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Bhagavad Gita - December 12, 2008 Chapter 3, Verses: 13-16 Swami Yogatmananda Vedanta Society of Providence     Please click the 'Play' button to start. It may take a minute.   Launch in external player   To download the lecture, please right-click here and then click "Save Target As..."     III.13: By becoming partakers of the remnants of sacrifices, they become freed from all sins. But the unholy persons who cook for themselves, they incur sin. III.14: From food are born the creatures; the origin of food is from rainfall; rainfall originates from sacrifice; sacrifice has action as its origin. III.15: Know that action has the Veda as its origin; the Veda has the Immutable as its source. Hence, the all-pervading Veda is for ever based on sacrifice. III.16: O Partha, he lives in vain who does not follow here the wheel thus set in motion, whose life is sinful, and who indulges in the senses.   The above image is from Gita Darshan by courtesy of Sri Ramakrishna Math, Hyderabad.   To Order Audio/ Video CDs : bookstore@vedantaprov.org   List of Audio/ Video CDs, DVDs

Summary of this lecture: Those who respect this cosmic principle of sacrifice (Yajna), do not incur any sin through the actions. For these actions are performed with the co-operative spirit and for collective benefit. Those selfish people, who 'cook only for themselves' eat only the sin; they are destructive to themselves and to the society & surroundings too. Lord Krishna then describes how the sacrifice is going on in the universe making the life of people sustainable. There is the Yajna-cycle: food->beings->Yajna->Rains->food-> which is necessary for our living. So our actions need to be done in the spirit of sacrifice. This is also the teachings of the scriptures which guide/orient us towards the goal. This deliberately directed living is the specialty of human beings. If one is not living in this way then he/she is just wasting the precious life.