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Sacrifice
as a Spiritual Discipline
Editorial
In
the July 2003 editorial, ‘We, God and the Universe’, we saw
that the macrocosm (God) and the microcosm (we) are under
dynamic equilibrium at different levels: the gross, the subtle
and the causal. The divinity behind the individual’s body
and mind is called Atman, and that behind the universe and
the cosmic mind, Brahman. And ultimately, Atman and Brahman
are identical according to the famous Upanishadic equation
‘Ayam atma brahma, This Atman is Brahman.’(1) Realization
of this identity is the goal of life, goal of religion.
With
this background we shall examine an important verse in the
Bhagavadgita: ‘The world is bound by work because work
is not performed as a sacrifice. Therefore, O son of Kunti,
work for the sake of sacrifice, devoid of attachment to it.’(2)
Yajna:
Different Interpretations
By
sacrifice, Sri Shankaracharya and Sri Shridhara Svamin mean
‘God’, citing ‘Yajno vai vishnuh, Yajna is Vishnu.’(3)
Sri Ramanuja interprets sacrifice as the Vedic yajna. Sant
Jnaneshvar advocates looking upon one’s duty itself as an
obligatory sacrifice. Yajna as a fire ritual, or offering
of oblations to gods through fire, has almost fallen into
disuse now. Therefore, [1] looking upon sacrifice as
Vishnu and performing actions for the Lord, and [2] considering
one’s duty itself as a sacrifice seem to be more relevant
interpretations meriting deeper analysis. A third important
point emerges from the Gita verse cited: Sri Krishna asks
Arjuna to work for the sake of sacrifice (yajna), devoid
of attachment to work. That underlines the fact that detachment
(from work and its outcome) is the main factor in work performed
in a spirit of sacrifice.
Work
for the Lord
According
to the first interpretation, working for the sake of yajna
implies working for God, not out of selfish interests. Such
work frees us from the good and bad effects of work. Sri Krishna
shows how such a work is done: ‘Whatever you do, whatever
you eat, whatever you offer as oblation in a sacrifice, whatever
gifts or service you give, whatever austerities you perform
- O son of Kunti, do that all as an offering unto me.’(4)
With a slight modification this can serve as an ‘offering’
verse: ‘Whatever I do … O God, I offer that all unto you.’5
A person who works for the Lord remembers that God is the
Prime Mover of all activities. It is God who directs our thoughts
and actions from within as the antaryamin (Inner Controller).
Such an aspirant offers the fruits of his actions to that
Prime Mover: ‘I take refuge in that primal Purusha, from whom
have streamed forth the eternal activity (of projection, sustenance
and dissolution).’6 Repeatedly offering his actions to the
indwelling supreme Spirit, he undergoes self-renewal and learns
to look upon himself more and more as a spark of divinity,
part of the luminous ultimate Reality. The hold on him of
his body-mind complex thus gradually wears thin.
For
such an aspirant, even the simple act of prostration before
images of God becomes a significant spiritual practice. With
each prostration he offers his body, mind and buddhi - the
slightly awakened Self - to the supreme Spirit pervading the
holy Image. He feels spiritually renewed with such a simple
but qualitatively uplifting act and gradually develops detachment
from his body and mind. His focus gradually shifts to the
Deity that dwells within him, as his real ‘I’.
Such
an aspirant does not look upon his little awakening as some
non-dual realization. His little awakening does not preclude
his prostration before images of God or His incarnations.
He knows the difference between him and God (or an incarnation):
In him the awakening or realization is so feeble that he needs
to struggle to keep his mind above the pull of the body and
the senses. An incarnation of God - as in the case of Sri
Ramakrishna - has his mind riveted to the Infinite all the
time, and with great difficulty brings his mind down to
the normal plane, to show humanity the path to God. The spiritual
aspirant’s prostration before images of God is a symbolic
sacrifice of his partially awakened Self (and body-mind) in
the supreme Spirit behind the image or in the divine fire
of realization of the incarnation.
It
may be parenthetically remembered that Sri Ramakrishna never
found any incongruity in prostrating before the image of Bhavatarini
in the Dakshineswar temple, even after scaling heights of
non-dual experiences and beyond.
Working
for God also includes selfless participation in a movement
furthering the mission of an incarnation of God; for according
to Sri Ramakrishna, ‘There is no doubt that God exists in
all things; but the manifestations of his Power are different
in different beings. The greatest manifestation of His Power
is through an Incarnation. Again in some Incarnations there
is a complete manifestation of God’s Power. It is the Shakti,
the Power of God, that is born as an Incarnation.’(7)
Performing
One’s Duties as Sacrifice
The
wheels of social life can revolve smoothly only if individuals
discharge their responsibilities, conscious of their impact
on the good of society as a whole. None can remain in a mental
island and isolate himself from the welfare of others. Discharging
to perfection one’s duties without prompting from others -
other people or rules of the state - is another way of performing
work as a sacrifice. The interrelatedness of the activities
of the members of society and the resultant social harmony
are brought out clearly in the following words of a former
Vice President of the Ramakrishna Order:
Production
and distribution of consumable commodities is done through
an exchange of services by capitalists, technocrats, labour,
the distributor and the consumer. All these factors functioning
within the good of the whole social order in view and contributing
their respective services and receiving their due rewards
without any party trying to take undue advantage of the
others - may be called yajna in the social sense. All this
is based on work and a person who seeks all the benefits
of society but keeps quiet and fails to contribute his share
for social good can be described as an exploiter and a thief
as the Gita does. The difference in this interpretation
is that, in place of the divine agencies, only the social
environment is taken for mutual exchange of services and
rewards. This explanation sublimates the ritualistic yajna.(8)
God
Himself Works
An
important verse from the third chapter of the Gita lends another
dimension to work done in a spirit of sacrifice. Sri Krishna
says: ‘O Partha, I have no duty to speak of. There is nothing
in the three worlds that I have not gained; nor is there anything
that I have to gain. Still I continue to work.’(9)
God
takes a human form with a special mission: to uplift humanity
from animal nature to human nature to divine nature. Avatara
means ‘one who has descended’. Here the descent is from a
state of pure undivided Consciousness, Brahman, to a human
form, with associated pain and misery - not a mean sacrifice
on God’s part. God assumes a human form whenever there is
decline in dharma, righteousness, and prevalence of adharma,
unrighteousness. (4.7) Sri Krishna further clarifies the concept
of incarnation: ‘Though I am birthless, of changeless nature
and the Lord of all beings, yet having my Prakriti (maya)
under my control I come into being by my own maya. (4.6)
A
mother went for shopping along with her four-year-old daughter.
They saw someone across the street, walking along with some
policemen. ‘Who is he?’ asked the child. ‘He is a thief being
taken to the police station,’ replied the mother. A couple
of days later, the child asked her again, pointing out someone
accompanied by policemen, ‘Who is that thief, mom?’ The mother
hurriedly shut the child’s mouth and said, ‘No, my dear, he
is not a thief. He is the Governor of our state; the police
are offering him protection.’
There
was police escort in both the cases. But the governor had
the police under his control, while the thief was under police
control. This example is cited to prove an important Vedantic
point: Brahman appears as an incarnation of God, or functions
as Ishvara, with maya under Its control. The individual souls
- all of us - on the other hand, are under maya’s control.
Whatever
an incarnation of God does is for the welfare of humanity,
uplift of dharma being his primary concern. He is subject
to sufferings in the world; he undergoes struggles like an
ordinary spiritual aspirant, practises spiritual disciplines
and shows that it is possible to live a God-centred life amid
the world and its lures and problems. Students of the lives
of Sri Ramakrishna and Sri Sarada Devi, his spiritual consort,
can appreciate the point.
Sri
Krishna is an important character in that monumental epic,
the Mahabharata. Even some apparently controversial
actions of his have this one aim: uplift of dharma. He lived
what he preached in the Gita: calmness amid intense activity
and absolute freedom from selfishness and attachment. Citing
his own case, Sri Krishna encourages Arjuna - and through
him, us - to work without attachment, without anxiety for
the outcome.
God’s
Work: Another Viewpoint
A
second way of looking at God’s work is to analyse his functions
as Ishvara, Personal God. We need to recap on some points
we discussed in the July 2003 editorial. In the God-Soul-Universe
triangle all the three vertices of the triangle stand or fall
together. As long as our individuality is real to us, God
and the universe continue to be real. According to Swami Vivekananda,
Personal God is the highest reading of the Absolute [Brahman]
by the human mind.(10)
We
also saw in the said editorial that Ishvara (Personal God)
is the macrocosmic counterpart of the microcosmic causal body,
which the individual soul dons during deep sleep. Just as
we have a gross body and a subtle mind, even so Ishvara has
a gross body (the entire universe) and a subtle mind (the
cosmic Mind, of which all individual minds are, as it were,
parts). Incidentally, according to qualified non-dualism,
besides the universe, we, individual souls, also constitute
Ishvara’s body. And Ishvara is the Soul of our souls.
This
background is to help us appreciate that the ceaseless flow
of ideas in the cosmic Mind constitute Ishvara’s mental activities,
and the unceasing, but rhythmic, movements of galaxies, stars,
planets and solar systems are His physical activities. Ishvara
Himself is unattached to these activities. He has no likes
or dislikes towards anyone,(11) nor does He take note of anyone’s
merits or demerits. (5.15) He is a silent witness to the happenings
in His creation. (He responds to His devotees’ prayers; He
can bring about inexplicable transformation in their lives
and can alter the course of their destiny - all this is true,
but we are not discussing them here.) Ishvara is ever conscious
of His divinity and a perfect embodiment of the ‘inaction
amid action and action amid inaction’ described in the Gita.
(4.18)
In
order to be free from maya and realize his potential divinity,
man needs to emulate his macrocosmic counterpart in his thoughts
and activities: not giving way to lethargy, trying to practise
calmness amid activity and expecting nothing in return. In
other words, he needs to hold his body, mind and spirit as
a sacrifice to the supreme Spirit, and offers in It the fruits
of his actions.
Sacrifice
and Detachment
Attachment
to work results from selfishness, an offshoot of the feelings
of ‘I’ and ‘mine’. As a corollary, detachment from work and
its results implies giving up selfishness. Swamiji equates
unselfishness with God Himself(12) and traces the root of
misery to selfishness:
This
‘I and mine’ causes the whole misery. With the sense of
possession comes selfishness, and selfishness brings on
misery. Every act of selfishness or thought of selfishness
makes us attached to something, and immediately we are made
slaves. Each wave in the Chitta [mind-stuff] that says ‘I
and mine’ immediately puts a chain round us and makes us
slaves; and the more we say ‘I and mine’, the more slavery
grows, the more misery increases. Therefore KarmaYoga tells
us to enjoy the beauty of all the pictures in the world,
but not to identify ourselves with any of them. Never say
‘mine’. Whenever we say a thing is ‘mine’, misery will immediately
come. Do not even say ‘my child’ in your mind. Possess the
child, but do not say ‘mine’. If you do, then will come
the misery. Do not say ‘my house’, do not say ‘my body’.
The whole difficulty is there. The body is neither yours,
nor mine, nor anybody’s. These bodies are coming and going
by the laws of nature, but we are free, standing as witness.
This body is no more free than a picture or a wall. Why
should we be attached so much to a body? If somebody paints
a picture, he does it and passes on. Do not project that
tentacle of selfishness, ‘I must possess it’. As soon as
that is projected, misery will begin.
So
Karma-Yoga says, first destroy the tendency to project this
tentacle of selfishness, and when you have the power of
checking it, hold it in and do not allow the mind to get
into the ways of selfishness. (1.100-1)
An
unselfish attitude coupled with an attitude of worship and
adoration towards the recipient of service can help us in
the process of attunement with the macrocosm, in simulating
the actions of God. In the words of Swamiji, ‘When you are
doing any work, do not think of anything beyond. Do it as
worship, as the highest worship, and devote your whole life
to it for the time being.’ (1.71) ‘And this is the gist of
all worship - to be pure and to do good to others.’ (3.141)
~ ~ ~
In
sum, sacrifice involves renunciation of selfishness and cultivation
of detachment from the fruits of actions. This will pave the
way for the ultimate sacrifice: renunciation of attachment
to the body-mind complex, offering one’s self as an oblation
into the imperishable supreme Self - the supreme sacrifice
that lends meaning to human life.
References
1.
Mandukya Upanishad, 2.
2.
Bhagavadgita, 3.9.
3.
Taittiriya Samhita, 1.7.4.
4.
Gita, 3.27.
5.
Yatkaromi yadashnami yajjuhomi dadami yat;
Yattapasyami
govinda tatkaromi tvadarpanam.
6.
Gita, 15.4.
7.
M, The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, trans. Swami Nikhilananda
(Chennai: Sri Ramakrishna Math, 2002), 726.
8.
Srimad Bhagavadgita: The Scripture of Mankind, trans.
Swami Tapasyananda (Madras: Sri Ramakrishna Math, 1984), 108.
9.
Gita, 3.22.
10.
The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, 9 vols. (Calcutta:
Advaita Ashrama, 1-8, 1989; 9, 1997), 1.377, 2.337.
11.
Gita, 9.29.
12.
CW, 1.87.
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