Gita 10.25 – Chanting involves sacrficing that which is most dear to us for the one who is the most dear to us

Of Krishna. Thank you.

The holy name as its glories are revealed. A verse from the Bhagavad Gita which talks about the vibhutis of Krishna and there it says yajnanam yajnyasmi in the 10th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. So there are two direct references to chanting in the Bhagavad Gita.

Satatam kirtayan tomam and yajnanam yajnyasmi, the 9th and the 10th chapters respectively. Now among these two, kirtan can refer to many things. Kirtan can refer to classes, kirtan can refer to musical recitations, kirtan can refer to a variety of things, but japa is much more specific.

It refers to the silent, soft recitation of certain mantras and the purpose of this chanting is of course like the purpose of everything that is there in spiritual life, purification. But it is interesting that Krishna classifies japa as a yajna and indeed the topmost of all yajnas. Yajnanam japa yajnyasmi.

So now the normal conception of yajna is fire sacrifice wherein people focus on lighting a fire, sacrifice with fire and offering ghee, grains and other such items into the fire as a sacrifice to the Supreme Lord. So yajnanam japa yajnyasmi. Now if you look at it from the external point of view, japa seems to have very little to do with sacrifice.

The essential principle which is common and which can connect the two is not so easily understood. The principle is that of sacrifice which is the common essence of both. In yajna the point is to sacrifice what one could have used for oneself for the pleasure of God.

So the ghee, the grains, the silk, which one could have used for oneself. When one sacrifices into the fire, one understands the fire is a representative of God. Yajna by Vishnu, that yajna, the fire is a manifestation of the Supreme Lord Vishnu and when a person is offering anything into the fire, although externally it may appear as if it's going waste, but actually it isn't.

It is being utilized by being used for its highest purpose and perfection. So among all the things that we can sacrifice for Krishna, our consciousness is the most dear to us. That's why when somebody accuses someone of brainwashing, of thought control, we generally recoil against the idea.

We may not ourselves consciously realize the value of our consciousness in the sense that we may not put a price on our consciousness, but whatever we put a price on, for example, earning some money or doing something enjoyable, none of that we can do without our consciousness. So whatever pleasure we get from anything, we get that pleasure ultimately through our consciousness. The most fundamental energy of the soul is consciousness.

So normally the consciousness we use for our own pleasure and the principle of sacrifice is to offer what can be used for our pleasure, for Krishna's pleasure. So in chanting we try to fix the consciousness of Krishna. What are we doing? We are offering that which is most dear to us to Krishna and Krishna is the person who is most dear to us.

He is surdhan sarva bhutaatma bhutaatma, the well-wisher of all living beings, the soul of all souls. Although we may not realize right now that he is the dearest of all persons to us, he is the one who will be there by our side lifetime after lifetime, unflinchingly, unfailingly. And if we turn to him, he alone can purify and liberate us.

He can do the greatest good to us and that's why he is our greatest benefactor. So when we sacrifice our consciousness in this way to Krishna, by fixing it on him, the wonderful result is that we get a far greater return. By fixing the consciousness on Krishna, we gradually become attached to him, mayya sattva manaha, and because he is a reservoir of all happiness, we get the supreme happiness.

Because he is unlimited, the happiness in him is also unlimited and the happiness that we can get by connecting with him is also far far greater than the happiness that we can get by anything else. And that's how chanting is the greatest sacrifice, because it involves sacrificing the greatest thing, that's our consciousness. It involves sacrificing for the greatest person, that is Krishna, and it involves getting the greatest result from the sacrifice, that is Krishna-prema, which brings eternal happiness.

And that's how Krishna classifies chanting as ujjana, japa, yajna, asmi, among various sacrifices and the sacrifice of chanting. So by remembering that, just by the simple act of uttering the holy names, we can get a result far greater than what is possible by doing massive fire sacrifices that involve huge management and heavy finances, we can get a far greater result than all that. By remembering this, we can inspire ourselves to join wholeheartedly.