यज्ञदानतपःकर्म न त्याज्यं कार्यमेव तत् ।
यज्ञो दानं तपश्चैव पावनानि मनीषिणाम् ॥ १८.५ ॥

yajña-dāna-tapa:-karma na tyājyam kāryam-eva tat |
yajño dānam tapaścaiva pāvanāni manīṣiṇām || 18.5 ||

Rendering the acts purificatory

Any spiritual pursuit and attainment can only be by giving sufficient regard to the guṇas and their influences, not by denying or eschewing them. Attunement and harmonization are the watchword in spiritual life and attainment.

Yajña, dāna and tapas are not at all to be eschewed, abandoned. Yajña, dāna and tapas, say the Wise, are meant to purify the people.

Actions are generally classified as divine and secular. Those acts related to God and religious in character are called divine. Those done with worldly objectives are, in contrast, deemed secular. On this basis, all religious acts constitute yajña. Anything addressed to the supreme Reality, the Almighty, will fall in this category. Dāna, as stated earlier, consists of all items offered with the sole aim of serving or helping those who receive them.

Tapas, austerity involves religious or spiritual disciplines of various kinds. In all forms of austerity, either something special is taken up or something harmful is avoided. The purpose is to have a measure of discipline and restraint. In other words, it can be denials or inclusions of special acts, processes or pursuits. The intention is to sublimate and enrich the inner personality with noble qualities and potentials.

Yajña, dāna and tapas are always a need of human life. These cannot be avoided at any time. Yajña and dāna instill and reinforce a proper link between oneself and the supreme Reality as well as the society. Tapas always is aimed at deepening and fortifying oneself.

Krishna is quite firm that these should not be neglected on any account. There should be no thought of abandoning these any time. For, he says, yajña, dāna and tapas are the ones meant to purify the inner being of man.

Here, Krishna has something more significant to add. Yajña, dāna and tapas are no doubt holy. But even a holy act will be so only when pursued with a holy attitude that brings a divinizing effect on the performer. If the same act is done with unholiness, then it will prove to be vitiating. Rāvaṇa had performed great austerities. Kumbhakarṇa also did. Hiraṇyakaṣipu undertook severe austerities and got a number of boons, making him almost invincible. Can their efforts be thought of as holy then? Were the effects holy?

What happened with Vājaśravas of the Kaṭhopaniṣad? He wished to perform a great sacrifice. Accordingly he made elaborate arrangements. He began the performance. Nachiketas, his young son, was by his side, witnessing all that was being done.

The time for giving gifts came. And lo, the father had brought all useless and aged cows from his cowshed, for gifting to brāhmaṇas reciting holy Vedic Hymns. Did the yāga become holy or unholy by this attitude? Nachiketas felt the impact and tried to bring this disharmony to his father’s attention. It made the father extremely angry, and he sent the son to the abode of Yama.