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Swa-dharma - the real yagna


Week 10, chapter 3 shlokas 8-21

Krishna insists on following swa-dharma. That swa-dharma is like you are performing a yagna (a ritual where lots of offerings are made to the fire pit and all of that goes to God). And this yagna is such that if you distract from performing it by doing whatever you like (giving oneself to the temptations)- ignoring that which is righteous, one gets tangled into the cycle of birth and death and experiences all kinds of miseries.

Krishna also tells an ancient story (shloka10) about when the creation (by Shri Brahmadeva) came into existence, it was too deep for humans to understand—but then Shri Brahmadeva told everyone only to follow swa-dharma (the righteous duties assigned to people through their varnas) and through this, they would attain their moksha. And for that- they will not need to do any kind of fastings, go for pilgrimage, or perform any kind of rituals to please deities. In a way, performing swa-dharma is the real yagna that will lead towards all kinds of prosperity, fulfillment of desires, and eventually moksha.

Such is the power of swa-dharma —that by performing it, the gods would be pleased and anything you do will be attained. Anything you say would become true. Wherever you will be, God will grant you all the blessings (spiritual and material) of the world. But be mindful that you perform swa-dharma without desiring anything in return (nishkam bhava)- with utmost detachment.

However, after attaining well-being by performing swa-dharma, if the pride (that one is rich or powerful) will corrupt the mind and you start indulging into sensory pleasures…such behavior will invite all kind of miseries and eventually the wealth and prosperity would be gone. Krishna tells that all the wealth you attain is an offering in performing the yagna called swa-dharma. And since all the offerings are sacred, it is ‘brahm-swaroop’—the embodiment of brahma himself.

Perform swa-dharma till you attain ‘self-knowledge’ and ‘swa-swaroopanand’ the joy of ‘self’ that is atman. As self-knowledge has the power to liberate the being from the karmas. (shloka 18).

Krishna tells many things, it's just that some of it one absorbs or relates to. So, it is important to stay on the shlokas longer and on certain shlokas may be much longer to meditate, spend time learning, and applying in our day-to-day life. As my notes are also my own understanding documented in text form, I would say that one should not deny themselves this learning the shlokas offer as everyone’s journey is their own unique set of experiences and so is the application of that learning.


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