Bhagavad Gita · 4.32 · Path of Knowledge and the Disciplines of Action·32 of 42
एवं बहुविधा यज्ञा वितता ब्रह्मणो मुखे।कर्मजान्विद्धि तान्सर्वानेवं ज्ञात्वा विमोक्ष्यसे ॥
evaṁ bahu-vidhā yajñā vitatā brahmaṇo mukhe
karma-jān viddhi tān sarvān evaṁ jñātvā vimokṣhyase
Sanskrit recitation
Every act can be sacred · 4.24–4.33 · Teaching
Translation
Thus, 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.
Meaning
The word Brahmanah has also been interpreted to mean In the Vedas.Various kinds of sacrifices are spread out at the mouth of Brahman, i.e., they are known from the Vedas. Know that they are born of action, because the Self is beyond action. If you realise that these actions do not concern me, they are not my actin, and I am actionless, you will surely be liberated from the bondage of Samsara by this right knowledge. (Cf.IX.27XIII.15)
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→
- evam
- thus
- tān
- them
- mukhe
- through the mouth
- viddhi
- know
- sarvān
- all
- jñātvā
- having known
- karma-jān
- originating from works
- vitatāḥ
- have been described
- yajñāḥ
- sacrifices
- brahmaṇaḥ
- of the Vedas
- vimokṣhyase
- you shall be liberated
- bahu-vidhāḥ
- various kinds of
Related verses
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- 2.25This Self is said to be unmanifested, unthinkable, and unchangeable. Therefore, knowing…
- 2.29One sees this (the Self) as a wonder; another speaks of it as a wonder; another hears of…
- 2.46To the Brahmana who has known the Self, all the Vedas are of as much use as a reservoir of…