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Friends,

Deva-DakSHiña — Thanksgiving to the gods — is an integral part of all yagyas including the yug-yagyas1 (dipayagyas) propagated under the auspices of our mission. The ‘thanks giving’ to the gods can’t take place via material gifts or money. They are not physical beings.  The best way to thank them is to adopt some of the virtues they represent, inspire and nurture in the transcendental domains of consciousness.  For this, you will have to leave one bad habit, vice or weakness of character and adopt one good quality and/or pledge and bring into action some good plans. This dakSHiña is more important than rituals of worship. You want the gods to keep on blessing you, but you will do nothing in return? You want god Indra to shower substantial amount of rainwater so you invite Him by mantras and yagyas and worship His idols by rituals, and similarly for other gods and goddesses. But your worship is incomplete without dakSHiña. 

The yug-yagya I am referring here is a collective yagya; no one is a priest or leader here. All are participants in the yagya for a noble cause, so all are priests in the true sense; no one is a priest for making money here. Anyone who practices mantra-japa2 through heart, prays (for the welfare of the world) to the gods and offers the above kind of deva-dakSHiña does this yagya indeed and is therefore worthy of the divine blessings that one deserves after a normal (Vedic) yagya.  

I want to assign you a major project for six months starting from Sharad Purnima (full moon day after the monsoon season in India). In these six months you have to do hundreds of dipayagyas so that no house in your acquaintance or in your colony is left out.  So, you will have to first contact each and every home in your colony, visit your friends and other acquaintances and apprise them of the importance of these yug-yagyas.  (These are more of a kind of collective prayer experiments; people of all cults and faiths can participate in these. If you look at the invocation mantras[R1] you will see that the divine powers invited here do not belong to any mythological god-forms of a particular religion.)

Austere Organization:  Let me reiterate that no elaborate arrangements are required for these yagya. There should be five dipakas, symbolizing the pancha tatvas3 and also representing the radiance of the pancha prañas4. Five agarbattis of havan samagri (herbal aroma sticks) should be used as ahutis5 in the ‘fire-pits’ of the dipakas. If one does not have five metallic or earthen dipakas, one can make them at home using wheat-flour and water. Cotton for five small wicks, which can also be made at home, would hardly cost anything (may be few naye paise in India!).  If one cannot afford to use pure ghee (clarified butter made from cow’s milk) for five dipakas, the sizes of the latter could be minimized and the dipakas could be lighted one after the other — as soon as the ghee in the currently lighted one gets over, the next one could be lighted, and so on. This way, there will be fire and light throughout the yagya with minimal cost. The same could be tried for agarbatti. As such five of these made up of havan samagri here at Shantikunj, would cost about much less than a single rupee.  Some flowers may be collected from the surroundings — these alone would be sufficient for the rituals of worship. Water-filled small round pot may be used as kalash. 

These types of small yagyas could be done in every home with small gatherings. You should also do them with your family members as often as possible. These will have excellent effect in creating healthy ambience at home and induce good impressions on children’s minds. You may do the dipayagya at home in the morning and sing at least one Pragya Geet (devotional songs that also convey inspiring messages) with the family-members or neighbors in the evening. This will serve multiple purposes of prayer and mental rejuvenation and uplifting. Those going for jobs may not get time to do dipayagyas very often. In that case housewives with friends in a colony may do so collectively in each other’s house in turns. (Chanting mantras and singing Pragya Geets would be certainly better than wasting time in chit-chatting!). These practices are subtle but strong building blocks of parivar-nirman – prudent development of families. 

The resolutions of deva-dakSHiña are most important part of these yug-yagyas. Irrespective of whether a yagya is being done within a family or collectively in the colony or city, everyone must give deva-dakSHiña and sincerely keep a watch on own conduct to ensure that whatever was pledged is put into action.  Because of hectic schedules you may not get time to chant all mantras of the yagya and do the worship-rituals everyday, but in any case you must do prayers (esp. mantra-japa with some meditation) every morning at the sunrise time. Do it regularly. Bathing is not necessary for this. More important is that you should engross your mind and heart in the prayer, in the meaning of the mantra and in meditation – do it, may be only for 5 to 10 minutes if you don’t have time. But don’t be lazy or irregular, thinking that — ‘Oh!’ if not in the morning, we will do it in the afternoon, or sometimes in the evening. No. Such attitude and excuses should not be allowed.  Do it at the sunrise time.

You may continue your mantra-japa, yagya, worship and other practices later on. But the 5 to 10 minutes meditative japa should be done at the precise time only.  The same work being done regularly around the sunrise time results in hundredfold greater positive effects and benefits. Everyone at home must follow this. This simple practice will have miraculous impact on everyone’s intellectual and spiritual growth. The greater the number of people doing so, the more intense and rapid will be the purification of the subtle world and hence the consequent transformation of the present era.  So you should adopt this important discipline and motivate others also to follow you.

This was about yug-yagya and related duties of atma-nirmaña and pariwara-nirmaña (refinement and transformation of the individuals and the families) that would help create favorable ambience at the subtler levels for the dawn of the new era. However, for such changes to be deep and widespread we also need to take up social and national developmental projects. The dipayagyas organized at grand scale with participation of the entire village and the neighboring populations or thousands of citizens in the cities will set up the necessary platform and ambience to mobilize mass cooperation; but you also will have to take up reformative and constructive projects in feasible time frame as prayaja (follow up) of these yagyas. All this is essential for countering the present adversities and preparing to usher in the new era.  Let us look at some of these most relevant projects for the Indian Society.

Illiteracy and ignorance are among major causes of backwardness and outmoded customs in our society. Without knowledge and cultured development one’s life is no better than that of a beast. Via the medium of yug-yagya, you should spread the importance of education among the masses. You should constantly improve your own knowledge and conduct and try educating, uplifting, and illuminating those around you who are deprived of formal education. For example, literacy camps, special classes for elderly people, multipurpose educational programmes for children, etc should be integral parts of the grand yug-yagyas. In your individual capacity too, each one of you should pledge to teach reading and writing to at least five illiterates. Your family members who are not literate may pledge to learn reading and writing and expand their knowledge with the help of those who are educated. Remember that yagya will not be complete without these efforts. 

Another important thing is to collectively discourage, oppose and eliminate the blind customs in our society. Prominent among these are the pompous showoffs, extravagant arrangements and dowries in weddings. You must understand and make others understand that these are the major causes of poverty and corruption in the Indian society. A container having holes in the bottom can never be filled because no matter how much water you pour in it, most of it will leak through the holes. The expenses in family-functions like marriage ceremonies are the holes in the reservoir of the prosperity of our families, and economy of our society and nation.  Wasting maximum possible money in marriages becomes a ‘status symbol’ for both the sides. The boy’s side burns money in fireworks, crackers, lavish parties and jewelries for the bride and gorgeous decorative arrangements for the guests and what not! The girl’s side is burdened with fulfilling the demand of dowry from the boy’s family, offering ‘royal’ hospitality to their relations, etc. What is all this? What is the net output of these follies? Nothing, except financial loss and wastage of time and energy.

All of you should use your wisdom and keep off from such follies. Resolve that – you will not give or take any dowry in your children’s wedding; will not spend money in jewelries, lavish showoff, loud bands, crackers, and extravagant hospitality. Marriage is an important sacrament for both the families. Why can’t you arrange it in a simple way? As per the original Indian Culture, only a havan (yagya) and rituals that teach the bride and the groom the sacred duties and responsibilities of the marriage institution and the joy of mutual respect and cooperation, that grace them with the blessings and good wishes of the family, relations and friends, constitute an ideal wedding ceremony.  Festivity and enjoyment of the occasion can very well be there even if you celebrate it like a religious family get-together or festival (e.g. Holi, Diwali, etc).             

Many of you face the problem of opposition from near relations or elders in the family, or are scared of the scornful criticism and insulting comments of the neighbors, social circle if your child’s wedding ceremony is simple. Certainly, because they are in majority at present!  Don’t worry! If you are surrounded by crows and vultures of culture and see no easy way to shut and scare them away, come here to Shantikunj.  The wedding of your child with his/her would-be spouse can be easily arranged here without any expenses. The (somewhat) open-minded relatives/friends of yours may also come and see how good it is. The spiritual ambience here will inspire them as well. Thousands of disciples and visitors stay in the Ashram and eat here every day. Two more families (of the bride and the groom) and few relations can very well be accommodated here. Indeed, they will be our guests. Shantikunj is a tirthasthan (holy place of pilgrimage). Divine powers have graced it by their auspicious presence. As you look for an auspicious date and time for the wedding rituals, you may also search an auspicious place.  You are most welcome to see how ideal marriages are conducted here and also to arrange the marriages of your own children, relatives and friends. Propagation of Ideal Marriages of this kind is an important project of our mission. It must be propagated with the yug-yagyas.

Use of intoxicating substances and other addictions are your nearest and cruelest enemies.  Get rid of these, if you have any such habit or weakness. If in spite of your best attempts you find it difficult, come here and participate in the training and inner refinement courses offered here. Pray to the almighty. Do (dipa)yagya and meditation everyday. Entertain good, illuminating thoughts. Heartfelt prayers will never go futile. You can improve and also inspire many others to rise. Do that! Pledge to do so as part of your deva dakSHiña. Spread the message through dipayagyas. 

Best way of reformation, reorientation and transmutation of mind is to keep it engaged it in some constructive activity. Our mission’s agenda for mass-upliftment incorporates this universal principle. Along with reformative activities, the yug-yagya demands your reconstructive actions too. Something of this sort, which you all can do individually or in groups, should be planned. For example, you may plant kitchen gardens.  If there is space restriction, grow some vegetables in pots. Green creepy and leafy vegetables and many other kinds of seasonal vegetables and medicinal plants can very well grow in pots. This activity will offer you multiple benefits: good health – as you would eat fresh, pesticide- and chemical-free healthy vegetables and would also do physical exercise of looking after the plants; savings – as you will not have to spend money on purchasing vegetables which are becoming costlier every day; and mental recreation – indeed. Gardening, like creative arts and music is an effective antidote against addictions, lethargy, dullness and depression.

Now, let me summarize what you all have to do from now on to counter the all-pervasive negativity and to march ahead to build a bright future. Conduct and participate in yug-yagyas at home and at social level. This includes heartfelt prayers, mantra-japa with meditation at sunrise time, dipayagya, kirtana of Pragya Geets. You also have to offer deva-dakïiña in these yagyas by chiseled refinement of your own thinking and conduct coupled with reformative activities like eradication of social evils of dowry, extravagant weddings and intoxicating addictions from our society, and, constructive activities like propagation of cost-free ideal marriages, literacy, education, mass-upliftment and tree-plantation, home-based vegetable gardens, etc. You are most welcome to get guidance, training and strength from Shantikunj or the Shaktipeethas of Gayatri Pariwar on these new projects. These apparently simple tasks, when undertaken collectively by more and more people, will result in epochal revolution of spiritual and socio-economic development.  I hope you all would put forward your best endeavors and I wish you glorious success in your noble endeavors.            

|| OM SHANTI ||

Notes: 
1.    Yug-yagyas: Yagyas for the current phase of change of millennium (1980-2020AD approx.), which is a juncture of change of an era.
2.    Mantra Japa: Rhythmic chanting or mental recitation of specific Vedic Hymns with meditation. Yagya: fire-ritual; AnuSHÚhana: Higher-level spiritual endeavor of 24000 mantra-japa with observance of certain ascetic disciplines.
3.    Pancha Tatvas: Five foundational elements that enable physical manifestation of Nature.
4.    Pancha Prañas: Five currents of vital spiritual energy flowing in a human being (in the gross and subtle bodies).
5.    Âhutis: Sacrifices in the sacred fire of the yagya-kuñDas (here the dipakas serve as yagya-kuñDas, i.e. the fire-pits).     

Additional Readings:
[R1] “Yug Yagya Paddhati” (Hindi book by Vedmurti Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya).
Yug Nirman Yojna, Mathura. (20th print), 2002. English Translation:  “DipaYagyas”. 
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