Gita gives a lower position to the sacrifice of material than the place of knowledge

[dattaswami]

Gita gives a lower position to the sacrifice of material than the place of knowledge

167. Bhraantadrushtadravyayajnaniraaso gitah shruta eva.

 

Translation: The twisted sacrifice of material as seen today was rejected by Gita and in real sense it is in the path of Veda only.

 

Explanation: Veda deals with this karma or work involving the sacrifice of material or fruit of work in elaborate manner. Almost all the Veda gives stress on work and sacrifice of material only (Dravyayajna). But Gita gives a lower position to the sacrifice of material than the place of knowledge (Shreyaan dravyamayaat…). Therefore, there is a contradiction between Veda and Gita. This contradiction can be removed by understanding the position of Dravyayajna in the time of Gita, which is almost the beginning of Kali age. The sacrifice of material was misunderstood by the ignorant priests as seen today. The priests sacrifice the material in to physical fire without knowing the actual meaning of the word fire. Fire means Satguru, who is the human form of the God. Due to lack of proper knowledge of the word fire, the sacrifice of material is twisted and became wastage of material. In this context of the twisted sense of Drayayajna, the Lord condemned such foolish wastage of material and advised to give importance to knowledge so that the proper sense of the sacrifice should be understood first before its practice. Therefore, there is no contradiction between Veda and Gita in the real sense of sacrifice (Yajna). In fact, Gita stressed a lot on the sacrifice of work and material (fruit of work) everywhere as karma yoga.