What is a Sacrifice?

Nobody performs sacrifices in London so how does it rain there?

The guy was referring to the verse of the Bhagavad Gita that says sacrifices create clouds and rain gives food.

Obviously, he didn't pause to reflect on the verse and was mocking the Gita. This is what most people do. They take deep philosophical texts at their face value and fail to grasp the real meaning.

Sacrifice, in this case, doesn't mean starting a fire and pouring clarified butter into it all the while chanting some mantras. Sacrifice refers to Karma Yoga.

 According to Lord Krishna, when a person performs his action with the greater good in his mind, it is a sacrifice. Non-attachment to the result is the key to such sacrifices. The person acts saying God will preside over the action and whatever God wills will happen.

It is Karma Yoga. One needs to understand that the Hindu scriptures are not something you should read at their face value. They have a deeper meaning. If confused, ask instead of making fun of people's faith.

Mom too took the last verse of the Bhagavad Gita literally instead of trying to understand the meaning of the verse. It says wherever there are Arjuna and Krishna together, victory will be the outcome. So she went around Hyderabad wanting a photo that showed Arjuna and Krishna together. She couldn't find it and was upset.

 I told her that the verse meant something else. I said first you need to become Arjuna and ask Krishna to guide you. That will ensure victory and not just keeping an image of Arjuna and Krishna together in a photo frame. She was still upset though.

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