8. For the sake of this service, it is necessary to take some food. Eating too is a part of yajna. The Gita calls this eating of food "aahaara," offerings. As the engine needs coal, the body needs food for its fuel. Although this offering of food is not in itself yajna, it is clearly an element in the fulfillment of yajna. To fetch a flower from the garden and place it on the head of the image is worship; but so too is working in the garden to produce the flowers. 

Any action performed for the sake of yajna is also a kind of worship. It is only when we offer food to the body that it will serve our purpose. Any action which is a means to the performance of yajna is itself yajna. The Gita calls these actions "ancillary actions," acts of yajna. The offerings I make to the body to sustain it for service are yajna. The food accepted for the sake of service is holy.

9. Again, all these things must spring from sincere devotion. The inward attitude should be one of surrendering all service to the Lord. This is a great thing. Without an attitude of surrender to the Lord, one cannot be full of service. If we forget what is most important, surrender to the Lord, we shall get nowhere.

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