CHAPTER IV.
The Five Daily Sacrifices.
WE have seen that there exists a law of Yajna, of Sacrifice, and that man's glory is to voluntarily work with it. We have now to see how the Sanatana Dharma trained its followers to this end. We may pass over, for the present, the numerous sacrifices of various kinds laid down in the sacred books, and concern ourselves only with the "Great sacrifices " to be offered every day. These are:
The Sacrifice to Rishi or Vedas.
The Sacrifice to Devas.
The Sacrifice to Pitriis.
The Sacrifice to Men.
The Sacrifice to Bhutas.
Each of these has an outer form and inner meaning, and the latter leads the sacrificer on to the full life of sacrifice. Let us try to understand both.
The outer sacrifice to the Rishis, or Vedas, is study and teaching. Every day a man should* study some sacred book, and thus gradually acquire the knowledge without which he cannot rightly understand himself, his position and his duties.
And he should ever be ready to share this knowledge with those more ignorant than himself : hence Manu, in describing this sacrifice, calls it teaching*.[Manusmt:3.70] A boy should daily offer this sacrifice, reading and carefully thinking over some shlokas from the Bhdgavad-Glta, the Anugita, Hamsa Gita or other sacred work. The carefulness and closeness of the thought is more important than the amount read. The inner meaning is that all study should be a sacrifice, learning in order that we may teach.
The outer sacrifice to the Devas is the Homa, the recognition of all we owe to the kindly ministry and protection of this active Intelligences working in nature, and the repayment of it by giving for their service a share of our possessions. The inner meaning is the realisation of our relations with the super-physical worlds, and of the inter-dependence of the worlds. We must learn to be in harmony with nature, in accord with all that lives.
The outer sacrifice to the Pitris is the Tarpan or offering of water, to the older generations of our family, to our ancestors. The inner meaning is the recognition of the great debt we owe to the past, to the generations who occupied the earth before us, and who toiled and laboured that they might hand it on, improved, and enriched, to us, their posterity. No man is truly human who does not recognise what he owes to the past, his debt to the ancestors.
The outer sacrifice to Men is hospitality : every day a true Aryan should feed some one poorer than himself. The inner meaning is the duty of serving and helping humanity, of feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, comforting the sad. Those who are rich are the stewards of the poor.
The outer sacrifice to Bhutas, to creatures, is the putting of a little food on the ground, before beginning the meal, for the invisible lower entities around us, and the placing of the remains of the meal in a suitable place for vagrant men and animals. The inner meaning is the duty of caring for those who are beneath us in the human and in the lower kingdoms, the recognition of our debt to them for their services to us, and the practice of kindness and consideration towards them.
Thus the five great daily sacrifices teach man his relations, with all around him, with his superiors, his equals, and his inferiors. They establish the harmonious relations on which the happiness and prosperity of families and of nations depend. They turn the wheel of life in accord with the will of Ishvara, and so help on the evolution of the worlds. They teach each individual that he is not an isolated unit, but a part of a great whole, a cell in a vast body : and that his happiness and progress, therefore, can only be secure if they subserve the general happiness, and conduce to the general progress.
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अध्यापनं ब्रह्मयज्ञः पितृयज्ञस्तु तर्पणम् ।
होमो दैवो बलिर्भौतो नृयज्ञोऽतिथिपूजनम्। मनु ३.७०
"Teaching is the Brahma-sacrifice, Tarpana is the Pitri-sacrifice, Homa (the offering into the fire) is the Deva-sacrifice, Bali (food) is the Bhuta- sacrifice, hospitality to guests the. Manushya-sacrifice."
पंच्चमहायज्ञों के नाम : शिक्षा देना या पढ़ाना ‘ब्रह्मयज्ञ’ कहलाता है और माता – पिता आदि की सेवा – शुश्रूषा तथा भोजन आदि से तृप्ति करना ‘पितृयज्ञ’ है प्रातः सांय हवन करना ‘देवयज्ञ’ है कीटों, पक्षियों, कुत्तों और कुष्ठी व्यक्तियों तथा भूत्यों आदि आश्रितों को देने के लिए भोजन का भाग बचाकर देना ‘भूतयज्ञ’ या ‘बलिवैश्वदेवयज्ञ’ कहलाता है अतिथियों को भोजन देना और सेवा द्वारा सत्कार करना ‘नृयज्ञ’ अथवा ‘अतिथियज्ञ’ कहाता है ।
स्वाध्याये नित्ययुक्तः स्याद्दान्तो मैत्रः समाहितः । दाता नित्यं अनादाता सर्वभूतानुकम्पकः। मनु ६. ८
"Let a man ever engage in Veda-study, and in the rites of the Devas ; engaged in the rites of the Devas he supporteth the movable and immovable kingdoms."
‘‘वहां निर्जन में (युवा प्रशिक्षण शिविर में ) वेदादि शास्त्रों को पढ़ने – पढ़ाने में नित्ययुक्त मन, सब से मित्र भाव और इन्द्रियों का दमनशील अर्थात यदि स्व – स्त्री भी समीप हो तथापि उससे सेवा के सिवाय विषय सेवन अर्थात् प्रसंग कभी न करे, सावधान, नित्य देने वाला हो और किसी से कुछ भी न लेवे, सब प्राणीमात्र पर अनुकंपा – कृपा रखने वाला होवे ।’’
ऋषयः पितरो देवा भूतान्यतिथयस्तथा । आशासते कुटुम्बिभ्यस्तेभ्यः कार्यं विजानता। मनु /३/८०
"The Rishis, the Pitris, the Devas, the Bhutas, and guests expect (help) from the householders.
ऋषि – मुनि लोग, माता पिता, अग्नि आदि देवता, भृत्य तथा कुष्ठी आदि और अतिथिलोग गृहस्थों से ही आशा रखते हैं अर्थात् सहायता की अपेक्षा रखते हैं अपने गृहस्थ सम्बन्धी कत्र्तव्यों को समझने वाले व्यक्ति को चाहिए कि वह इनके लिए सहायता कार्य करे ।
स्वाध्यायेनार्चयेत र्षीन्होमैर्देवान्यथाविधि । पितॄञ् श्राद्धैश्च नॄनन्नैर्भूतानि बलिकर्मणा। मनु ३/८१
"Let him worship, according to the rule, the Rishis with Veda-study, the Devas with Homa, the Pitris with Shraddha, men with food, and the Bhutas with Bali."
स्वाध्याय से ऋषिपूजन यथाविधि होम से देवपूजन श्राद्धों से पितृपूजन अन्नों से मनुष्यपूजन और वैश्वदेव से प्राणी मात्र का सत्कार करना चाहिए । सेवा-सत्कार करना ही पूजा है। क्यों कि ‘अतिथिपूजनम्’ ‘होमैर्देवानर्चयेत्’ – अतिथियों का पूजन नाम सत्कार करना, तथा देव परमेश्वर और मन्त्र इन्हीं का सत्कार, इसका नाम है पूजा, अन्य का नहीं ।’’
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