Bhagavad Gita · 4.28 · Path of Knowledge and the Disciplines of Action·28 of 42
द्रव्ययज्ञास्तपोयज्ञा योगयज्ञास्तथापरे।स्वाध्यायज्ञानयज्ञाश्च यतयः संशितव्रताः ॥
dravya-yajñās tapo-yajñā yoga-yajñās tathāpare
swādhyāya-jñāna-yajñāśh cha yatayaḥ sanśhita-vratāḥ
Sanskrit recitation
Every act can be sacred · 4.24–4.33 · Teaching
Translation
Others again offer wealth, austerity, and Yoga as sacrifice, while ascetics of self-restraint and rigid vows offer the study of scriptures and knowledge as sacrifice.
Meaning
Some do sacrifice by distributing their wealth to the deserving as charity some offer their Tapas (austerities) as sacrifice some practise the eight limbs of Raja Yoga, viz., Yama (the five great vows), Niyama (the canons of conduct), Asana (posture), Pranayama (restraint of breath), Pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses), Dharana (concentration), Dhyana (meditation) and Samadhi (superconscious state), and offer this Yoga as a sacrifice some study the scriptures and offer it as sacrifice.
After Swami Sivananda
Every act can be sacred· 4.24–4.33→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 4.24Brahman is the oblation; Brahman is the melted butter (ghee); by Brahman is the oblation poured into the fire of Brahman; Brahman indeed shall be attained by one who always sees Brahman in action.
- 4.25Some yogis perform sacrifice to the gods alone; while others, who have realized the Self, offer the Self as sacrifice in the fire of Brahman alone.
- 4.26Some again offer the organ of hearing and other senses as a sacrifice in the fire of restraint; others offer sound and other objects of the senses as a sacrifice in the fire of the senses.
- 4.27Others again sacrifice all the functions of the senses and those of the breath (vital energy, or Prana) in the fire of the Yoga of self-restraint, kindled by knowledge.
4.28Others again offer wealth, austerity, and Yoga as sacrifice, while ascetics of self-restraint and rigid vows offer the study of scriptures and knowledge as sacrifice.
- 4.29Others offer as sacrifice the outgoing breath into the incoming, and the incoming into the outgoing, restraining the flow of the outgoing and the incoming breaths, solely absorbed in the restraint of the breath.
- 4.30Others who regulate their diet offer life-breaths in each life-breath. All these are knowers of sacrifice, whose sins are destroyed through sacrifice.
- 4.31Those who eat the remnants of the sacrifice, which are like nectar, go to the eternal Brahman. This world is not for the one who does not perform sacrifice; how then can they have the other, O Arjuna?
- 4.32Thus, manifold sacrifices are spread out before Brahman at the face of Brahman. Know them all to be born of action, and thus knowing, you shall be liberated.
- 4.33Superior is wisdom-sacrifice to the sacrifice with objects, O Parantapa (scorcher of the foes). All actions in their entirety, O Arjuna, culminate in knowledge.
Word-by-word→
- cha
- also
- apare
- others
- tathā
- thus
- yatayaḥ
- these ascetics
- swādhyāya
- cultivating knowledge by studying the scriptures
- yoga-yajñāḥ
- performance of eight-fold path of yogic practices as sacrifice
- dravya-yajñāḥ
- offering one’s own wealth as sacrifice
- jñāna-yajñāḥ
- those offer cultivation of transcendental knowledge as sacrifice
- tapaḥ-yajñāḥ
- offering severe austerities as sacrifice
- sanśhita-vratāḥ
- observing strict vows
Related verses
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- 4.26Some again offer the organ of hearing and other senses as a sacrifice in the fire of…
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