Word meanings
- aphala-ākāṅkṣibhiḥ
- without expectation of any reward
- yajñaḥ
- sacrifice
- vidhi-driṣṭaḥ
- that is in accordance with the scriptural injunctions
- yaḥ
- which
- ijyate
- is performed
- yaṣṭavyam-eva-iti
- ought to be offered
- manaḥ
- mind
- samādhāya
- with conviction
- saḥ
- that
- sāttvikaḥ
- of the nature of goodness
Translations
That sacrifice which is offered by men without desire for reward, as enjoined by the ordinance (scripture), with a firm faith that doing so is their duty, is Sattvic or pure.
Sacrifice is pure when it is offered by one who does not covet the fruit of it, when it is done according to the commands of scripture, and with implicit faith that the sacrifice is a duty.
That sacrifice which is in accordance with the injunctions, performed by persons who do not hanker after results, and with the mental conviction that it is surely obligatory, is done through sattva.
यज्ञ करना कर्तव्य है -- इस तरह मनको समाधान करके फलेच्छारहित मनुष्योंद्वारा जो शास्त्रविधिसे नियत यज्ञ किया जाता है, वह सात्त्विक है।Commentary
When a sacrifice is done with all due Sattvic rites, faith and devotion, without the least taint of desire for reward, with the mind fixed on the sacrifice only, for its own sake (for the, sake of discharging the duty only), then it is said to be pure in its nature. Here the sacrifice is done in a disinterested spirit or with an attitude of desirelessness (Nishkamya Bhava) as an auxiliary to the attainment of the knowledge of the Self. Such selfless and desireless actions purify the mind and prepare the aspirant for the reception of divine light or knowledge of the Self.
The Sattvic nature of a man forces him to do such selfless and desireless sacrifices. He does not care even for his own emancipation. He performs them with the firm belief that they ought to be done. He does them with the firm resolve that sacrifice is a duty. Yajna here is not limited to the ceremonial sacrifice. It is used in a broad sense. Any unselfish action done without attachment, without agency or egoism and without expectation of reward, as an offering unto the Lord, is a Yajna or sacrifice.