Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3 Verse 14 — Karma Yoga
Sanskrit
अन्नाद्भवन्ति भूतानि पर्जन्यादन्नसम्भवः | यज्ञाद्भवति पर्जन्यो यज्ञः कर्मसमुद्भवः ||३-१४||
Transliteration
annādbhavanti bhūtāni parjanyādannasambhavaḥ . yajñādbhavati parjanyo yajñaḥ karmasamudbhavaḥ ||3-14||
Hindi Meaning
।।3.14।। समस्त प्राणी अन्न से उत्पन्न होते हैं अन्न की उत्पत्ति पर्जन्य से। पर्जन्य की उत्पत्ति यज्ञ से और यज्ञ कर्मों से उत्पन्न होता है।।
English Meaning
All living bodies subsist on food grains, which are produced from rains. Rains are produced by performance of yajña [sacrifice], and yajña is born of prescribed duties.
Commentary
Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa, a great commentator on the Bhagavad-gītā , writes as follows: ye indrādy-aṅgatayāvasthitaṁ yajñaṁ sarveśvaraṁ viṣṇum abhyarcya tac-cheṣam aśnanti tena tad deha-yātrāṁ sampādayanti, te santaḥ sarveśvarasya yajña-puruṣasya bhaktāḥ sarva-kilbiṣair anādi-kāla-vivṛddhair ātmānubhava-pratibandhakair nikhilaiḥ pāpair vimucyante. The Supreme Lord, who is known as the yajña-puruṣa, or the personal beneficiary of all sacrifices, is the master of all the demigods, who serve Him as the different limbs of the body serve the whole. Demigods like Indra, Candra and Varuṇa are appointed officers who manage material affairs, and the Vedas direct sacrifices to satisfy these demigods so that they may be pleased to supply air, light and water sufficiently to produce food grains. When Lord Kṛṣṇa is worshiped, the demigods, who are different limbs of the Lord, are also automatically worshiped; therefore there is no separate need to worship the demigods. For this reason, the devotees of the Lord, who are in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, offer food to Kṛṣṇa and then eat – a process which nourishes the body spiritually. By such action not only are past sinful reactions in the body vanquished, but the body becomes immunized to all contamination of material nature. When there is an epidemic disease, an antiseptic vaccine protects a person from the attack of such an epidemic. Similarly, food offered to Lord Viṣṇu and then taken by us makes us sufficiently resistant to material affection, and one who is accustomed to this practice is called a devotee of the Lord. Therefore, a person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, who eats only food offered to Kṛṣṇa, can counteract all reactions of past material infections, which are impediments to the progress of self-realization. On the other hand, one who does not do so continues to increase the volume of sinful action, and this prepares the next body to resemble hogs and dogs, to suffer the resultant reactions of all sins. The material world is full of contaminations, and one who is immunized by accepting prasādam of the Lord (food offered to Viṣṇu) is saved from the attack, whereas one who does not do so becomes subjected to contamination. Food grains or vegetables are factually eatables. The human being eats different kinds of food grains, vegetables, fruits, etc., and the animals eat the refuse of the food grains and vegetables, grass, plants, etc. Human beings who are accustomed to eating meat and flesh must also depend on the production of vegetation in order to eat the animals. Therefore, ultimately, we have to depend on the production of the field and not on the production of big factories. The field production is due to sufficient rain from the sky, and such rains are controlled by demigods like Indra, sun, moon, etc., and they are all servants of the Lord. The Lord can be satisfied by sacrifices; therefore, one who cannot perform them will find himself in scarcity – that is the law of nature. Yajña, specifically the saṅkīrtana-yajña prescribed for this age, must therefore be performed to save us at least from scarcity of food supply.
Hinglish Commentary
Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa, jo Bhagavad-gītā ke ek mahan vyakhyak hain, yeh batate hain ki jo Supreme Lord hai, usse yajña-puruṣa kaha jata hai, yani wo sabhi bali daan ka vyakti hai. Yeh Lord sabhi demigods ka master hai, jo uski body ke alag-alag parts ki tarah kaam karte hain. Jaise Indra, Candra aur Varuṇa jaise demigods hain, jo material duniya ke kaam sambhalte hain, aur Vedas unhe khush karne ke liye bali daan dene ki salah dete hain, taaki wo hawa, roshni aur paani provide kar sakein, jo khana ugane ke liye zaroori hai. Jab hum Lord Kṛṣṇa ki pooja karte hain, toh yeh demigods bhi automatically pooje jaate hain, isliye unhe alag se pooja karne ki zaroorat nahi hai. Isliye, jo bhakt Kṛṣṇa ke liye khana prastut karte hain aur phir us khane ko khate hain, wo apne aatma ko spiritual tareeke se poshit karte hain. Is prakar se na sirf unke purane paap khatam hote hain, balki unka sharir material contamination se bhi bacha rehta hai. Jab koi epidemic disease hoti hai, toh ek antiseptic vaccine us vyakti ko us disease se bachaata hai. Waise hi, jab hum Lord Viṣṇu ko prasad ke roop mein khana prastut karte hain aur phir khate hain, toh hum material affection se bacha rehne mein saksham hote hain, aur jo is prakriya ko apna lete hain, unhe bhakt kaha jata hai. Isliye, jo vyakti Kṛṣṇa consciousness mein hai aur sirf Kṛṣṇa ko prastut kiya hua khana khata hai, wo apne purane material infections ke pratikriyaon ko counteract kar sakta hai, jo self-realization ke raste mein rukawat banti hain. Dusri taraf, jo aisa nahi karte, wo paap ke kaam ko badhate rehte hain, aur unka agla sharir suar aur kutte jaisa ho jata hai, jo un sabhi paapon ke pratikriyaon ko bhugatne ke liye tayaar hota hai. Material duniya contamination se bhari hui hai, aur jo Lord ke prasādam ko sweekar karte hain, wo is attack se bachte hain, jabki jo nahi karte, wo contamination ka shikar hote hain. Khana ya to anaj ya sabziyan hote hain. Insaan alag-alag tarah ke anaj, sabziyan, phal, etc. khate hain, jabki jaanwar khane ki bachi hui cheezein khate hain. Jo log meat aur maans khane ke aadat daal lete hain, unhe bhi jaanwaron ko khane ke liye sabziyon ki utpadan par nirbhar rehna padta hai. Isliye, aakhir mein, humein kheton ki utpadan par hi nirbhar rehna padta hai, na ki badi factories ki utpadan par. Kheton ki utpadan ka kaaran hai aasman se barasne wali barish, aur yeh barish demigods jaise Indra, surya, chandra, etc. dwara control ki jaati hai, aur yeh sab Lord ke sevak hain. Lord ko bali daan se khush kiya ja sakta hai; isliye, jo vyakti inhe nahi kar sakta, wo kami ka samna karega - yeh prakriti ka niyam hai. Isliye, is yug ke liye saṅkīrtana-yajña ko anivarya roop se karna chahiye, taaki hum kam se kam khane ki kami se bach sakein.