Spiritual Import of Religious Festivals : 12-1.

"Very important - A Nation is built from the tradition of family! Read carefully, understand, keep in mind and apply the lesson day to day life."

Chapter -12. Yajna – Quintessence of the Culture of India-1.
Dipavali message given on the 25th of October, 1973.

(Gita III-9)

"Yajnarthat-karmano-nyatra lokoyam karmabandhanah; tadartham karma kaunteya muktasangah samachara."

"The world is bound by actions other than those performed for the sake of sacrifice; do thou, therefore, O son of Kunti (Arjuna), perform action for that sake (for sacrifice alone), free from attachment."

When we are born into a particular setup of circumstances which we call a family, all the conditioning factors of the family are also born together with us.

The tradition of the family grows when we grow.

The pattern of our character and conduct is entirely determined by the ideological background that is at the very basis of the structure of that particular family.

We are born not merely in a family but also in wider circumstances called the community, nation, world, universe, etc., to all which we owe obligations.

Our obligation to a condition into which we are born is sacrifice or Yajna, and that is what Bhagavan Sri Krishna speaks of in the above slokam.

Swami Krishnananda
  To be continued ...