Slokam 8

Sages who identified Indira as trying to steal the horse repeatedly, wanted to offer him as an oblation to the fire.  Brahma is said to have intervened to stop them.

The yagna goes on to be completed and at the end it is said that King Prithu saw His own true form as the Paramathma.

The ithihasas and the puranas always mention that there was a prasadam or fruit that was borne from the yagnya performed.   The prasadam, when consumed by the participants and the host always brought about a favorable change in their lives. 

In this particular yagnya performed by King Prithu,  the vision of the true nature of the self is the reward.  This is the ultimate reward that one can get.  The true self of all of us is the Paramathma.  To see that form is the signal of liberation from the bondings of a physical life.

The vision signals that all Karma of all the participants has been completed, and the irreversible step towards eternity has been taken.

The practice of yagna has undergone a change over the years. Today’s yagnyas focus almost exclusively on the chanting of mantras.

It is not so much the methodology as much as the intensity and dedication of the participants of the yagna.

May we be ever dedicated to the Paramathma.