India has always laid down disciplines to cultivate Universal Love; the yajnas and yagas (Vedic sacrifices and worship) which are recommended in the Vedas are for Loka kalyana and Loka sangraha---the welfare and security of all mankind. That is why India is as the engine which drags the wagons along, all wagons that are coupled with it. The wagons are the different nations. (SSS Vol.5)
The sages have laid down, for the same high endeavour, five yajnas for every human being, wherever he may be, to whatever denomination he may belong. The five yajnas (sacrifices) are: (1) Sacrifice for God; (2) Sacrifice to propitiate the sages; (3) Sacrifice to propitiate the progenitors; (4) Sacrifice to propitiate the visiting fellow humans; and (5) Sacrifice to propitiate the animal companions. They are called Daivayajna, Rishiyajna, Pitruyajna, Athithiyajna, and Bhuta-yajna, in Sanskrit. (SSS Vol.9)
The ancients started performing Yajnas and Yagas (sacrifices) to propitiate the Divine in the form of Fire. The sacrifices were performed not to secure personal benefits or to get embarked on sacrifices only to secure Atmanandam (the Bliss of the Spirit). Once, Emperor Janaka performed a big Yajna. Many scholars participated in the sacrifice, including scholarly women. Among such women were Maithreyi, Gargi and others. At that Yajna, a pandit called Ashvala started putting questions to the sage Yajnavalkya. ‘How many deities are there?’ he asked. Yajnavalkya, being a very shrewd person, took the cue from the word ‘here.’ He answered, ‘There are 3306.’ The entire assembly was taken by surprise at this figure. They wondered whether there could be 3306 deities present at the Yajna. What lay behind Yajnavalkya’s reply? He considered everyone present at the Yajna as divine. ‘God appears in human form.’ Hence, in those days, men were not regarded as mere human beings at Yajnas and Yagas. Every individual was considered as a manifestation of the Divine.
Ashvala then posed another question to Yajnavalkya. He asked: ‘Is it possible to reduce this number of deities?’ ‘Yes, it is possible,’ said Yajnavalkya. There was no mention of ‘here’ in the second question.
Yajnavalkya answered: ‘Thirty three deities.’ Asked whether he could state who these deities were, Yajnavalkya said: ‘There are eight Vasus, eleven Rudras, twelve Adityas, Indra and Prajapati. All these together make 33.’
The assembly was satisfied with the answer. Then, Gargi got up and asked: ‘Venerable sage! Is it possible to reduce this number further?’
‘Certainly yes,’ declared Yajnavalkya. ‘There are six! Agni (Fire), Bhumi (earth), Vayu (the Wind-God), Aditya (the Sun God) Amaratvam (immortality), and Adhvara.’ These are the true deities, he said.
Ashvala got up and asked whether the number could be reduced further. Yajnavalkya said the number could be reduced to three: The Past, the Present, and the Future. The answer was accepted by the assembly.
In answer to further questions whether the number could be further reduced to the most important deities, Yajnavalkya said: ‘They are two: Food and Prana (Life).’
Asked whether the number could be further reduced, he said that it could be reduced to one-and-a-half; and he explained that the all-pervasive Vayu (the Wind God) is known as Adyartha (adi-artha) (one and a half). Asked whether a further reduction was possible he said it could be reduced to one, namely, prana (Life).
When enquiries from the scientific, the spiritual and other points of view are carried out to find out the ultimate divine entity, Prana, the presiding deity of Life, emerged as the only one. Where does this Life Principle dwell? The answer is: it has no specific place or time. It is everywhere. The purpose of the Yajna is to propitiate this all pervading Life Force.
What is Yajna? It is not merely offering oblations to the sacred fire homam. Yajna means acquiring the highest wisdom by Yama and Niyama (control of the senses and practice of spiritual discipline). This wisdom is not related to worldly knowledge. All the knowledge acquired through the intellect is illusory. It is based on dualism and is tantamount to ignorance. It may serve to score debating points; such debates also promote discord.
The knowledge that transcends all controversies and is related to the eternal verities is the Atma jnanam (Knowledge of the Self). It is for acquiring this supreme knowledge that the ancient Rishis performed Yajnas and Yagas.
Practices like reciting the Laitha Sahasranama cannot be considered Yajna in the true sense. Only when one embarks on the internal quest for the realisation of the Self within can he acquire Atma jnana (Knowledge of the Self).
For this purpose there is no need to study any books. Only by direct experience and one’s own spiritual Sadhana can this awareness of the Self be realised. Man has to understand that he is the cause of his own happiness or misery and that all that he seeks or loves are not for their sake, but own sake. Hence, he has to understand his own true nature. Realising the ephemerality of all worldly objects, man should recognise that enduring happiness can be got only by developing love for God.
A great sage like Yajnavalkya declared that the whole cosmos is a manifestation of the Divine. The Divine is omnipresent. This awareness of the Divine has to be experienced by everyone. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad pointed out that this oneness is proclaimed by all-pervading sacred Pranava, ‘Om’. This pervasiveness can be experienced in a myriad ways; above all, in the sound that can be heard when one is alone and closes his ears. Man has to realise the redemptive power of Pranava Mantra. It is the means to overcome the vicissitudes of life and realise union with the Divine. The body is like a water bubble that originates in water, grows in water and merges in water. The body is the water bubble and Narayana is the water. It has come from Narayana and has to merge in Him. The Yajnas and Yagas are designed to teach such spiritual truths. (SSS Vol.26, pp.373-376)