The saint
Tiruvalluvar also lays down the panchamaha yajnas thus: -
Thus the concept of dharma is spiritual and moral. For example, the duty to a guest may be
regarded as merely a social obligation, which a man has to perform. It may even be a
social vanity as a tea party or dinner. But the same duty is a Dharma when performed as a
Yajna, as an act of worship, in which gratitude is expressed to the guest for his
condescension in accepting the host's hospitality and his offering of food and a bhukta
dakshina is given to the guest to mark the character of the food-offering as a Yajna. Dharma is not merely virtue and goodness but is also a preparation for
an after-life of eternal happiness. As Dr. Radhakrishnan says in his "Idealist View
of Life" (Page 69) "When the foundations of life are shaken, when the ultimate
issues face us demanding an answer, humanism does not suffice. Life is a great gift, and
we have to bring to it a great mood." This spirituality alone can inspire. John
Ruskin pithily puts the ordinary man's attitude to life thus "We usually
believe in immortality so far as to avoid preparation for death,and in mortality so far as
to avoid preparation for anything after death." |
