Service: the four yajiṋas

Ordinarily Yajiṋa is of four kinds: Bhúta Yajiṋa, Nr Yajiṋa, Pitr Yajiṋa and Adhyátma Yajiṋa. Of these four Yajiṋas, the first three, namely Bhúta, Nr, and Pitr Yajiṋas, are psycho-physical, that is, both mental and physical, but Adhyátma Yajiṋa is one hundred percent internal.

(1) Bhúta-Yajiṋa: Bhúta Yajiṋa means services rendered to any created entity of the manifested world. For example, watering trees, serving cattle, undertaking scientific explorations and doing anything for the sake of welfare. In Saḿskrta, Bhúta means that which has been created. It does not mean ghost or spirit. The Saḿskrta synonym of the English words ghost and spirit is “Preta”. (2) Nr Yajiṋa: Nr Yajiṋa is action for human welfare. In fact Nr Yajiṋa is a part of Bhúta Yajiṋa because human beings are also created beings, I will explain Nr Yajiṋa later on.

(3) Pitr Yajiṋa: Pitr Yajiṋa means remembering the ancestors and the sages. As long as a person possesses the physical body, he remains indebted to his ancestors.

(4) Adhyátma Yajiṋa: I have already said that Adhyátma Yajiṋa is one hundred percent internal. The impetus for Adhyátma Yajiṋa comes from the soul and this impetus becomes operative in the mental province. The mind performs the sádhaná and the Karma also terminates in the province of the soul. That is, the ultimate goal of mental sádhaná lies in the province of the soul. Adhyátma Yajiṋa is a liberating sádhaná and the remaining three, Bhúta, Nr and Pitr yajiṋa are both liberating and subjugating (Nivrtti Pravrtti).

When you offer something to a person and expect to receive something in return, it is a sort of commercial transaction. But when you have no desire to receive anything in return for services rendered it is called true service, and here lies the basic difference between true service and commercial transactions. You might have seen newspaper advertisements in which a certain company says it has been rendering service to the people over a long period of time. But the question is, can any commercial institution truly “serve” the people? Are they not merely involved in a commercial transaction of one form or other?

Human beings’ desire to acquire things from others knows no bounds. Their hopes are never quenched, but their spirit of giving to others is very meagre. Generally when people do give something to others, the intention of charity or service is absolutely secondary; their predominant feeling is to receive something in exchange. In other words, they have extreme greed to garner fame by one hand and give charity by the other. A sádhaka will have to adopt the opposite course to get rid of the burning flames of greed, he/she will have to develop an infinite desire to give to others with no intention at all of obtaining anything from them.

Sevá (service) is of four kinds – shúdrocita, vaeshyocita, kśatriyocita and viprocita. This is known as nr yajiṋa. Serving the sick, performing the funeral rites of a dead body, helping the suffering and doing all possible developmental work, through physical labour, is known as shúdrocita sevá. Economic service to living beings and the giving of food and water is vaeshyocita sevá. To rescue a person in distress, or to compel a person moving on the wrong path to come to the right path, by one’s strength, physical capability and courage, is kśatriyocita sevá. To help human society in its mental and spiritual development by application of parájiṋána (intuitional knowledge) is viprocita sevá.

You know sevá, that is, service. Service is of four kinds: Shúdrocita sevá is serving with your physical body, rendering physical service, rendering medical service. Service rendered by a shúdra is shúdrocita service. Then kśatriyocita [martial service] is security service, helping the weak. Then vaeshyocita sevá [economic service] is relief work, feeding the poor, helping the needy. Then viprocita sevá is preaching morality, teaching, preaching the ideology, doing dharma pracára [spiritual propagation]. They are all viprocita sevá.

Nr Yajiṋa is of four kinds: (a) Shúdrocita, (b) Vaeshyocita, (c) Kśatriyocita and (d) Viprocita.

Viprocita Sevá is to give expression of Adhyátma yajiṋa by imparting the spiritual knowledge you have gained. Instil in others the earnest desire to follow the path of virtue – only then will you justify your existence as a social creature.

Remember that the value of each service is the same. Whatever kind of service is most necessary at a given time should be rendered. The scriptures express that vipras are like the head of virát́puruśa (Supreme Consciousness), kśatriyas are like the arms, vaeshyas are like the trunk and shúdras are like the two legs. Think, therefore, are not all four purposive? The head controls the legs, and the legs support the head. The result of viprocita sevá is lasting and that of the rest is short-lived. But even so, under special conditions, kśatriyocita, vaeshyocita or shúdrocita service may be the only recourse – there viprocita sevá may perhaps be completely meaningless. (As the base of the jiiva [being] is Brahma, so the base of society is the shúdra; hence for one who cannot be a good shúdra, to try to become kśatriya, vaeshya or vipra is meaningless.) An Ananda Margii will have to be vipra, kśatriya, vaeshya and shúdra all at once.

Suppose a wayfarer is in distress in a lonely place and is about to die. In this situation viprocita sermons are entirely useless. While Shúdrocita sevá, i.e. nursing will be of great value. What will you do for a man who is dying of starvation? Will you nurse or preach sermons? Food must be arranged for him. In this circumstance Vaeshyocita sevá is of great value. In another situation, some men are attacking a helpless person. In this case neither sermons nor nursing is needed, nor is food to be offered; there you will have to render Kśatriyocita service. In this situation, Kśatriyocita Sevá is of greater value and other services are entirely meaningless.

At the time of rendering service, you should feel that object of service is Náráyańa or God and that you are a spiritual aspirant. With such feelings there is no room for conceit. Conceit causes the fall of human beings. To get rid of conceit we will have to regard the object of our service as Náráyańa. When you render service to anyone you must mentally address them with sincere devotion. “O Lord, O Náráyańa! Oblige me by accepting my services. You are merciful to me, and for this reason you have appeared before me as a living being to offer this very precious opportunity of rendering service to You.” By maintaining such sentiments, conceit will not arise in you, nor will you be bound by the reactions of your actions.

This entire universe is the expression of the greatness of Parama Puruśa, and therefore, whatever a person does for a particular living being is as good as rendering service to Parama Puruśa. Wherever you are, and whatever you may be, whether you are leading a family life or the life of a recluse, you need to serve all created beings for they are the veritable expression of the Supreme Entity. While serving living beings one should never allow a feeling of vanity to develop. One should always remember that one is serving Parama Puruśa and none other. Had Parama Puruśa not come in your contact in the from of living beings, you would not have an opportunity to serve Him. He comes to you as a sick person or as a beggar to solicit your assistance. Naturally you are more grateful than the person you serve because Parama Puruśa has given you the opportunity to serve Him.

Suppose a certain man donates one thousand rupees to a particular institution. The next day he looks anxiously for his name in the newspaper. If his name does not appear in the paper, then with an air of conceit he brags amongst his kith and kin. “I have donated a thousand rupees, but I do not desire recognition and therefore I have not published my name in the paper.” The desire for fame exists in a concealed form in that man’s mind. Clearly, he did not make the donation with the spirit of service.

You must have seen many people who become angry and sorrowful at the time of his distress saying, “I helped those persons in their adversity, served them so much on their sick-bed, but today they are so ungrateful that they do not even cast a glance at me.” They may even curse, “God is witnessing everything – they will have to reap the consequences of their actions.” You know that such remarks are an extremely vulgar expression of mental meanness. Such persons have not done sádhaná for mental purification, nor have they truly served anybody in adversity or sickness. In fact they took advantage of other people’s distress and gave them some assistance as an advance; but the motive behind such assistance was to recover it with full interest.

There must be one and only one purpose behind the practice of penance and that is to shoulder sorrows and miseries of others to make them happy, to free them from grief and to give them comforts. Just like shaoca sádhaná, in the practice of tapah there must not be even the least bit of commercial mentality. Shudrocita sevá (physical service) in almost all cases relates to tapah. Therefore, those who are afraid of physical labour or hate the shúdra (labourer) can never become a tápasa. If you serve sick people who are in great pain for hours together to give them needed relief, this is tapah; but if you serve them with the selfish motive of securing their assistance in your bad days, the entire effort of tapah is lost in a moment.

In practising tapah you should always give consideration to those who are inferior to you and not to those who are superior. Your responsibility is greater for those who are weaker, poorer, less educated, more ignorant and downtrodden in comparison with you. Your responsibility is very little for those who are above your level, who are better off and more powerful than you. Therefore, you will have to ascertain with discrimination where your responsibility lies and to what extent; otherwise all your time, energy and labour employed in tapah will be in vain. To banquet the rich is of no use – give food to the starving. There is no need to send presents to your superiors – send medicine and food to the sick. Don’t waste your time in flattering the rich; it will yield no result. Conquer the hearts of the underprivileged by your sympathetic behaviour and accept them in your society.