Get No Gifts Sans Giving

Only so pleased by sacrifice Proffered through sacred flame, Graceful gods do give gifts of choice So deserved by unselfish aim; He that eats fruits by them bestowed, And gives not so in turn, Who gets, not so does earn, A thief he’s that hath to all owed. || Bhagavad-Gita 3.12 || ishtan: desired, preferred; bhogan: enjoyments, pleasures; hi : certainly; vah: for/to you; devah: the gods; dasyante: they bestow, give (unasked); yajna-: sacrifice (a religious ritual of offerings to gods/others); bhavitah: so pleased by (good deeds); taih: by them, by these; dattan: bestowed, given; a-pradaya: without reciprocating; ebhyah: to them; yah: he who, one who; bhunkte: enjoys, eats; stenah : thief; eva : indeed, not but; sah: he (is). He that eats leftovers of sacrifice The righteous of tall virtuous feats Who, sacrificial leftovers eats, Gets absolved from all sins, Those that but for self cook, They, eating in sin, passage to hell book. ||BG 3.13|| yajna-shishta: sacrifice-remnants, leftovers, offering to gods; ashinah: partakers, eaters (of leftovers from sacrifice); santah: the virtuous, noble, saintly; muchyante: are absolved of, get relief (from); sarva kilbishaih: of/from all kinds of sin/evil; bhunjate: eat, enjoy, consume; te tu: but they; agham papa: grievous/ghastly sins; ye: who; pachanti: cook, prepare, digest; atma-karanat: (their) own sake, for selfish cause. There has been a tradition from ancient times, called bread labour, to earn and deserve one’s bread. In recent times Russian writer T M Bondaref advocated it, which Leo Tolstoy picked up first and later Mahatma Gandhi. There also is a Biblical saying: Earn thy bread by the sweat of thy brow. Bhagavad-Gita was perhaps first to talk about it a few millennia back. Here as above I have picked two verses from Chapters three of Bhagavad-Gita elaborating on the same theme. Yajnya, sacrificial proffering to gods by way of thanks giving for the common good of people at large is a unique concept. Man is no island in wilderness. Whatever he begets or achieves is the resulting outcome of a lot of efforts of many: divinity, ancestors, and many from the same age. He needs to thank them enough for whatever he gets. The rituals of yajnya apart, this is sacrifice or thanks giving by way of earning one’s bread. _____________________________ Reflections |01.10.2021|