Enriching Without Expectation (17.11-17.13)🔗

Kṛṣṇa talks about how to give, how to sacrifice and how to enrich others. In the Vedic tradition, enriching sacrifices such as fire rituals (yajña) were not mere rituals to worship celestial beings. They had a far deeper meaning of enriching.

When the great Ṛṣis performed yajña, they expected nothing. These rituals were done to please the celestial beings and nature for the enriching welfare of humanity. These were selfless offerings of satva guṇa, goodness.

Kings also performed fire rituals to display their power, ego. Kings such as Yudhiṣṭra performed sacrifices like Rājasūya Yāga to announce their supremacy over other kings, which were done in rajas, agression.

Understand, an enriching sacrifice is not measured by how much we give. It is measured by how much we give that we cannot afford to give, without any expectation in return. Such an enriching sacrifice straightaway leads to liberation. When people move from rajas state of giving to the satva state of giving, wealth seeks them. Lakṣmī, the goddess of wealth comes to them without being asked! She knows these people will be the route for enriching mankind. May your desire to enrich others and give away be limitless. You will be amazed at how wealth seeks you.