OFFERING OF WEALTH (Dravya-Yajna) — Sacrifice of wealth is to be understood in its largest connotation. Charity and distribution of honestly acquired wealth, in a sincere spirit of devotion to and in the service of the community, or of the individual who is the recipient of the benevolence, is called Dravya-Yajna. This includes more than a mere offering of money or food.
The term Dravya includes everything that we possess, not only in the world outside but also in our worlds of emotions and ideas. To pursue thus a life of charity, serving the world as best as we can, with all that we possess physically, mentally and intellectually is the noble sacrifice called “Wealth sacrifice.”
In order to perform this it is not at all necessary that the devotee should be materially rich. Even if we are poor and physically DEBILITATED, from our bed of pain and penury, we can still be charitable, because our inner treasurers of love, kindness, sympathy and affection, do not at all depend either upon our material circumstances nor on our physical condition. Sometimes, a word of sincere sympathy, a look of love, a smile of true affection, or a word registering true friendship, can give to the receiver more than a heartless cheque, even if it be for a very fat sum.
Tapo-yajna — Some live, offering unto their Lord, a life of austerity. There is no religion in the world which does not prescribe, by some method or the other, periods of austere living. These austerities (Vratas) are invariably undertaken in the name of the Lord. It is very well-known that the Lord of Compassion, who feeds and sustains even the lowliest of the low, can gain no special joy because of a devotee’s self-denial. But it is generally done in a spirit of dedication, so that the seeker might achieve some self-control. This activity, in some extreme cases very painful indeed, is undertaken in order that the devotee may learn to control himself in his sense-life.
Yoga-yajna — An earnest attempt of the lesser in us to grow into a better standard of diviner living, is called Yoga. In this attempt, devoted worship of the Lord-of-the-heart, called Upasana, is a primary method. This worship and love, offered to the Lord-of-the-heart, when performed without any desire or motive, is also called Yoga, since it directly hastens the seeker’s self-development.
Swadhyaya-yajna — The daily deep study of the scriptures is called Swadhyaya. Without a complete study of the scriptures we will not be in a position to know the logic of what we are doing in the name of spiritual practice, and without this knowledge our practices cannot gain the edge and the depth that are essential for sure progress. Thus, in all religions, the daily study of the scriptures is insisted upon, as an essential training during the seeker’s early days. Even after Self-realisation, we find that the Sages spend all their spare-time reading and contemplating upon the inexhaustible wealth of details and suggestions in the scriptures.
In its subjective implications, Swadhyaya means “self-study including the art of introspection pursued for understanding our own inner weaknesses.” If, in the case of a seeker, it is a technique of estimating his own spiritual progress, in the case of a Seer, it will be for revelling in his own Self.
Jnana-yajna — The Sacrifice-of-Knowledge: this word has very often been used in the Geeta and it constitutes one of the many original terms coined out by Vyasa to beautify the Lord’s declarations. The “Sacrifice-of-Knowledge” is the term given to that activity in man by which he renounces all his ignorance into the fire-of-knowledge kindled BY him, IN him. This is constituted of two aspects; negation of the false, and assertion of the Real Nature of the Self. These two activities are effectively undertaken during the seeker’s meditation.
All these five methods of Self-development — ” sacrifice-of-wealth,” “austerity,” “Yoga,” “study” and “knowledge” — can be practised with profit only by those who are men of “rigid determination” and who can find in themselves an inexhaustible enthusiasm to apply themselves consistently to reach this great goal. It is not sufficient that we know these paths, or that we decide to gain these developments. Progress in spirituality can come only to one who is “sincere and consistent in his practices” (Yatayah).
IN THE FOLLOWING VERSE KRISHNA EXPLAINS PRANAYAMA AS YET ANOTHER METHOD, THE ELEVENTH IN THE SERIES:
