 |
 |
|
|
|
|
TEXT 5 yajna-dana-tapah-karma
SYNONYMS  yajna--sacrifice;
dana--charity; tapah--penance; karma--activities;
na--never; tyajyam--to be given up; karyam--must be
done; eva--certainly; tat--that; yajnah--sacrifice;
danam--charity; tapah--penance; ca--also; eva--certainly;
pavanani--purifying; manisinam--even of the great souls.
TRANSLATION Acts of sacrifice,
charity and penance are not to be given up but should be performed. Indeed,
sacrifice, charity and penance purify even the great souls.
PURPORT The yogis
should perform acts for the advancement of human society. There are many
purificatory processes for advancing a human being to spiritual life. The
marriage ceremony, for example, is considered to be one of these sacrifices.
It is called vivaha-yajna. Should a sannyasi, who is in the
renounced order of life and who has given up his family relations, encourage
the marriage ceremony? The Lord says here that any sacrifice which is meant
for human welfare should never be given up. Vivaha-yajna, the marriage
ceremony, is meant to regulate the human mind to become peaceful for spiritual
advancement. For most men, this vivaha-yajna should be encouraged
even by persons in the renounced order of life. Sannyasis should
never associate with women, but that does not mean that one who is in the
lower stages of life, a young man, should not accept a wife in the marriage
ceremony. All prescribed sacrifices are meant for achieving the Supreme
Lord. Therefore, in the lower stages, they should not be given up. Similarly,
charity is for the purification of the heart. If charity is given to suitable
persons, as described previously, it leads one to advanced spiritual life.
|
