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देव पूजन् भी यज्ञ है। Pujya Swami Govind Dev Giri
Translation ( pardon any mistakes)
When these five objects (sound, sensation/touch, form, taste, smell) are not enjoyed by myself, but are offered to the Lord, then automatically it becomes a yajna. Looked at from this vision, we find that out daily puja is also a yajna.
In our worship to Lord, we use words. We praise the Lord.The beutiful deity is in front of us. I sing a beutiful stotra. The beutiful stotra that is sung, certainly gives my mind joy. However, I do not sing for the purpose of making my mind happy. I sings so as to please the Lord. I light the best incense sticks. It is true that the fragrance from the incense reaches me. I am also pleased by that fragrance. However, that incense stick was not lighted for me.
If the incense stick was lighted for the sake of the Lord, if I bought the best fragrant materials, and used it for abhishek of the Lord, if I cooked tasty sweets, but they were not cooked for me, but were cooked for the Lord, then all those actions were nothing but yajna.
In this manner, here we have excellence in taste also, words also, touch also. All these, sound, touch, colour and form, taste, smell are meant for the Lord.
I bought beutiful clothes, but I bought them for the Lord. I bought beutiful ornaments, but I bought it for the Lord. Supposing I go somewhere outstation, and I buy things for myself, but I also buy something for the Lord. In this case my daily worship also becomes a yajna. I use the best of everything, of words, touch, form, taste, fragrance - however before I use them, I first use them for my Lord, my Thakurji - then my worship of Lord also becomes a yajna. In this case, all objects are used, but I am not primary here.
Wonderful sweets are made even in parties. The sweets being offered to the Lord are the same as those made for the parties. Yet there is a difference in the attitude behind their use. Two or three points are relevant here. The first is that, since I intend to offer it to the Lord, I take care of the cleanliness and purity of the items and the during process of making them. So the attitude of sanctity will be there. The other attitude is that these are not for me, they are for the Lord. This is not for me, this is for someone else - this is the main attitude in a yajna.
In the yajna of a fire ritual,when an offering is made into the fire, after that the priest says ' इन्द्राय इदं न मम, अग्नये इदं न मम'. 'This is for Agni, not for me. This is for Surya, not for me. This is for Indra, not for me.
'It is not mine, it is not for me' - when any offering is made with this attitude of sacrifice keeping the Lord in mind, when this attitude is awakened, then all the actions done by us, become of the nature of yajna. That is why, our daily worship is called as a yajna.
Our daily puja is also a yajna, as long as we follow certain rules pertaining to yajna. They are purity in conduct, purity of items used, purity in my own life, purity of the body, and reverential faith while offering all puja items to the Lord. And understanding that after offering to the Lord, those items do not belong to me.
I can partake of the food and other items offered to the Lord, in a limited measure. Partaking of prasada in a limited measure is permitted by the shastras. However I have no right over anything left over after that.
The attitude इदं न मम - 'this is not mine' needs to come into our daily life. All the objects of the five organs of perception, when they are used for the Lord, for the worship of the Lord, that puja is also a yajna. Therefore the word 'yajna', can also have the meaning of our daily puja.
'यजेत पुरुषं परम्' - by this injunction, the meaning of yajna is not restricted only to a fire ritual. The puja done by me is also a yajna. The word yajna is used to indicate puja also. Lord Krishna says 'शब्दादीन् विषयान् अन्ये इन्द्रियाग्निषु जुह्वति' - these five sense object reach upto our senses. May my sense-organs be of the nature of fire. Whatever is put in fire, is destroyed. Within is the mind, outer to the mind are the sense organs. And outer to the sense organs are their objects. The sense organs no doubt experienced the objects, however if the mind did not take them in with the thought of enjoyment in them, then this process becomes a yajna.
I use my art for the sake of achieving something excellent. I may have earned some wealth by displaying my art, this becomes my profession. However, through the medium of my art, I am able to achieve something big, for society, then that is also a yajna. I don't want anything from that for myself personally, but I make the effort to contribute something stable at a societal, cultural, ethical, humanitarian level, that also is a yajna.
Om That Sat