May 10, 2004, 12.00am IST
After having won the Mahabharata war, King Yuddhishthira, the eldest of the Pandavas, performed the Ashvamedha Yagna in which he gave away his riches to the deserving.
Just then a half-golden mongoose sneaked in and began rolling all over the ground. It then looked at its fur and seemed disappointed. The mongoose said sadly, "Ah! This is no sacrifice."
Yuddhishthira and the others were puzzled for they had performed the yagna on a grand scale. How dare the mongoose proclaim that it was worthless? Curious, they asked for an explanation.
The mongoose sighed: "During a famine, I witnessed a grand sacrifice. I had gone without food for days. Everywhere there was hunger, starvation and death. With no strength to look for food, one night I crept into the hut of a peasant who lived with his wife and child. They too were hungry for days. One day the husband brought home a little wheat flour. The wife cooked it and just as they were about to eat it a beggar cried for food. The man gave him his portion. There was a second knock and this time he found a hungry child, crying. The wife gave the child her share. As they were about to eat the third share, a famished dog crawled inside the hut. The child gave up her share and the family now faced hunger and certain death. The beggar, the child and the dog came back to bless the family. The three guests transformed into Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. Blessing the generous family they took them away in a beautiful chariot. I ate the food they'd left behind and fell asleep. In the morning when I went home my family told me that I had turned half-golden. I found that the side I had slept on had turned golden. Since then, I am looking for another such sacrifice so that my other half also turns golden. So you see, this sacrifice cannot be as great."
Renunciation and service are the greatest sacrifices, the highest religion. Showing unconditional kindness to all is the religion of love. Every selfless act is service to God.
Krishna said: "Always perform obligatory actions without attachment; by doing so the human being attains to the highest" (Gita 3.19).
Swami Vivekananda said that Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru, was a real hero for he accepted his sons being cemented alive in the wall as a sacrifice. Uncomplaining, the Guru retired to the south to die in silence and peace.
A Rajput maid Pannabai had to look after the baby prince along with her own newborn son. Invading soldiers attacked the fort and killed the royal family.
Searching for the newborn prince they rushed to Pannabai and asked her to hand over the baby prince to them in return for freedom. Pannabai wrapped her own baby in the prince's clothes and handed him to the soldiers. Finding her calm they were satisfied that they had the right baby in their hands and killed it in front of her.
Swami Raganathananda says that a Karma Yogi rises above individuality and stops worrying about the fruits of action. Such a person remains in constant bliss. One beholden to personal desire can never serve wholeheartedly.
In a Karma Yogi's life there is no place for his own emotions. He has no motive except selfless service. Pain comes when one gets attached to the work and its results.
Those who perform good work in order to go to heaven also bind themselves down in the vicious cycle of births and deaths. A heroic person is one who can conquer attachment and is not carried away by emotion.
Seema Burman
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