yajna

As far-reaching as the Law of Karma is the Law of Sacrifice, the law by which the worlds were built, the law by which they are maintained. All lives can only be supported by absorbing other lives:
"Jeevo Jeevasya Jeevanam" - Life is sustained by life only; all forms can only be preserved by absorbing other forms. Sacrifice permeates all religions, as it permeates the universe. This world is not for the non-sacrificer.

The Sanaatana Dharma has incorporated this law into its very essence; all the Srutis declare it; all the Smritis inculcate it; the Puraanas and the Itihaasas are full of it; the Shadangas circle round it; the six Darshanas lay it down as the pathway to be trodden ere knowledge can be gained.

Creation began with sacrifice! "Om Ushaa Vaa Ashwasya Medhyasya Shirah" - Om! The dawn verily is the head of the sacrificial horse. (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad). The dawn is explained as the beginning of the Day of Brahmaa, the day of creation. Then is the great horse sacrifice, the horse whose body is the universe, the sacrifice of the One who carries the Many - devas, gandharvas, asuras, men.

So also in the Rig Veda the splendid Purusha Sookta describing the sacrificial slaying of Purusha tells how all creatures were formed by 1/4 of Him offered up as 'victim' in 'that great general sacrifice', 3/4 remaining in heaven as the Eternal Life.

The great sacrifice involved in creation is beautifully described in the 'Satapatha Brahmana' also. 'Brahman, the Self-existant, performed 'tapas'. He considered: "In 'tapas' there is no infinity. Come, let me sacrifice myself in living things and all living things in myself." Then having sacrificed himself in all living things and all living things in himself, he acquired greatness, self-effulgence and lordship.'

Manu also declares that Brahmaa created 'the eternal sacrifice' before He drew forth the Veda. (Manu Smriti).

This profound teaching, that Iswara sacrificed Himself in order to create His universe, means that He limited Himself in matter, technically died, in order that His life might produce and sustain a multiplicity of separate lives. Every life in His universe is a part of His life 'a portion of Myself' (Mamaivaamshah)- Gita: 15-7. Without this sacrifice, the universe could not come into existence. As a fourth part only of Purusha is said to suffice for the bringing forth of all beings, so Lord krishna says in Bhagavat Gita (X-42) "Vishtabhyaham Idam Kritsnam Ekaamshena Sthito Jagat."Iswara is far more than His universe, but it is wholly contained in Him, lives in His life, is composed of His substance.

Again Lord Krishna tells in Gita (3-10), how Prajapati 'having emanated mankind together with sacrifice (Saha Yajnah Prajah Srishtvah), bade man find in sacrifice his 'Kama-duk', the cow whence each could milk the objects he desired. So action is essentially rooted in sacrifice.

The pouring out which caused the birth of beings is called 'karma' (Gita:8-3). 'The pouring out' is the pouring out of life, which alone enabled separate beings to live, and this pouring out is that same sacrifice described in the 'Purusha sookta'. So thoroughly has this been recognized that karma has become the general name for sacrifices, and Karma-kanda is the name which covers all sacrificial rites.

The essential idea of sacrifice , then is the pouring out of life for the benefit of others; such pouring out is the law by which life evolves : it is imposed on the lower creation by strife and continual combats; its voluntary acceptance by self-sacrifice is the crowning glory of man. Hence all man's higher evolution is marked out by self-sacrifice. By sacrificing himself and all his actions to the Supreme, man obtains liberation.

Let us now see how the Law of Sacrifice is seen in the physical world. The life in the mineral kingdom evolves, as the mineral forms in which it dwells are broken up to nourish plants of every kind. The mineral forms perish to feed the life in the vegetable kingdom, and the life in the mineral forms has grown more complex and developed by this sacrifice.

The life in the vegetable kingdom evolves by the sacrifice of the lower plants to nourish the higher, the countless annual plants perishing to enrich the soil in which the trees grow. Myriads of others are eaten by animals, and their forms go to build up animal bodies in which the life has fuller scope.

The life in part of the animal kingdom evolves by the sacrifice again of the lower forms to the higher, and also to the maintenance of the human kingdom, within which also the weak are devoured by the strong in the savage state. But here gradually, with increasing development of the animals to keen sensibility, and with the development of conscience and sympathy in man, another form of the law appears, and man begins to refuse to sacrifice to the support of his own life those who share with him the feelings of pleasure and pain. He first revolts against cannibalism- eating his own kind- and then against eating his weaker brothers in the animal kingdom. he realizes that the divine nature in him develops by sacrifice of himself to others, and not by the sacrifice of others to himself. He lessens as much as he can his demands on the lives of others, and increases as much as he can his own sacrifices for them. So long as a man identifies himself with his body, he is always trying to take, to absorb, because the body continues only by such taking and absorbing. When he identifies himself as the Self, he is always trying to give, to pour out, because the joy of the Self is in forth-pouring. On the 'Pravriti-marga' he takes; on the 'Nivriti-marga' he gives. Thus evolves the life of man.

The alphabet of the lesson of sacrifice was taught to man by the Rishis. They laid down a system of sacrifices, in which men should sacrifice some of their possessions with a view to their large increase in the future. Such sacrifices were made along with prayers to the Devatas like Indra, Mitra, Varuna, kubera, Agni; and so on, requesting future gains from them. Such prayers are found on every page of the Samhitas. By these sacrifices they were also taught to see that man is part of a great whole, and related to all around him; and that as his own life was maintained by the sacrifice of other lives, so must he repay that debt by sacrificing to others some of his possessions. Sacrifice to the Devas was done through fire, which is the 'mouth of the Gods' (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad). Sacrifice to the men was done by charitable gifts. In this way the sense of obligation was impressed on them, and the interdependence of lives.

The next stage was to train men to sacrifice these same possessions, immediately valuable, for happiness on the other side of death, a far-off invisible reward : "Let him sacrifice who desires Swarga"- Mundaka Upanishad says. A great step forward was made in this sacrificing of the visible to the invisible, of the present to a far-off future. But the object of this training in sacrifices was no more the enjoyment of Swarga than the enjoyment of wealth on earth. They had learned to curb their greed for possessions by the practice of giving, and to recognize themselves as owing their lives to the larger life around them; they were thus prepared for the third stage, that of sacrifice as duty, for which no reward should be sought

Men now began to see that the sacrifice of the lower to the higher was right, a duty that was owed in return for the perpetual sacrifice of the higher to the lower, of the life of Ishwara for the maintenance of His children; and further that the body also owed a debt to the lower creatures who supported it, that ought to be paid by helping and serving them in turn. Then they were ready for the 'Nishkamya - karma' lesson: "Thy business is with the action only, never with its fruits" (Karmanyeva-adhikaras Te Ma Phaleshu Kadachana)- Gita: 2-47.

The wheel of life which is ever turning, this interdependence of lives, being thoroughly understood, men see it as an obvious duty to help in the turning, and readily see the unworthiness of trying to live without doing their share of work. This, practised for long, led man to the last lesson, the complete self-surrender to Ishwara. Thenceforth the whole life is a sacrifice, and the man lives only to do the Divine Will. Hence he abandons all separate dharmas as dharmas, as having over him no binding force. He has but the one Dharma of carrying out the Divine Will. (Sarvadharmaan Parityajya Mam Ekam Sharanam Vraja)- Gita : 18-66.

During this long training, men were gradually led to see that outer sacrifices of wealth were less valuable than inner sacrifices of virtue, and that the purification of the heart and mind were of more real importance than the external purifications. While these should not be neglected, the neglect of the other was fatal. He who has the 42 Samskaaras but not the 8 virtues of the Self, will not obtain Brahman nor will go to Brahmaloka. But he, who has only a part of the 42 Samskaaras but the 8 virtues of the Self, will attain to Brahman and go to Brahmaloka (Gautama Dharma Sootra).

Summary:

The world was created and is maintained by a Divine sacrifice.
Sacrifice is essentially giving, pouring forth.
sacrifice is the law of evolution, compulsory in the lower kingdoms, becoming voluntary in the human.
Man rises by definite stages from Vaideeka sacrifices to Self-sacrifice.
Sacrifices of virtue and wisdom are more effective than the sacrifices of external objects.

For more details, Please refer to the book "Sanatana Dharma" by Annie Besant and Bhagavan Das.

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