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TEXT 25 daivam evapare yajnam
SYNONYMS  daivam--in
worshiping the demigods; eva--like this; apare--some; yajnam--sacrifices;
yoginah--the mystics; paryupasate--worship perfectly; brahma--the
Absolute Truth; agnau--in the fire of; apare--others; yajnam--sacrifice;
yajnena--by sacrifice; eva--thus; upajuhvati--worship.
TRANSLATION Some yogis
perfectly worship the demigods by offering different sacrifices to them,
and some of them offer sacrifices in the fire of the Supreme Brahman.
PURPORT As described
above, a person engaged in discharging duties in Krsna consciousness is
also called a perfect yogi or a first-class mystic. But there are
others also, who perform similar sacrifices in the worship of demigods,
and still others who sacrifice to the Supreme Brahman, or the impersonal
feature of the Supreme Lord. So there are different kinds of sacrifices
in terms of different categories. Such different categories of sacrifice
by different types of performers only superficially demark varieties of
sacrifice. Factual sacrifice means to satisfy the Supreme Lord, Visnu,
who is also known as Yajna. All the different varieties of sacrifice can
be placed within two primary divisions: namely, sacrifice of worldly possessions
and sacrifice in pursuit of transcendental knowledge. Those who are in
Krsna consciousness sacrifice all material possessions for the satisfaction
of the Supreme Lord, while others, who want some temporary material happiness,
sacrifice their material possessions to satisfy demigods such as Indra,
the sun-god, etc. And others, who are impersonalists, sacrifice their identity
by merging into the existence of impersonal Brahman. The demigods are powerful
living entities appointed by the Supreme Lord for the maintenance and supervision
of all material functions like the heating, watering and lighting of the
universe. Those who are interested in material benefits worship the demigods
by various sacrifices according to the Vedic rituals. They are called bahv-isvara-vadi,
or believers in many gods. But others, who worship the impersonal feature
of the Absolute Truth and regard the forms of the demigods as temporary,
sacrifice their individual selves in the supreme fire and thus end their
individual existences by merging into the existence of the Supreme. Such
impersonalists spend their time in philosophical speculation to understand
the transcendental nature of the Supreme. In other words, the fruitive
workers sacrifice their material possessions for material enjoyment, whereas
the impersonalist sacrifices his material designations with a view to merging
into the existence of the Supreme. For the impersonalist, the fire altar
of sacrifice is the Supreme Brahman, and the offering is the self being
consumed by the fire of Brahman. The Krsna conscious person, like Arjuna,
however, sacrifices everything for the satisfaction of Krsna, and thus
all his material possessions as well as his own self--everything--is sacrificed
for Krsna. Thus, he is the first-class yogi; but he does not lose
his individual existence.
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