All the scriptures of the world glorify sacrifice. Sacrifice is giving up something that you value. You can only sacrifice that which you would like to keep for yourself, in other words, that which gives you pleasure and joy.
You cannot sacrifice something that you dislike or disown. Sacrifice is always related to a higher cause for a greater good. At the same time, when your love for the greater good is strong, nothing else assumes any value. Sacrifice here becomes irrelevant, because love alone is your strongest driving force. So when there is so much love there cannot be sacrifice. At the same time when there is no love, there is no sacrifice. For example, if a mother has made plans to see a movie and she realises that her child is sick, she does not say that she has sacrificed the movie to nurse her child, because she simply did not want to go. Nothing else seems to charm the mother besides being with her child.
You do not sacrifice something for someone you are in love with. Sacrifice indicates that your pleasure has more value than the cause for which you are sacrificing. When the love is lukewarm, then sacrifice assumes meaning. Yet sacrifice purifies the human mind and reins in selfish tendencies. It can also bring pride, arrogance, self-pity and sometimes even depression.
For a wise man, nothing is more valuable than truth, values and the divine, and he will never sacrifice those. God is the greatest, and if he values the greatest then how can he sacrifice God? This is the paradox of sacrifice. Sacrifice brings strength in life. Life without sacrifice is stagnant. Sacrifice gives you the quantum leap. It takes you to a higher pedestal. The amount of sacrifice in your life brings out your magnanimity and helps you move out of misery. Zeal, enthusiasm, strength and joy are all connected to sacrifice. Sacrifice never goes unrewarded. There can be no love, no wisdom and no true joy without sacrifice. Sacrifice makes you sacred. Become sacred.
by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
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