When I spent 10 years has a celibate monk in the ashram of my teacher, from the age of 19 to 29, I learned a lot about practicing austerity and performing sacrifices for a Higher Cause.
I was trained in the Brahminical priesthood, where I learned to perform the priestly activities of a brahmana, while also studying the ancient Vedic texts which are the foundation of Hinduism, and indeed the precursor to Buddhism.
It was a highly educational time of my life where I learned a tremendous amount about the ancient history and culture of India, as well as about myself. It was a very high standard that was set; one which few might be able to reach.
For example, for those 10 years I had to remain celebate. I also remained in service as a volunteer without any pay whatsoever. Thus in other words for those 10 years of training, I took a vow of renunciation and poverty, as his natural for a celibate monk in training.
We were obliged to rise at 4:00 a.m. 7 days a week, all year long, in order to attend the early morning meditation and ritual and ceremony. And then practiced two hours meditation. In other words I made some significant sacrifices in order to undergo my training in this lost and ancient art, based on the Sanskritt Vedanta literature.
It is an archaic practice, from perhaps thousands of years ago and has been handed down with all its idiosyncrasies and superstitions into this modern era of digital blockchain technology. It could be seen as quite a clash of cultures.
It's certainly not for everyone and is a unique practice only for a certain few who are following a calling and who have no need for much material facility in order to feel sufficient, but who may prefer to explore roads less traveled out of curiosity, or perhaps a search for relief from the struggles of life, or perhaps a knowledge of something higher, having already glimped the light in the distance ahead even if only briefly.
Such are the strange motivations of us all as we survive on this planet. We all make certain sacrifices at different times, some great and some small, depending on your circumstances in which we find ourselves.
Bhagavad Gita ch3:13
यज्ञशिष्टाशिनः सन्तो मुच्यन्ते सर्वकिल्बिषै ।
भुञ्जते ते त्वघं पापा ये पचन्त्यात्मकारणात् ॥ १३ ॥
yajna-śiṣṭāśinaḥ santo
mucyante sarva-kilbiṣaiḥ
bhunjate te tv aghaṁ pāpā
ye pacanty ātma-kāraṇāt
SYNONYMS
yajna-śiṣṭa—food taken after performance of yaja; aśinaḥ—eaters; santaḥ—the devotees; mucyante—get relief from; sarva—all kinds of; kilbiṣaiḥ—sins; bhunjate—enjoy; te—they; tu—but; agham—grievous sins; pāpāḥ—sinners; ye—those; pacanti—prepare food; ātma-kāraṇāt—for sense enjoyment.
TRANSLATION
The devotees of the Lord are released from all kinds of sins because they eat food which is offered first for sacrifice. Others, who prepare food for personal sense enjoyment, verily eat only sin.
PURPORT
The devotees of the Supreme Lord, or the persons who are in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, are called santas, and they are always in love with the Lord as it is described in the Brahma-saṁhitā: premānjana- cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti. The santas, being always in a compact of love with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda (the giver of all pleasures), or Mukunda (the giver of liberation), or Kṛṣṇa (the all-attractive person), cannot accept anything without first offering it to the Supreme Person. Therefore, such devotees always perform yajnas in different modes of devotional service, such as śravaṇam, kīrtanam, smaraṇam, arcanam, etc., and these performances of yajnas keep them always aloof from all kinds of contamination of sinful association in the material world. Others, who prepare food for self or sense gratification, are not only thieves, but are also the eaters of all kinds of sins. How can a person be happy if he is both a thief and sinful? It is not possible. Therefore, in order for people to become happy in all respects, they must be taught to perform the easy process of saṅkīrtana-yajna, in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Otherwise, there can be no peace or happiness in the world.
Bhagavad Gita ch3:14
अन्नाद्भवन्ति भूतानि पर्जन्यादन्नसम्भवः ।
यज्ञाद्भवति पर्जन्यो यज्ञः कर्मसमुद्भवः ॥ १४ ॥
annād bhavanti bhūtāni
parjanyād anna-sambhavaḥ
yajnād bhavati parjanyo
yajnaḥ karma-samudbhavaḥ
SYNONYMS
annāt—from grains; bhavanti—grow; bhūtāni—the material bodies; parjanyāt—from rains; anna—food grains; sambhavaḥ—are made possible; yajnāt—from the performance of sacrifice; bhavati—becomes possible; parjanyaḥ—rains; yajnaḥ—performance of yajna; karma—prescribed duties; samudbhavaḥ—born of.
TRANSLATION
All living bodies subsist on food grains, which are produced from rain. Rains are produced by performance of yaj�a [sacrifice], and yajna is born of prescribed duties.
PURPORT
Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa, a great commentator on the Bhagavad-gītā, writes as follows: ye indrādy-aṅga-tayāvasthitaṁ yajnaṁ sarveśvaraṁ viṣṇum abhyarccya taccheṣam aśnanti tena taddeha-yāntrāṁ sampādayanti te santaḥ sarveśvarasya bhaktāḥ sarva-kilviṣair anādi-kāla-vivṛddhair ātmānubhava- pratibandhakair nikhilaiḥ pāpair vimucyante. The Supreme Lord, who is known as the yajna-puruṣaḥ, or the personal beneficiary of all sacrifices, is the master of all demigods who serve Him as the different limbs of the body serve the whole. Demigods like Indra, Candra, Varuṇa, etc., are appointed officers who manage material affairs, and the Vedas direct sacrifices to satisfy these demigods so that they may be pleased to supply air, light and water sufficiently to produce food grains. When Lord Kṛṣṇa is worshiped, the demigods, who are different limbs of the Lord, are also automatically worshiped; therefore there is no separate need to worship the demigods. For this reason, the devotees of the Lord, who are in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, offer food to Kṛṣṇa and then eat—a process which nourishes the body spiritually. By such action not only are past sinful reactions in the body vanquished, but the body becomes immunized to all contamination of material nature. When there is an epidemic disease, an antiseptic vaccine protects a person from the attack of such an epidemic. Similarly, food offered to Lord Viṣṇu and then taken by us makes us sufficiently resistant to material affection, and one who is accustomed to this practice is called a devotee of the Lord. Therefore, a person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, who eats only food offered to Kṛṣṇa, can counteract all reactions of past material infections, which are impediments to the progress of self-realization. On the other hand, one who does not do so continues to increase the volume of sinful action, and this prepares the next body to resemble hogs and dogs, to suffer the resultant reactions of all sins. The material world is full of contaminations, and one who is immunized by accepting prasādam of the Lord (food offered to Viṣṇu) is saved from the attack, whereas one who does not do so becomes subjected to contamination.
Food grains or vegetables are factually eatables. The human being eats different kinds of food grains, vegetables, fruits, etc., and the animals eat the refuse of the food grains and vegetables, grass, plants, etc. Human beings who are accustomed to eating meat and flesh must also depend on the production of vegetation in order to eat the animals. Therefore, ultimately, we have to depend on the production of the field and not on the production of big factories. The field production is due to sufficient rain from the sky, and such rains are controlled by demigods like Indra, sun, moon, etc., and they are all servants of the Lord. The Lord can be satisfied by sacrifices; therefore, one who cannot perform them will find himself in scarcity—that is the law of nature. Yaj�a, specifically the saṅkīrtana-yaj�a prescribed for this age, must therefore be performed to save us at least from scarcity of food supply.
Ref: Bhagavad Gita As It Is, translation and commentary by Swami A. C. Bhaktivedanta, original MacMillan 1972 edition
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