The Prajapati (The Creator), having in the beginning of Creation created
mankind, together with sacrifices, said, "by this shall you prosper; let
this be the milch-cow of your desire". Bhagavad Gita 3:10
The Eternal Sacrifice of God is indeed one of the most fascinating themes
in the mystic lore of all great religions. The idea that all creation exists
only because the Author of that creation has sacrificed Himself is one of
the most inspiring concepts of the religious tradition both of the East as
well as the West. In Hindu religious thought, this theme is woven around
the Sacrifice of Prajapati, the Lord of all creatures.
Writing on this subject, C. Jinarajadasa says in his essay entitled The
Eternal Sacrifice of God as follows:
"... they say in ancient Hindu tradition that Prajapati, the Lord of all
creatures, before creation began, voluntarily laid himself down on the
altar to be slain, for it was only by His being so slain that creation
would become in existence.
He called upon His elder children, the Great Angels, and He laid Himself
down upon the altar. According to His command, they dismembered and slew
Divinity, and by the death of the God, by his martyrdom and sacrifice,
came the Creation of the universe.
We are told that it is only because God, in the beginning of time, so died
to His full and free nature, that you and I have our separate individual
existences".
In Hindu tradition, man is asked to bring the dismembered pasts of God together
and resurrect Him. While in the Christian tradition the resurrection of
God is looked upon as a miracle performed by God Himself, in Hinduism the
resurrection of God is a miracle to be performed by Man. This is possible
only when man engages himself in sacrifices that out of the dismemberment
of man, as man, there takes place the miracle of the resurrection of God Himself.
The Sacrifice of God is an ever-continuing process:
The Eternal, the all permeating, is ever present in sacrifice.
Since the Eternal is ever present in sacrifice, it is in sacrifice and here alone
that one can commune with it. Sacrifice is to engage oneself in Action, an
Action to which one is a witness. To be a witness to one's own Action - this
verily is the injunction of the Teacher to His disciple.
Mount Govardhana Temples, September 2007
Sri Krishna, out of compassion for His people and with a view to protecting them, lifts up the mount Govardhana, and balances it on His little finger. Seeing this the cowherds, and companions of Sri Krishna, lift up their sticks so as to help Sri Krishna in keeping aloft the mount Govardhana. Here we see the merging of the little streams of man's sacrifice in the Great Sea of the sacrifice of God Himself. The dismembered Godhead must find His resurrection in man - and this happens only when man engages himself in sacrifice - in action that is free from all attachment.
As the ignorant act from attachment to action, O Bharata, so should the wise act without attachment. Bhagavad Gita.
Very often, sacrifice is understood to be Duty. Surely, where the necessity to
act is present there, the action is polluted, by attachment. It is action, free
from all necessity, and, therefore spontaneous, which alone can be called
action without attachment. But what is this action without attachment? Can there
be an action without an actor? If the actor disappears then who is it that acts?
These are questions of deep metaphysical import but the answers are simple. He
who knows the nature of properties and the modes of their functioning is free from
attachment in all that he does. If only man would allow nature to work in a free
and unfettered manner he would save himself from many a complexity of life. It
is man's interference with nature that creates the problem of good and evil.
Man comes the scene of creation with the egoistic notion of being a subduer of Nature.
However, man's true role is to be a collaborator with Nature. To anticipate the
movement of Nature and then to allow Nature to work in a free and unfettered manner
along that path - this truly is the destiny of man. And, this indeed, is
non-attachment, the action without attachment.
God Himself is under no necessity to act - and yet He engages Himself in action.
This is indeed the Great Sacrifice of the Supreme for the sustenance of the
world. The whole world would perish if the Creator were to bring an end His
Great Sacrifice.
It is said that God created Man in His own image. If this be so then man too must
act in His own image. If this be so then man too must act in the likeness of His
Creator. Man can indeed be a collaborator of God - but for this he must link up
his sacrifice with the Great Sacrifice of God Himself. Man must collaborate with
Him in the sustenance of the world.
Deosaran Bisnath,
Editor, International Jahajee Journal.
Moderator, Caribbean Hindus Network.
President, Hindu Council of the Caribbean
deobisnath@yahoo.com
