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The Five Great Sacrifices: Linking Ancient and Modern Hinduism 27
• Deva Yajna, which is dedicated to the gods
and performed through ritualistic worship at
home or in a temple. Most Hindu families have
a griha devata, household deity, or a kula devata,
ancestral deity, to whom worship is offered daily.
Hindus may offer ritualistic worship to the supreme
Godhead or to any of the innumerable
deities of the Hindu pantheon through offering
flowers, incense, and so on.
• Pitri Yajna, which is meant for the ancestors.
A small amount of food and water is offered
in their names, at noon, by placing it outside the
plate. Later this offering is taken and left out for
birds or stray animals.
• Nri Yajna, also known as Manushya Yajna,
which is done for the welfare of the whole humanity
and is performed by feeding guests, beggars,
or holy men. In the Mahabharata Yuddhisthira
is told that even if a householder has
no food to offer to people, one can always offer
water, a seat, or at least kind words.
• Bhuta Yajna, which is the offering to lower
beings. It is performed by daily feeding of birds,
animals, and insects.
Indians have been practising these five great
sacrifices since ancient times, and nearly every
Hindu home follows them knowingly or unknowingly.
It is only the modern generation that
is losing the link with the past and with the universe
around, for which it has already started
paying a heavy price. In today’s fast paced life
it may not be possible for everyone to follow
these five yajnas fully, but if one is conscious of
one’s sacred duties, one can always find ways to
perform them. For example, one can keep aside
some money every day for Nri Yajna and Bhuta
Yajna separately, which can be donated to institutions
that serve the poor and others working
for nature or wildlife conservation.
Here it must be added that these rituals are
not meant for sannyasins. Sannyasins focus only
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on the first two of these practices, and many monastic
organizations now serve humanity and extend
relief to animals as well. Everyone else has
to follow these rituals, since they help to purify
the mind and connect one with the cosmos.
The Microcosm and the Macrocosm
One of the earliest prayers in the Rig Veda states:
‘Bounteous (deities), we forthwith proclaim aloud
that brotherhood of yours in the mother’s womb,
(first) in common union, then as born in diverse
manner.’ 11 This prayer to the gods by the sage indicates
that to be born is to become one with entire
nature. Swami Vivekananda had a cosmic revelation
while travelling in Almora; he discovered
that ‘the microcosm and the macrocosm are built
on the same plan. Just as the individual soul is encased
in the living body, so is the universal soul in
the Living Prakriti [Nature].’ 12 Later he used to
emphasize this essential unity of existence in his
lectures. A common person feels bound, as in a
prison, and cannot even link one’s petty existence
with the surrounding unity; what to speak of feeling
oneness! These five sacrifices connect an individual
with the cosmos; that is why they are called
great and are mandatory for all householders.
There is at present a big hue and cry about
human carbon footprint and environmental degradation.
This is the natural outcome of persons
who have exploited nature for selfish needs and
now find the whole exercise to be a big mistake.
They are shouting to reduce carbon emissions
and stop exploiting nature. Against this situation
the pancha-mahayajna of Hinduism has become
still more relevant, not only for Hindus but for
anyone who is in tune with nature.
These sacrifices not only protect the environment
but also show why we must practise nonviolence.
Destruction and wastage of any kind
is strictly prohibited in Hinduism. When we
know that every morsel of food that we eat is at
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