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Main characteristic of deservingness of a receiver of sacrifice


The Veda says that the main characteristic of deservingness of a receiver is the lack of attraction on the returns (Shrotriyasya chaakamahatasya…). When the priest is invited to perform a ritual, he should not aspire for any benefit or returns. He should not ask for the fees. He should accept immediately to perform the ritual without a trace of aspiration for fees. The ritual involves worship of God and he should thank God for getting an opportunity to worship God through the ritual. At the end of the ritual, whatever may be paid to him, it should be received with pleasure and full gratitude. He should feel that the money is given to him by God. He should feel that the donor is only a mechanical means of God. Thus, he should not analyze the payment, which is the form of grace of God. Even if nothing is given, he should return to home after expressing full gratitude to the doer of the ritual for giving an opportunity to participate in the worship of God.

 If this attitude is maintained, the expectation for fees will not take birth in the mind. Since the ritual is misunderstood as some work of soaping God to give some benefits to the doer of the ritual, the priest is expecting fees from the doer. In fact, if the priest performs the ritual understanding it as the worship of God, the priest himself will be benefitted along with the doer of the ritual. The priest performs the ritual for the sake of the fees only, so that the doer of the ritual alone is supposed to get the total benefit from the worship. The sage Yaska says that the priest is a porter of the luggage of huge gold in performing the ritual for a petty remuneration from the doer of the ritual and rendering all the gold to the doer of the ritual only (Swarna bhara harah…).
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