INTRODUCTION
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Please understand that all kinds of food, penance, sacrifice or charity fall into the basic three categories explained by Kṛṣṇa — sātvic, rājasic and tāmasic. These translate as the modes of goodness, passion and ignorance. But the important thing is that as long as they are done in the materialistic world, they are conditioned. When they are done from the space of completion with the attitude of gratitude to the Divine and Existence, only then you encounter spiritual progress or spiritual elevation. Our scriptures explain that anything done in the nature of rajas or tamas cannot give the ultimate result. Only the act done from the space of satva or goodness gives the final result. One who does such acts without this awareness has temporary results but not the final result.
In the days of Mahābhārat, sacrificial rituals were a part and parcel of daily life. This is not the case today. The brāhmaṇas (highly learned sect of people) were the keepers of the sacred knowledge that connected the physical ritual with the metaphysical truth expressed by the great sages in the Vedas. They were the keepers of the flame, in a real sense, since most vedic rituals invoked and addressed the fire energy.
Sacrifices or yajña were directed towards enriching the elemental energies and celestial beings. Austerity or tapas was directed towards enriching your own self. Charity or dāna was directed towards enriching those around you.