#269 Which is the best sadhana/yajna in the Gita? Part 1 of 2
There is a lot of confusion around the word sadhana which is reflected in the questions asked often –
What will happen if I skip my sadhana for a few days?
What is the best sadhana? If I continue doing sadhana for many years, what will I get?
Let’s clarify – The words sadhana, sadhya, sadhaka and siddhi are derived from the same root, sadh.
When there is a goal to be accomplished in time, it is called Sadhya.
The means for accomplishing that goal is sadhana.
The person who uses the means to accomplish the goal is called a sadhaka.
So the sadhaka accomplishes a goal, Sadhya by using a means, sadhana. The accomplishment is called siddhi and the one who has accomplished the goal is a siddha.
Every human being is a sadhaka, a seeker. When you want to go abroad, you are a sadhaka. When you want to return home, you are a sadhaka.
At any given time, we are seeking something or the other. So the question is what are we seeking?
In all that we do and have, are we seeking security or are we seeking freedom from insecurity and dissatisfaction?
Moksha or freedom from insecurity and limitation is already an accomplished fact. But since it is not known by the sadhaka, it becomes a Sadhya of knowing oneself. So, the desire for moksha is converted into a desire for knowing oneself.
Then the question is what is the sadhana to know oneself.
The fourth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita especially from verses 4.25 to 4.31 speak of different sadhanas as yajnas.
Most of the sadhanas are karma and hence are limited by time, place and efforts.
Any karma be it seemingly secular or religious can only produce 4 results –
A result that can be reached like a place or even svarga,
A result that can help to purify you like a shower or a dip in a holy river,
A result that can help you gain what you do not currently have like money
A result that can transform you like more composure.
A limited karma cannot give you the limitless.
Different sadhanas or yajnas are not the direct means for limitless happiness that is oneself.
Why is the sadhana called a yajna? Because all these sadhanas are dedicated to the Lord, for superior growth.
Literally, a yajna is a fire ritual offering wherein 5 things are required – Yajmana-the doer, Devata and His anugrah-grace and Dravya-materials. Additionally two other things matter – the life-style of a karma yoga or a sannyasi, and the Bhavana – the attitude with which it is done.
Only jnana-yajna helps one know oneself. Bhagavan Krishna speaks of this initially and also after speaking about other sadhanas and yajnas.
Jnana yajna – Because there is a sacrifice and offering involved for one who pursues knowledge, knowledge also can be looked upon as yajna and is therefore, called jïäna-yajïa.
The seeker offers himself or herself. Since the seeker alone is offered, who is it that does the offering?
If someone else offered the seeker unto the fire, it would be a simple case of murder, but here, because the seeker offers himself or herself, it seems to be willing suicide.. Please don’t take this literally.
Unto the fire of Brahman is offered the ahankara, the limited ideas that one has of oneself. The ignorant person looks upon himself or herself as one who has doership and experiencership because he or she takes the body, mind and senses to be the self.
It is this small person, the seeker, who is offered unto the fire of Brahman, the knowledge of Brahman.
To offer the ahankara unto the knowledge of Brahman is the best form of yajna.
The doer of the jnana yajna, is myself, the one who knows is myself, what is known is myself, and what is offered unto the fire of Brahman is also myself. It means that I am Brahman.
This knowledge that ‘I am Brahman’ is clear vision and it is different from the other sadhanas and yajnas that are presented.
When Swami Chinmayananda ji first started to give talks, he called his talks – jnana yajna. When curious people would walk in after seeing the poster for the first time to hear a Swami speak of Vedanta in English, they would expect to see an actual yajna – kunda with fire. Of course, there would be no such fire nor the yajna kunda, the contained space where the ritual would be performed.
Having said this much, Bhagavan Krishna goes on to describe other yajnas, after which he would again praise jnana-yajna.
The yajnas, mentioned later are not rituals at all, but because they are disciplines whose purpose is to accomplish moksha by antah-karana-shuddhi, they are considered to be yajna
Such disciplines can accomplish two ends.
One is, certain composure, tranquillity and steadiness of mind.
The second end that can be accomplished is maturity, a freedom from the spell of one’s raga-dveshas, likes and dislikes, that hold one hostage.
Some of the yajnas or sadhanas mentioned are
Daiva-yajna (4.25) – offering materials to Devata. This is done in a fire ritual offering or a puja or chanting of stotrams. The results of doing these karmas or sadhanas is getting punya in the form of what one wants – health, wealth, harmony in relationships, fame, power, freedom from obstacles and even going to Svarga.
Performing Deva yajna helps us appreciate the world as a manifestation of Bhagavan. It helps us to be in harmony with the world and hence Deva yajna releases us from the hold of ragas and dveshas and give antah-karana-shuddhi.
Samyama-yajna (4.26.1) – offering senses into the fire of the samyama, mastery over the senses . The eyes, nose, tongue, and skin, sense of touch are the organs through which sense perceptions such as, hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, and touching, respectively, take place. Here, the organs of sense perception and the organs of action are offered unto the fire of self-mastery.
Does one pluck off the ears and nose or pull out the eyes and tongue to offer them unto the fire? Of course not. In fact, the person does not do anything. The sadhana here is control of the senses or inner mastery, samyama. People who practise this are not carried away by their fancies. All one’s activities are conscious and deliberate.
When a person practices sense control, what he destroys or offers is: undisciplined sense organs are offered into sensory discipline.
Undisciplined sense organs are as though offered; because when you offer the oblation, it disappears. when you offer ghee into fire; after the oblation, ghee is no more there. Similarly in this oblation, what disappears is untamed sense organs disappear, and in that place what comes, disciplined, mastered sense organs are there; And therefore, this is considered to be another yajñāh; indiscipline offered unto disciplinealso called damaḥ yajñāḥ.
Indriya-agni yajna (4.26.2) – Offering the objects of the senses into the fire of Indriya, senses . Are n’t people doing this anyway – listening to all kinds of music, watching all kinds of series, feeding their sense organs with whatever sense objects they want? .
Just as a mother decides what her child should eat, how much and when, which becomes a discipline for the child until he can decide these things for himself, so too, yogés follow certain disciplines.
The sadhana is to become more deliberate about how the senses are used and what one feeds into them. The senses are offered into the sense organs with a certain discipline – what and how much to see, what and how much to hear, what and how much to talk, what and how much to walk, and so on.
Knowing how much to eat, for example, the person eats no more, even though there may be a desire for another helping or food may be abundantly present. Without hurting the dharma, the yogi perceives and enjoys the sense objects, feeding the sense organs in a manner that is conducive to his pursuit of knowledge.
When the sense organs begin to become my master, and I become a slave; I say no to what enslaves me. If I am addicted to coffee, my sadhana would be to be able to say ‘no’ when required. The tongue need not nag me.
If there is deliberateness and moderation then one can enjoy all sense pleasures aligned with Dharma, making it a yajna.
All the sense organs are the hōma kundas; the turf in which the fire is there; and there are seven hōmakundas; two eyes, two ears; two nostrils, and thank god, one mouth.
In Kathōpaniṣad, the ten sense organs are unruly sense organs; unrefined; uncultured. They are compared to wild horses which are not tamed. If you try to ride the horse and drive it forward it will go back, if you try to go to the left, it will lie down.
Since our sense organs are also like that one can move to disciplining the mind, the headquarters, which is behind all the ten sense organs.
And therefore, unruly sense organs are then offered into mental discipline; offered means they are destroyed; they are eliminated; and they are eliminated means they are converted into disciplined sense organs. आमसंयमयोगाग्नौ ātmasaṃyamayōgāgnau; they are all destroyed in the fire of mental
discipline.
Without mind discipline, if you try to discipline your senses, it will work temporarily, like the parents controlling the children. You can ‘control’ them as long as they are with you. Ultimately, if they learn the value of discipline, then wherever they go, you have got the confidence that they will move responsibly. The mind is thus educated about mastery.
Still the question will remain – What will you do with a mastered mind?, which is where jnana yajna comes in.
Dravya-yajNa, Giving as a religious discipline. Sharing and distributing things like, food, money, clothes, cows, land, gold, vessels etc.
If you consider the river, river receives water from the mountain; one side it receives, the other side it again goes back unto the ocean; and the ocean does not keep; it hands over to the cloud; from the cloud to the river and the river again gives it back to the ocean; if you study the creation; every thing is cyclic and mutually dependent on each other.
If there is stagnation, then there is imbalance in the society, the divide between the rich and poor will become bigger and bigger and soon enough it will contribute to crime. We give because we are blessed to receive. Out of wisdom, understanding, we come forward and share.
When one has a small heart, the person is interested only in getting; he is not interested in giving; or he is not interested in proportional giving; Like some companies will give 25 lakh rupees as donation and spend another 50 lakhs for publicity.
By doing Dravya yajna, we become free from the limited ideas of me and mine and expand it to include others. In this way, it helps in antah-karana Shuddhi.
Later in the Gita, Krishna emphasises that yajñā dana tapa karma is to be done by all. na tyajyam karyamevatat – it is definitely to be done and not given up.
In this episode, we have looked at jnana yajna, and other sadhanas such as daiva yajna, offerings unto devas, Samyama yajna – the offering of mastery, Indriya yajna – suitable offerings unto our senses and Dravya yajna – Giving to others.
All these are limited karma and sadhanas and lead to balance and composure where one is not a slave to ragas and dveshas, cravings and aversions of how people should be or how life should be or how people around you should be.
This is part 1 of a two-part series on which is the best sadhana/yajna according to the Bhagavad Gita.
In part 2 we will listen to some other yajnas/sadhanas mentioned, see the necessity of performing them for purity of the mind. We also enquire into whether these will help us achieve the goal of freedom from insecurity for good.
