The sacrifice in the Bhagavad-gītā as a route to liberation: from the incessant turning wheel to a song of wheel out of the world

Abstract

In this article, we analyze the concept of yajña (sacrifice) in terms of karman (action) taking in consideration the transition from a social and public emphasis on the performance of solemn sacrifices (Śrauta) in the Indian tradition to a practice that emphasizes the individual consciousness, according to the Bhagavad-gītā philosophy as proposed by the Vaiṣṇavism of Caitanya. In the Bhagavad-gītā, yajña is described in a general manner, in opposition to the strict rules and taboos of the Indian ritual tradition, being related to different stages of knowledge and detachment which aim at mokṣa (liberation), once that yajña, in relation to Bhakti, has the preliminary goal of acquit one from the burden of action – one of the central topics of the Gītā –, which ties the living entities to the cycle of the transmigration of the soul (saṃsāra)