Page 65 - Hinduism

the five mahāyajñas viz., brahmayajña or reciting the Veda; pitṛyajña or oblation to the pitṛs or forefathers; devayajña or worship of God; bhūtayajña or offering bali or food to all creatures; and manuṣyayajña or feeding the guests. The aim of these yajñas is to bring out the solidarity and unity of all living beings, human, super-human and sub-human and the obligations of the house-holder to the world in general owing to his birth and station in life. Then there are the twenty-one sacrifices— 7 pāka-yajñas, 7 haviryajñas and 7 somayajñas—- which may be performed some at specific times and others at suitable times, but all at the option of the doer. But śrāddha, one of the pākayajñas, is considered as essential and one who omits it is counted as a patita, because every one owes his life to the parents and progenitors.
The object of these saṁskāras is to make the life of a man spiritual. Our people are of the opinion that man is not on an animal level and should not be guided by the animal instincts of self-preservation and multiplication and feelings of anger, fear and jealousy. Being endowed with mind and reason, he should rise above the animal level and feel that he has come from God and has to return to God and that he should make himself fit for it. He is morally free and not bound by instincts like animals. So he must live and move in a spiritual world and his dress, food and acts must have a spiritual meaning. Every
saṁskāra is intended to be an act of purification 65