By Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik - Author, Speaker, Illustrator, Mythologist
In the Vedic world, to practice dharma meant performing yagna. Yagna was translated by European Orientalists as sacrifice. But in sacrifice, you give something to appease a deity who needs nothing from you but your loyalty and obedience. In yagna, you exchange. You give in order to receive. You feed a God and the God is obliged to feed you back. The assumption here is that God is hungry. He needs praise and food. When he gets what he wants, he gives what you want.
