Do you know you get conned at holy places every time you go there for the purpose of doing some sacrifice or fulfilling some worldly wants of yours?
It is written in the holy books to visit places of worship and do prayers there. To fulfill your various demands you always go to meet these deities at select places. You offer various elaborate prayers or offerings to these divinities and pray to them to eradicate some malevolent effects of certain demons or planets in your natal charts.
You also go there to fulfill your asks like jobs, marriage, children, money, legal issues, diseases, etc..
Now when you do that you don’t realize that you get trapped into certain rites and rituals and become slaves to that deity. You keep on visiting them so often. The ones who benefit from you are countless people. You generate an ecosystem which provides livelihood to many. Let’s see how you create an industry. First it’s the astrologer or some such person who points out the defect in your natal system. They are paid ridiculous amounts by you.
Next comes the transport industry since you will be going to such remote locations. Thereafter the hotel or place where you would put up. The hoteliers and caterers, places where you buy the offerings, photographs or mementos, the place of worship charges you entry fee too.
The biggest gainer in the place of worship and the people who are going to conduct the prayer services or make offerings on your behalf. Now you may request for special entry or closer looks see. That would be additional charges. Now your offerings are going to be recurrent so you will come over there often. Then you will want some takeaways or gifts. First you come to beg and later you come to thank that deity for fulfilling your wishes. Now haven’t you created an industry with your beliefs?
So what do the truly spiritual beings say about that? Krsna says that every offerings or prayers done at such places are wrongly interpreted. He says that even though it is written in the holiest of the books like the Vedas, it really is misinterpreted by the people who look for personal benefits only. From the beggar(you) who goes to ask to the one who sustains himself on your expenses or offerings. Krsna says don’t get into that trap. Get the right meaning of the phrases there.
He says the sacrifice has everything to do with the body, senses and the mind alone. There are no stone images or places involved. The gods He is talking about are all inside of you and not some place outside. The ones outside which are the places you went to are just mere representations only. They truly are not the ones who fulfills your real wants and desires. All these deities and gods report to the supreme divine only.
The truth has to be known by you. Don’t get conned by such leaches who want to suck you dry. Krsna says look at the God inside of your body temple only. Pray to the God within and make sacrifices to Him alone. Be your good self and move on the path of righteousness alone.
You don’t have to spend money or give costly offerings. Aren’t the non-believers getting the same benefits even after denying God? So don’t be silly and spend so much cash or kind. Maybe you could save the same money allocated by you for that frivolous journey. Then give the people who deserve like the charitable cases. Poor people or institutions who truly need the funds could be helped by you.
So stop getting into such rituals or sacrifices and know you are the donkey who is sacrificed at that alter.
You should know that the Bhagvad Gita tells you so in its chapter 4, verse 32. If you understood the truth told to you herein you will do sacrifices only with your senses, mind and the body alone. Knowing this truth you will no longer be bound in this world. You will be free from the cycle of births and deaths and the biggest entrapment of getting conned at going to such places or at such lengths to get rid of your afflictions or fulfilling your material worldly desires.
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