Q&A: What is the difference between sacrifice (yajna) and charity (dana)?
Question What is the difference between sacrifice (yajna) and charity (dana)? Answer Yajna, the fire sacrifice, is the central ritual of the Vedic sacrificial cult. The basic idea of Yajna according to the Vedic ritualists was that man can have a happy and prosperous life only if he lived in harmony with his environment, consisting of Nature and the Devas who control the forces of Nature. Man gets his progeny and his sustenance as the gifts of Nature and he should express his thanks to the Devas....