Bhuta Yajna
After this our scriptures have described one more type of yajna. That is bhuta yajna. My life is that of a human being. My family is a community of humans. I am not alone in this creation. Nor is this creation peopled only by human beings. It is inhabited by many different creatures. My mind should think about them too daily. May I desire the well-being of all creatures.This is the difference between our vision and that of the West. In the West, animals are meant only for using (and consuming).
In the West, cows are reared. There is a basic difference between the rearing of cows in the West, and the worship of cows that we have here. In the West cows are reared, much like sugarcane is farmed. Lakhs of cows are fed.They cannot leave their sheds. They are well-nourished. All efforts are made to improve their milk production and increase their flesh. All kinds of methods are used for that purpose. They are not allowed to roam around or run.They just get big. There is no scope for any other development for them. As they grow to their full size, they are cut up,k for consumption. Just as there is farming of crops (for consumption),so too there is farming of cows ( purely for consumption). That is their vision, their outlook. The universe is for consumption - that is their outlook. Whereas the vision of the Rishis is that the universe is one family.
अयं निजः परो वेति गणना लघुचेतसाम्।
उदारचरितानां तु वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम्।।
He is mine, he is another - not mine- such are the thoughts of narrow-minded people. For the noble-minded, the whole world is a family.
We consider this entire creation as our family. We will think of the whole creation later. Nearby the home in which I live, there might be some dogs, or a cow - maybe a cow in my own family compound. May I remember that cow daily. May I remember the dog daily. May I remember the crow too.The crow is considered the most common bird. Yet food is offered even to the crow. A dog is considered the commonest animal. Yet, everyday, bread (roti) is taken out for it. There is bali everyday for it - there is an arrangement made daily for feeding even the dogs.
Here our Shastras are giving us a vision of life, that humans are not the only living beings in this creation. When I was travelling through America, one thing made me quite sad. We saw some beautiful gardens. We saw many jungles. Yet, nowhere did we see any birds. We did not see any insects anywhere.They had all been killed. They had all been destroyed. Even if there were birds there, they would only have been in the zoos - nowhere else.
It is not only man who has the right to exist on this earth. Others too have freedom. They too have their own life. So I should respect and honour life - it's different expressions. I did not see this kind of thinking in the West.
Understand the vision of the Rishies of Bharat. Atmavat sarva bhuteshu - I will live, but I will live without causing harm to others. I will live and live well and I will live ensuring that other can also prosper. They have their rights, and I will respect and honour those rights. And as far as possible, from my bread, I will keep a piece for that dog, for that crow. Here the word dog or crow or cow are general symbols to convey a vision. Our Rishies, want to convey to us, a vision of life. When a man, daily keeps aside some food for a dog or crow or cow, then his mind becomes sensitive to all the beings in creation.
I have seen such fine Mothers, who inspite of living in cities where no cow is to be found near their homes, yet who follow consistently the rule that I will go and personally feed the cow, roti with my hands, and only then I will eat. The cow is a well-fed healthy cow, yet this old Mother feels 'I must go personally, in the car, taking roti, feed her and then return and only then eat my meals'.
There is no doubt that this observance of hers has a deep impact on her own vision of life. And when small children observe that our grandmother has so much eagerness to feed roti to the cow, then in their minds also a feeling or attitude is created that there should be love towards all animals,all beings of this creation. It is not that I will just use these for my own benefit. I will remember all the beings before my meals. Remembering them, I also learn to contribute something towards their well-being.
This attitude of contribution towards other creatures well-being is bhuta yajna. You would have heard the word bhuta-daya. Bhuta word means a living being. May the feeling of compassion towards all living being always be alive in us. Not just for humans.
....Translated excerpt from book Yajnamaya Jivan
