Posted on : Oct 19, 2012
The King's Yajna
A king once decided to organize a yajna for 11 days. For that, he needed large
amounts of milk, rice, sugar, curds, honey, cloth, etc. The people of the
kingdom were not well off. They were barely able to make ends meet. But, the
king announced that everyone would have to contribute to the offerings because
he was organizing the sacrifice for the prosperity of all the people of the
kingdom. Each household would have to contribute at least two kilograms of
offerings every day.
Huge containers were set up in the palace courtyard for collecting milk, curds,
rice, etc. On the first day, people started coming with packets of offerings.
They would pour their share of rice, curds or whatever they had brought into
the big cauldrons set up for collecting the same. By the evening, all the
cauldrons were barely half full. A lady came in holding a small pot of curds in
her hand. She poured it into the big cauldron set up for collecting curds and
immediately, the pot filled up to its brim! Quietly, she walked away. The
palace guards were amazed at what they had just seen.
The following day again, people came to offer their share. Some brought wheat;
some milk. The people were poor and had to go hungry themselves, to contribute
to the king’s yajna. But, they had no choice, for the king had ordered that
everyone must contribute something. By the evening, all the collecting pots
were just about half full.
Then, the same lady walked in and poured a small amount of milk into the huge
milk pot. Immediately, the whole pot filled to its brim. The king’s people
reported this strange happening to the king.
On the third day again, the pots were set up. By the evening, they were barely
one-third full, for the poor subjects were starving and had hardly anything
more to give.
The king came incognito to see the lady. Sure enough, she walked in quietly,
just as the Sun was beginning to set. She opened up the knot at the end of the
pallu of her saree and emptied it out into the rice pot. Barely a handful of
rice; but it was enough for the pot to be filled to its brim!
The king stepped forward and said to the lady, “Oh blessed lady! How is it that
your contribution fills up the pot every time you pour something into it? Who
are you?”
The lady asked, “Why do you ask me? Who are you?” The king revealed his
identity.
The lady said, “Oh king! You have not discharged your duty. It is unfair of you
to insist on everyone making contributions to your yajna. Step out for a moment
into the city. Peep into the homes of the poor peasants. Their children and
aged parents are starving. They are unable to feed them, but they are forced to
contribute to your yajna. You offer rice to the sacred fire, whereas the fire
of hunger in the stomachs of the poor is not satiated.”
The king was taken aback at this passionate outburst from the lady. He said, “I
did not realize that my people were starving. But, you did not tell me the
magic behind your contribution.”
The lady replied, “Contrary to your directions, I fed the children in the
house. I satisfied the elders; I kept a small amount for my husband and myself.
Whatever I could spare, I brought for the yajna! My contribution does not have
the stains of the blood and hunger of my family; it is pure. So, it is enough
to fill up your pot!”
The lady turned around and walked away, leaving the king dumbstruck. The next
day, the king announced that only those people, who could contribute easily,
should do so. They were free to give only that much as they could easily spare.
They should contribute, if only they wanted to. The next day, a few people came
in to contribute, but very soon, all the pots were full!
It does not matter how much you give; what matters is how you give it.
Baba says that the offerings of food grains, ghee, milk, curds, cloth, gold or
precious gems that we offer into the sacred fire are not a waste. They are akin
to the seeds sown by a farmer into the soil.
Fire is the best medium to convey our offerings to the Gods. For it is the
purest of all the five elements. You can have impurities in the air, water,
earth, or space. But, you can never have an impure fire. Fire burns away all
impurities. It is pure and further reduces everything that is offered into it
to ash. Ash is what remains in the end. Ash or vibhuti is the single most pure
thing that remains after everything is burnt out.
But, if we turn out our entire granary into the sacred fire and leave nothing
to feed our families, it is a gross error. The Gods multiply manifold whatever
we offer to them in the yajna and give it back to us. But, if we offer
everything into the fire, and starve the family, who will be there to enjoy the
fruits of the yajna! We must offer into the sacred fire a small portion of all
material things that we use in our daily life. The offering is notional. What
matters is the devotion with which you offer it!
“Few people care to enquire into the nature of the inner yajna (sacrifice),"
Baba said on one occasion and continued, "The inner meaning of yajna is to
recognize one’s inherent Divinity and offer all of one’s bad qualities as a
sacrificial offering at the sacred site of one’s mind. Yajnas have been
prescribed for the purpose of enabling people to make a sacrifice of all their
bad thoughts and actions. Fickleness, hatred, stealing and foolish stubbornness
are not natural traits for man. The presence of these traits in man must be
attributed to the legacy from previous births. The sacrifice which everyone has
to make is the giving up of all bad qualities in him.”
Courtesy: Adapted from Bal Vikas Magazine - Sept 2011
Photo Courtesy: Mrs. Vidya, Kuwait
sourced: http://media.radiosai.org/journals/vol_10/01OCT12/09_yagna.htm
Enlightening Speeches and Musical Offering…
Friday, October 19th, 2012
Detach yourself from body attachment and develop attachment to the Atma to the
extent possible, exhorted Bhagawan ‘delivering’ His Divine discourse here in
the second evening of Prasanthi Vidwan Mahasabha today. Man alone is
responsible for both pain and pleasure; Right from birth man is accumulating
all worldly transient things, said Bhagawan narrating the story of a dog
chasing the bone, ending up hurting its eye, rejoicing at its own blood.
Earlier, the second day of Prassanthi Vidwan Mahasabha commenced with Veda
chanting by the students followed by a brief spell of chanting by the students
from Sri Sathya Sai Higher Secondary School.
First speaker for the session of Kum D. Bhargavi, Asst. Professor with Dept. Of
English, SSSIHL, Prasanthi Nilayam. Kum. Bhargavi’s speech was centred around
the theme ‘acceptance’. Flashing her memories back to an interesting episode
from her student days with Bhagawan, wherein she could not muster the courage
to accept the challenge to speak in His Divine presence, when an opportunity
came off the cuff, Kum Bhargavi spoke on the various levels of acceptance one
must muster that includes acceptance with ‘self-confidence’ at a personal
level, acceptance of God, acceptance of God’s Words and acceptance of God’s
lessons.
The second speaker, Sri Mudigonda Brahmananda Sastri, in his illuminating
speech in Telugu, portrayed Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai as the very embodiment of
Lord Sri Ramachandra of Treta Yuga and Bhgawan Sri Krishna of Dwapara Yuga. The
speaker substantiated his splendid theme by quoting apt instance from the life
of Sri Rama, Sri Krishna and Sri Sathya Sai which demonstrated the supreme
virtues of the three Avatar, sweetness of speech, adherence to righteousness,
unflinching subservience to the wishes of devotees and supreme serenity.
Post the speeches, students from SSSIHL, Anantapur Campus presented a musical
offering singing paeans to Bhagawan. Beginning with invoking Lord Ganesha, the
girls sang another song extolling Mother Durga, Premaswarupini Srikari
Shankari…., followed by a Telugu number illustrating the unfolding of His
Avataric Mission to sign off singing a Hindi number offering gratitude to
Beloved Mother Sai.
The musical programme was followed by Divine Discourse that reverberated in the
spacious hall. Bhajans continued and ended with Bhagawan singing Bhaja
Govindam…Bhaja Govindam… The session ended with Mangala Arathi at 1850 hrs.
Today, on the 4th day of Sri Sathya Sai Grama Seva following villages of the
Kothacheruvu mandal were served: Kadireppapalli, Kanisettipalli, Kesapuram,
Talamarla, Avulakotlapalli, Patadevarapalli, Kothadevarapalli, Meerjapuram,
Gangotivaripalli, Bangaruchinnapalli, Narayanareddipalli, Vemuletipalli,
Indlavenkatampalli, Dantlapalli, Lingareddipalli, Mylepalli,
Tirumaladevarapalli, Gorantlepalli, Kodapaganipalli, Venkatapuram (Near
Mylasamudram), Kadiridevarapalli, Mylasamudram, Narepalli, Bandamidapalli.
II Samasta Lokah Sukhino Bhavantu II
http://www.theprasanthireporter.org/2012/10/enightening-speeches-and-musical-offering/
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