Sunday, April 5, 2015

Bhagavad-Gita The Song Divine Chapter 4 (stanza 23-34)


All his actions get dissolved entirely, who is free from attachment and has no identification with the body and free form the feeling of mine, whose mind is established in the knowledge of Self and who works merely for the sake of sacrifice. ……… (23)
In the practice of seeing Brahma everywhere as a form of sacrifice, Brahma is the ladle (with which oblation is poured into the fire, etc,); Brahma, again, is the oblation; Brahma itself is the sacrifice and so Brahma itself constitutes the act of pouring the oblation into the fire. And, finally, Brahma is the goal to be reached by him who is absorbed in Braham as the act of such sacrifice. ………. (24)
Other Yogis duly offer sacrifice only in the form of worship to gods, while others perform sacrifice by offering the self by the Self itself in the fire of Brahma.  …….. (25)
Others offer as sacrifice their senses of hearing etc; into the fires of self-discipline. Other Yogis, again, offer sound and other objects of perception into the fires of the senses. …… (26)
Others sacrifice all the functions of their senses and the functions of the vital airs (Prana) into the fire of Yoga in the shape of self-control, kindled by wisdom. ……… (27)
Some perform sacrifice with material possessions; some offer sacrifice in the shape of austerities; other sacrifice through the practice of Yoga; while some striving souls, observing austere vows, perform sacrifice in the shape of wisdom through the study of sacred tests. . ………. (28)
Other Yogis offer the act of exhalation into that of inhalation; even so, others the act of inhalation into that of exhalation. There are still others given to the practice of Pranayama (breath-control), who, having regulated their diet and controlled the processes of exhalation and inhalation both, pour their vital airs into the vital air themselves. All these have their sins consumed away by sacrifice and understand the meaning of sacrificial worship. ……. (29-30)
 Arjun, Yogis who enjoy the nectar that has been left over after the performance of a sacrifice attain the eternal Brahma. To the man who does not offer sacrifice, even this world is not happy; how, then, can the other world be happy? …… (31)

Many such forms of sacrifice have been set forth in detail in the Vedas; know them all as involving the action of mind, senses and body. Thus, knowing the truth about them you shall be freed from the bondage of action (through their performance). ……….. (32)

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