1. a veil
2. distress
3. impurities.
These are three layers that cover the individual soul and keeps it away from the universal soul. In fact universal soul is the individual soul; there is no difference. But these impurities cover the spirit, the energy in us.
There are two aspects. There are certain things we can do and certain things we cannot do; it has to be done for us.
Yagyas are those type of purification which is done for us, which you cannot individually do but it is done for us. All the karmas and sins are washed away and that leaves you free, pure. And that's when joy wells us; that's when you experience bliss.
Bliss is deep inside us but it gets covered by a veil. When the veil gets lifted by the grace and these are those occasions where we rejoice. And it's done for the whole world.
Even those who did not come here, even they will get the benefit for sure. It is not that only those people who are sitting here are getting the benefit. Even all those people who could not come but they had a wish to come here, even they get the benefit.
A big yagya is an operation in the subtle which happens through the mantras, chanting. This is happening since time immemorial. Nobody knows since how many thousands of years this knowledge has been preserved.
All different types of herbs are brought and yagyas are done to perfection. And that produces the subtle impact, vibrations that removes stress and bitterness in the collective consciousness. Our individual consciousness is governed by the collective consciousness.
(If there's) a lot of rubbish in the collective consciousness, the yagya cleanses it and makes it very vibrant and pure. That's why you must have noticed that as soon as you enter, you already feel different. How many of you felt like that? You enter the campus and you feel a different energy, right? The positive energy, divine energy is that which uplifts the being and makes one realize that the universal being is in my heart, is inside me.
In yagyas, one of the first things that they do is to sow different seeds because all different grains have different vibrations. The different seeds are sown and they have all sprouted. That means life energy of all those seeds has come from the ground. This is the importance of yagya: nurturing the seeds, the energy to come up.
Source: Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar speech during Vijayadashmi.
