 Bhagavad Gita Commentary–Thirty-nine–by Swami Nirmalananda Giri
 Sacrificial Offerings
The ideal of sacrifice
In every religion we find the idea of sacrifice, of making offerings to God Who, being infinite and all-encompassing–and therefore all-possessing–cannot really be offered to. Yet, in the training film we call samsara, the act of will involved in offering to God is essential to the development of each of us. For we can make offerings to our own Self–and hence to Brahman–in the form of acts which purify and evolve the vehicles of the Self. Krishna is now going to enumerate the various forms of sacrificial elements and acts.
Before studying this and the next verses it is necessary for us to understand that all described here are yogis, that Krishna is not denigrating anyone, nor he is propounding a narrow vision of what is accepted sacrifice to the Divine. He is, instead, showing us that there are many ways to offer unto God, and that all are legitimate and worthy of regard. Certainly, some are more sophisticated than others, yet every step in the stair, every rung on the ladder, is important for it leads us on to higher realities. Gods and Brahman-Self
This is particularly seen in the following verse, where Krishna presents as viable two approaches that today are almost universally viewed as antithetical to one another, the first usually being considered useless and ignorant. Note that Prabhavananda interpolates the word “merely” in the first sentence. No such word is found in the Sanskrit original. But here is what Yogeshwara Krishna says:
“Some yogis [merely] worship the devas. Others are able, by the grace of the Atman, to meditate on the identity of the Atman with Brahman. For these, the Atman is the offering, and Brahman the sacrificial fire into which It is offered.”
Here we find two approaches to Divinity: that which sees It as object–gods or God–and that which sees It as Subject–Brahman or the Atman-Self. Both approaches are legitimately yogic. Certainly worship or meditation directed to God as a separate being is not as on target as meditation on the identity of the yogi’s Self with Brahman, nevertheless such meditation leads the consciousness of the yogi upward and will eventually bestow on him the wider vision of Divinity as one with him. To despise the lesser approach is as silly as to despise memorization of the alphabet because it is superseded by reading. The latter cannot occur without the former.
The offering of the first type of yogis is devotion of the heart–no small gift. The second type of yogi offers his Self by merging It into the greater life of Brahman. Brahman is called “sacrificial fire” because such a union purges the yogi of all extraneous matter, of all that is not eternal and divine. As I pointed out, the first form of offering will culminate in the second form if persevered in. The senses
“Some withdraw all their senses from contact with exterior sense-objects. For these, hearing and other senses are the offering, and self-discipline the sacrificial fire. Others allow their minds and senses to wander unchecked, and try to see Brahman within all exterior sense-objects. For these, sound and the other sense-objects are the offering, and sense-enjoyment the sacrificial fire.”
Once again we encounter a duality. See the eminent wisdom of Krishna. He does not disdain one and exalt the other just because one may be more disciplined and consistent with ultimate spiritual principles than the other. He affirms the value of both. There can be sectarianism of discipline as well as of doctrine, and Krishna is leading us away from that temptation.
Some yogis cut off and avoid all sense-experience beyond what is inevitable in the maintenance of a simple life. Many refuse to look around them but always look down so as not to be distracted by the sense of sight. Others contrive to avoid enjoyment of the taste of food in various ways, such as mixing ashes with their food (not a very healthy practice) or mixing all the types of food together in a kind of hodgepodge, combining even the sweet with the salty. This latter is more common among Indian yogis, Yogananda even having done so in his youth. To such yogis “senses are the offering, and self-discipline the sacrificial fire.”
A completely opposite course is allowing sense-impressions without avoidance, keeping vividly in mind that all things are manifestations of Brahman. We must not misunderstand this approach. It is not “living life to the full” by romping around greedily pursuing and delighting in mere sensory experience, wallowing in the mire of material consciousness while claiming that “all is God.” This is the perversion of ignorance. Rather, Krishna is speaking of those who willingly experience natural beauty and the simple enjoyment of simple and beneficial things such as food, the warmth of shelter, the ease of good health, and suchlike. Even these yogis would be considered much too disciplined and ascetic for the hedonistic “spirituality” of the incurably worldly.
This second type of yogi freely employs the senses in spiritual devotion. They offer the fragrance and beauty of flowers, the perfume of incense, the light of lamps, and the taste of food–prasadam in worship. They also enjoy the beauty and inspiration of divine imagery and of devotional music. In this way they consciously offer Brahman to Brahman.
There is third way in relation to the senses: “Some renounce all the actions of the senses, and all the functions of the vital force. For these, such actions and functions are the offering, and the practice of self-control is the sacrificial fire, kindled by knowledge of the Atman.” Whereas the two types of yogis mentioned before have some identity with the senses, this third type “renounces” them and their functions. The way they do this is described in the next chapter of the Gita in these two verses:
“The illumined soul whose heart is Brahman’s heart thinks always: ‘I am doing nothing.’ No matter what he sees, hears, touches, smells, eats; no matter whether he is moving, sleeping, breathing,speaking, excreting, or grasping something with his hand, or opening his eyes, or closing his eyes: this he knows always: ‘I am not seeing, I am not hearing: it is the senses that see and hear and touch the things of the senses.’”
We will look into this more later in considering the next chapter. But we should seriously consider that Krishna tells us this form of offering is “kindled by knowledge of the Atman,” indicating that this discipline is established only in those who have begun to already experience or intuit the Self within themselves. Renunciation, discipline, and knowledge
“Then there are others whose way of worship is to renounce sense-objects and material possessions. Others set themselves austerities and spiritual disciplines: that is their way of worship. Others worship through the practice of Raja Yoga. Others who are earnest seekers for perfection and men of strict vows, study and meditate on the truths of the scriptures. That is their way of worship.”
This translation is so interpretative that, even though I agree with its meaning, it seems good to include Swami Swarupananda’s literal translation: “Others again offer wealth, austerity, and yoga, as sacrifice, while others, of self-restraint and rigid vows, offer study of the scriptures and knowledge, as sacrifice.”
Material wealth can be offered either by renouncing it or by using it to good purpose. For example, a person might give away all he has, but he also might renounce wealth by refusing to engage in a form of livelihood that will bring in much money but distract his from spiritual life by too many demands on his time. Also money can be renounced when we refuse to do something unethical that would have gained us a lot of money, and instead act in an honest manner and as a result earn much less.
Spiritual practice, especially yoga, is a very high form of offering to God.
Those already disciplined move up a step and offer the study of spiritual texts that expound the nature and realization of the Self, offering the resulting insight as well. They also may extend or intensify their disciplines and spiritual practices. The pranas (life forces)
“Others are intent on controlling the vital energy; so they practice breathing exercises–inhalation, exhalation, and the stoppage of the breath.”
The senses are merely instruments of perception powered by various forms of subtle life force–the pranas. In Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras we are told that meditation consists of several ingredients. One is a steady and upright posture–asana. The next is pranayama–control and restraint of the prana, the life force. There are many forms of pranayama the yogi may employ, but they all have the intention of harmonizing, calming, and directing of the life force into the higher levels of awareness, especially within the thousand-petalled lotus in the head.
The Yoga Sutras are the supreme and unparalleled text on yoga, but next in value is the Yoga Vashishtha, also known as the Yoga Vashishtha Ramayana since it is the spiritual instruction given to Sri Rama by the sage Vashishtha. In contrast to the breathing exercises that have become the vogue, that have their origins in either Hatha Yoga or Tantra, the Yoga Vashishtha says: “Pranayama is accomplished by effortlessly breathing and joining to it the repetition of the sacred Om.”
Nevertheless, whatever the form of pranayama, if it is offered to God it becomes a factor for the yogi’s upliftment.
This subject is continued in the first half of the next verse: “Others mortify their flesh by fasting, to weaken their sensual desires, and thus achieve self-control.” This, too, is very interpretive. Swarupananda translates it: “Others yet of regulated food, offer in the pranas the functions thereof.”
The food we eat nourishes and conditions the various streams of life-force, of prana, in the body, so diet is also a means of controlling prana. “Regulated food” is a better translation than fasting, which only means total abstinence from food. Of much more benefit is regulation of food, which includes moderation in the amount of food eaten, and also discrimination in the type of food eaten. The yogi must adopt a diet that conduces to health of body and stability of mind. Consequently he must absolutely avoid all meat, fish, eggs, alcohol, nicotine, and mind-altering drugs. At the same time the food he eats much be beneficial to the body and not whimsical or faddish. Krishna will discuss this at length in the beginning of the seventeenth chapter. The various sacrificers
“All these understand the meaning of sacrificial worship. Through worship, their sins are consumed away.” By the many means listed by Krishna, the negative karmas and conditionings produced by past negative action are dissolved and the yogis attain freedom.
“They eat the food which has been blessed in the sacrifice. Thus they obtain immortality and reach eternal Brahman. He who does not worship God cannot be happy even in this world. What, then, can he expect from any other?”
The entire life of the knowers of sacrifice is prasadam–that which has been first offered to God and is thus holy and purifying. Such a life leads to participation in the life of Brahman.
But those who do not live as sacrifice, as worship of the Infinite will find that there can be no lasting peace or meaning for them in any world, because all worlds are manifestations of God and their sole purpose is the life in God–nothing else. Those who live selfishly and godlessly alienate themselves from the entire cosmos. Where, then, can they find any rest? It is hopeless. But those who live sacrificially in the spirit of worship find themselves at home everywhere.
“All these, and many other forms of worship are prescribed by the scriptures. All of them involve the doing of some kind of action. When you fully understand this, you will be made free in Brahman.”
Once more Krishna points out the necessity of action and the impossibility of inaction for the adroit yogi.
Read the Bhagavad Gita online: The English text of the Gita posted on this Web Site is arranged according to the meter of the original Sanskrit text so it can be sung–as it is done every morning in our ashram and in most of the ashrams of India.
1) Yogeshwara: Lord of Yoga. A title of Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita (18:75). [Go back]
2) Bhagavad Gita 4:25 [Go back]
3) Bhagavad Gita 4:26 [Go back]
4) Bhagavad Gita 4:27 [Go back]
5) Bhagavad Gita 5:8, 9 [Go back]
6) Bhagavad Gita 4:28 [Go back]
7) Bhagavad Gita 4:29 [Go back]
8) Yoga Vashishtha 5:78 [Go back]
9) Bhagavad Gita 4:30 [Go back]
10) Bhagavad Gita 4:31 [Go back]
11) Bhagavad Gita 4:32 [Go back]
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