Talk:The Reason for Performing the Five Daily Mahāyajna-s
By Vishal Agarwal
We often take the comforts, the prosperity, and other facilities that our environment gives to us for granted. We seldom acknowledge the role that our elders, older generations, sages, and the divine powers have played in the continuous progress of our civilization to its current state. Just as they have done their bit to make our present lives comfortable, so must we too exert ourselves to make this world a better place for our future generations.
Śāstras teach the doctrine of “Three Debts” to make us understand the importance of keeping the wheel of life moving in the right direction[1]. According to this doctrine, all humans are born with three debts[2]. Sometimes, the number of debts is increased to four with the addition of manuṣya-riṇa (debt owed to other human beings), and finally, a fifth category of bhūta-riṇa (debt owed to all creatures) is added.
- The first debt (deva-riṇa) is owed to God and the deva-s, who uphold the natural order – timely rains, change of seasons, flow of rivers, and so on.
- The second debt (ṛṣi-riṇa) is owed to the sages, seers, and saints – who were visionaries, teachers of humans, founding fathers of our nations and societies, revealers of spiritual truths, and authors of our books of knowledge.
- The third debt (pitri-riṇa) is owed to our parents, grandparents, and all of our ancestors because they brought us into this world, took care of us when we could not fend for ourselves, and toiled hard to give us a great future.
- Some scriptures add a fourth debt (manuṣya-riṇa)[3][4] or the debt towards our society, because who we are depends a lot on every person and creature we interact with. As they say – “It takes a village to raise a child.”
- In addition, some scriptures include a fifth debt (bhūta-riṇa) – owed to plants, animals, and all creatures whose silent labor and contributions sustain human life. Even humans who are disabled have contributed to society in some way. Hindu dharm teaches that we must all pay off these debts in our lifetime. As an example, historians note that the reason Native Americans could not reach the cultural level of Asians and Europeans was because there were no horses, cattle, or sheep in the Americas to do farm labor. This illustrates how important animals are to advance and sustain human civilization.