Rudra Vaisnava Sampradaya:
Therefore it can be understood that those humans who perform yagna or worship to the Supreme Lord Krishna are pre-eminent among the human species and not others. This is shown by the word santah meaning they are saintly and virtuous. Those who accept food after first offering it to the Supreme Lord are freed from the sins acquired from the five areas in the home causing harm to any living entity. They are: the mortar and pestle where sometimes extremely small bugs are accidentally killed, the grindstone where microscopic amoebas inside of the seeds are ground to death, the fireplace where sometimes crawling things come into when the fire is out only to be burned to death when the fire is lt, the waterpot where sometimes insects fly into and drown and the broom which while sweeping dirt and dust from the house might also sweep ants and such in such a way as to cause their demise. These are the five areas of harm in the home causing accidental death to harmless creatures as confirmed in the Manu Samhita III. 68. Those sinful wretches who do not first offer what they eat to the Supreme Lord are not freed from any of these sins but they are punished for them and verily day by day they eat only sin. On account of these sins multiplying daily they have no opportunity to attain heaven.
| Brahma Vaisnava Sampradaya:
In a very rational way Lord Krishna is praising the saintly performers of yagna by means of worship and offerings and censoring those who fail to perform such yagna. In the previous three verses and this one Lord Krishna has elucidated the science of yagna. The Purusha Sukta in the Rig Veda we see that Brahma the first born is the Purusha offering himself as worship and oblations for the benefit and welfare of creation. By Brahma inaugurating the act of yagna, the perennial principles of existence or dharma were established for all the worlds. Thus by ordaining dharma the Supreme Lord Krishna through his representative Brahma has given mankind the purpose, the objective and the methodology of yagna. One in wisdom should follow in the footsteps of Brahma and offer to the Supreme Lord there very self and essence as an act of worship in yagna.
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Sri Vaisnava Sampradaya:
Those who prepare food from funds honestly acquired with the sole objective of worshipping the Supreme Lord Krishna who resides as the soul within themselves as well as within all the demi-gods and every living entity; and those who only partake of such duly consecrated food become absolved of all sins accumulated over iniquity subatomic and atomic impending the completion and fulfilment of self realisation of the atma or soul. But those sinful wretches who do not first offer to the Supreme Lord what was gifted to them and instead prepare and eat it appropriating it for theirselves verily eat only sin. The word agham meaning sin denotes their will be grave consequences for such sins. Ignorant of the path to atma- tattva or self realisation of the soul, such degraded persons perpetually eat sinful food insuring a hellish destination in their next life. It should be understood that everything is connected to yagna or worship in this world and the next, from both the point of view of sastra or Vedic scripture and from inference. It should also be clearly understood that the observance of yagna is essential for benefit and welfare of all mankind and that its omission purposefully or accidental is counter productive for the entire human race and is fraught with sinfulness and dire consequences.
| Kumara Vaisnava Sampradaya:
Therfore those that only eat food that has been offered in yagna or worship are faultless and no other. This Lord Krishna is confirming with the word santah meaning saintly and virtuous. Those who perform yagna become absolved of all sins produced from the daily use of the five utensils in the home used by householders in the cooking and preparing of foods. Such sins are produced from the non-performance of the injunction of yagna and from the performance of the prohibited action. These are serious hindrances in attaining heaven. The five acts if piety performed by the twice born brahmins are mandatory, beginning with Brahma Yagna or Vedic study, offering worship to God, homage to the anscestors, feeding of animals and welcoming and feeding chance guests. These five acts of piety neutralise all sins contracted by the five areas of destuction in the home being the pestle, the grindstone, the fireplace, the waterpot and the broom. Manu Samhita III. 69-71 confirms all sins from these five actions are duly nullified by the five previous acts of piety.
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