and making offerings such as food to fire, pitru yadnya – making offerings to ancestors, atithi¹ yadnya – offering food to sanyasins, bhuta yadnya – making food offerings to animals such as cow. 

 

 

 

Saibaba, a compassionate Guru, made sure that by begging alms in selected homes he saved those families from effects of ‘panchasuna’.

 

 

Fortunate were those whose homes were visited by Shri Saibaba for begging alms. They had a great opportunity of performing atithi yadnya by feeding God himself.

 

One should make every effort to perform and support panch maha yadnyas. For those who cannot perform these yadnyas for any reason, saints have suggested simple yadnya.

 

 

 

At the least, they say, chant the name of god while eating every bite. Just by chanting, the action of eating food becomes yadnya.
 

Atithi - one whose time of arrival (tithi) is unknown or uncertain. Usually sanyasins who visit homes for alms.

Agreement = Bliss, Conflict = Suffering

 



The joy of family life entirely depends on harmonious relationship between husband and wife. This relationship is a very delicate relationship and any discord in this relationship causes great suffering for family members. It is not easy for two individuals raised in different families with different thoughts to come under one roof and live entire life together. There is a huge difference between “living” together and “staying” together. Lot of sacrifices and great level of understanding is needed on both sides to “live” together. The earlier they come to an agreement on the goals of life the earlier they start “living” together and the easier it is for them to unite quickly and not only enjoy all pleasures of family life but also work towards the higher goals of life. The longer duration they live with difference of opinions the longer duration they suffer and the longer they are deprived of the opportunity to pursue higher goals of life.

The important higher goal of human life is to gain knowledge and pass it on to next generation. The “real” knowledge is not the vocational knowledge which is needed for earning money. That is a basic knowledge that everybody has to acquire anyway so that they can maintain family. But feeding family is not the only goal of human life. Even animals feed their family. The real goal of human life is to first use intellect to understand the purpose of human birth and then work towards that purpose.
 

The essence of education is humbleness in character. And the essence of humbleness is service to the elders and teachers.

 
They say that real knowledge that helps to understand purpose of life can be acquired only by service to the elders and teachers. All spiritual exercises are meant to prepare oneself for serving elders and receive their blessings. The blessings that one receives by serving elders go a long way in living up to the purpose of human birth. There is no need for the people who serve elders to go outside of home to acquire the knowledge. Just by serving elders in home they can acquire the great knowledge. The knowledge that one acquires through serving elders cannot be acquired or passed on through books or words. It has to be acquired and passed on through action or through example. If husband and wife do not agree on this goal, how can they acquire the real knowledge and then how can they set an example for their children to acquire such knowledge.

This is where accordance is needed between husband and wife so that they can teach their children to gain the “real” knowledge through example. The accordance can be achieved by conversing on “what is right” rather than arguing on “who is right”. And this is where the Guru helps. Guru can help bring an everlasting agreement between husband and wife and set them on the path of pursuing higher goals of life. However, both husband and wife have to have equal faith in Guru and his instructions.

They say chanting the name of god is simplest spiritual exercise that helps bring agreement in husband and wife. One need not go far to see an example of such a couple. Father and mother of this universe is the classic example of this.

 

 

Lord Shiva and Mother Parvati live in unison forever, with no conflict whatsoever, because they incessantly chant the divine name of Rama. What could be better example of harmonious couple than this?

Shri Guru Charan - the ultimate resting place

The life is a journey through four stages – learning about life during childhood, enjoying all pleasures of life while performing family duties when young, get into practice of renouncing pleasures and live like a sage during old age and finally leaving the body while mind is surrendered to the God. Guru, the God himself, is the one who helps to make this journey through four stages smooth and effortless. If after having all pleasures of life the mind does not rest on the lotus feet of Guru the whole journey goes waste. Adi Shankaracharya, a great celibate teacher, explained importance of worship of lotus feet of Guru through his poem “Guru ashtakam” which is nothing but questions to one’s self.

I have got perfect healthy body. I have an attractive wife. I have achieved success in all fields of life and earned wealth like mountain. But after having all this if my mind does not rest on lotus feet of Guru, what’s the use of all this.

I have got all necessary things to live happy family life – wife, sons, daughters, grand-sons, grand-daughters, brothers and sisters, house, wealth, everything. But after having all this if my mind does not rest on lotus feet of Guru, what’s the use of all this.

 

I have gained all knowledge of Vedas as if they are all on my tongue. I can write good poems and essays. But after having all this if my mind does not rest on lotus feet of Guru, what’s the use of all this.

 

I have gained a respect in foreign lands. I have gained respect in my own land. I am considered as the very well behaved person. But after having all this if my mind does not rest on lotus feet of Guru, what’s the use of all this.

 

All great authorities from my land serve me. But after having all this if my mind does not rest on lotus feet of Guru, what’s the use of all this.

 

There is nothing in the world that I cannot achieve. I can get whatever I wish. But after having all this if my mind does not rest on lotus feet of Guru, what’s the use of all this.

 

I have developed a great reclusive attitude. I have developed distaste for all pleasures of life. I am no more interested in wealth. But even after developing such an attitude if my mind does not rest on lotus feet of Guru, what’s the use of all this.

 

My mind cannot rest while in forest, nor it rests in my own home, nor my mind finds interest in feeding my body. But even after getting rid of all passions if my mind does not rest on lotus feet of Guru, what’s the use of all this.

 

I have got all precious stones in the world and an attractive wife with whom I have enjoyed sensual pleasures so many times. But after having all that pleasure if my mind does not rest on lotus feet of Guru, what’s the use of all this.

 

After acquiring precious human birth one who chants this Guru ashtakam, be a Sanyasi or a householder or a king, will not only get all desires fulfilled but their minds will easily rest on Shri Guru Charan, lotus feet of Guru – the final resting abode for every human being.

What we need is the grace of God

World is experiencing calamities day after day. May the souls affected by these calamities rest in peace in God’s place and may the affected families on earth find strength to go through the tough time.

 

Calamities, though they disturb us, they also act as teachers. They make us think seriously about security of our beloved ones. They make us analyze our lifestyle to see if there is anything that we have to do to strengthen our efforts in securing ourselves.

 

They say calamities do not come with any prior notice. And when they come they change the life in a moment and the people are left wondering why and how it happened.

It is becoming more and more important to pay attention to age-old advices. By nature, as soon as the darkness starts spreading, the sinful thoughts start rising. To protect from those sinful thoughts wise people advice to be home before it gets dark. Nowadays the work lifestyle has become such that it is difficult to follow this advice. At least one can limit going out in dark only when needed.

It is risky to rely on the fact that somehow somebody will help. Even if there is anybody to help they may not be able to help due to limitations to what one can help. They say that it is God’s or Guru's grace that helps during calamities.

Acquiring grace of God is not just an individual but community effort as well. A time has to be allotted for this effort. The time after evening, they say, is a good time when whole family gets together - first to have dinner together in happy mood and then couple of hours before going to bed is a good time to get together and spend time in listening and reading beautiful stories of God from pothis (e.g. Shri Gajanan Vijay, Shri Saisatcharit) or puranas (e.g. Bhagwat Purana, Vishnu Purana, Shiv Purana etc) with an understanding that the stories from these scriptures are going to help everyone to acquire His grace that protects during calamities. Not only that, by following such lifestyle they are setting a good example. In a way they are doing social service, without even going out of home. When one family starts adapting this lifestyle, other families will also slowly follow.

The society as a whole has a responsibility to acquire God’s grace so that everyone in society lives a fearless life. For that, understanding God is very important. Abraham Lincoln, the great president of United States, and the great student of Bible, once quoted “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right.” That’s the attitude society has to adapt. The human society as a whole needs to examine if we as society are doing what God wants us to do, rather than asking God to do what we want Him to do. That’s where stories from Puranas help.

Pothis and Puranas are written by the great devotees and sages of Indian continent who wished welfare of society. They describe the lifestyle to be adapted to attract the grace of God. Those devotees and sages spent a lot of their time and energy in writing those stories, just so that people can get information about making good use of human birth while living together in society. All the stories in the pothis and puranas emphasize the importance of remembering God all the time by calling His Name or establishing close association with saints who are Gods on earth. They contain numerous examples of persons who were saved from direst calamities because they called out the Name of God. Draupadi, Pralhad, Gajendra are few known examples.

Is society, and for that matter every member of society, not responsible for maintaining conducive environment for remembering God and acquiring His grace? Sages and followers of sages have been kind enough to translate, extract information from puranas in prevalent languages. Or the great devotees of saints have written stories of saints in regional languages. So there is no room to complain that one cannot understand those stories. What is needed is a strong desire to attract grace of God for everyone in the society. That desire alone is enough to transform the society and make this world a fearless place to live.