BG3.15

Srirangam is considered Bhooloka Vaikuntam. The Viraja River there is Kaveri here and the Lord Para Vasudevan there is Sri Ranganatha here. Almost all the 365 days in a year are festival days here and we are in the midst of the last day of festival Vasanthotsavam celebrated in the Vasanta ruthu [spring time]. During this festival the Lord is seated in Vasantha mandapam, with attractive decorations using fresh flowers, dazzling light and flowing water in a stream. Entire atmosphere is cooling the body and mind. On this last day of this festival the Lord graces the devotees, mounted on a horse. Here we can clearly observe that he has created the entire Nature for His pleasure. Now we will have to see the 14^th, 15^th and 16^th slokas together; but for want of time we will see the 14^th and 15^th slokas today and the 16^th next day. The Lord describes a cycle here. In factories we would have observed one wheel rotating another and another and so on. The Lord describes such rotation here and only when each wheel moves in proper cycle, all will result in proper rotation.

annad bhavanti bhutani
parjanyad anna-sambhavah
yajnad bhavati parjanyo
yajnah karma-samudbhavah

"All living bodies subsist on food grains, which are produced from rains. Rains are produced by performance of yajna [sacrifice], and yajna is born of prescribed duties."

karma brahmodbhavam viddhi
brahmakshara-samudbhavam
tasmat sarva-gatam brahma
nityam yajne pratisthitam

"our bodies are meant for actions and the eternal soul is needed in the body to act. Therefore, yajna is always prescribed for all present bodies "

Bhutani= all living beings, annad bhavanti= need food, anna sambava= for food to grow, parjanyad= rain is essential. Parjanyo= the rains, yajnad bhavati= depend on yagna or deva pooja. Yajnah= yagna, karma samudbhavan=are the result of our actions. In the next sloka He says, brahmo= our body, karma udbhavam vidhi= are meant for actions [to perform yagna]. Akshara = indestructible or everlasting soul or atman, brahma samudbhavam= require a body. This completes a cycle. The atman is in a body, does actions like deva pooja and obtains rain which help to grow food grains and these in turn are needed to sustain the life in various bodies. The center of this cycle is yagna or deva pooja. By performing these regularly, we sustain life in various living organisms. We can again see this cycle: soul in body is life à require food à food crops to grow to supply foodà rains to grow crops à yagna to produce rainsà body required to perform yagnaà food required to sustain. So soul helps to maintain soul in body by all these in a cycle. God is not a beneficiary here, as He does not need any of these. He is yagna and He is the doer and the food and all. He is the result, He is he cause and He is the equipment. Finally He says, sarva ghatam brahma = everywhere present body, nithyam= always, yajne pratisthitam= get established or stabilized in yajna. So if we rotate the central yagna, it will produce rains and so food grains and thereby life is sustained. This is one cycle. In the other cycle, for performing yagna one has to do karma, for which body is needed, which can be active only if there is soul in it. In both cycles yagna is the central feature.