That this world is bound or shackled by action other than those performed for the sake of yagna is the basic truth stressed in the Gita, said Srimati Sunanda in a discourse. A yagna is a ritual enjoined in the scriptures and, in a broad sense, signifies sacrifice, offering and worship. The performance of a traditional yagna helped to foster the collective participation of a group of individuals from various walks of life. Each one contributed according to the individual’s means both in terms of sacrificial material as well as physical involvement in the conduct of the yagna.
All the materials were placed together and at the time of offering each one would offer a handful from the collected lot. This practice dissolved any sense of pride in any one’s exclusive and discouraged notions of superiority or inferiority. It also helped to rid people of selfish desires and free them from bondage.
So, even if a yagna is performed invoking the celestial beings for specific goals such as rains, material possessions and prosperity, etc, there is a dual advantage to both individual aspirations and social co-existence or for common good. When Krishna asks Arjuna to perform the war as a yagna, He implies the spirit that should guide the act of war. By extension, when this spirit becomes the underlying force for all actions of human beings, it becomes Karma Yoga. In any field of activity, when one works with sincere effort, there is bound to be success not in a personal or selfish way but for the general good. This attitude strikes a harmonious balance between the individual and collective efforts. The organisation prospers while the individual also benefits. It helps to cross the influence of the gunas and gradually leads one to a higher level of spiritual growth.
