श्रीमद्भगवद्गीताShrimad Bhagavad Gita 📖 Read as a flipbook

Bhagavad Gita · Jnana Karma Sannyasa YogaChapter 4, Shloka 24 (4.24)

Original Sanskrit · श्रीभगवान्

ब्रह्मार्पणं ब्रह्म हविर्ब्रह्माग्नौ ब्रह्मणा हुतम्
ब्रह्मैव तेन गन्तव्यं ब्रह्मकर्मसमाधिना
॥ 4.24 ॥

brahmārpaṇaṃ brahma havirbrahmāgnau brahmaṇā hutam
brahmaiva tena gantavyaṃ brahmakarmasamādhinā

Translation

"The (instrument of) offering is Brahman, the oblation is Brahman, offered by the doer who is Brahman into the fire that is Brahman; one who sees Brahman in every action attains Brahman alone."

Interpretation

The five parts of yajña — all Brahman. The instrument of offering (the ladle), the oblation (havi), the fire, the doer, the act — and the result (the goal) too.

Shankaracharya — all is Brahman alone. Brahma arpaṇaṃ yena karaṇena brahmavit haviḥ agnau arpayati tat brahmaiva iti paśyati — the knower of Brahman sees as Brahman itself the instrument with which he offers the oblation into the fire; tasya ātma-vyatirekeṇa abhāvaṃ paśyati yathā śuktikāyāṃ rajatābhāvaṃ paśyati — he sees that it does not exist apart from the self, just as one sees the absence of silver in the mother-of-pearl shell. Evaṃ loka-saṅgrahaṃ cikīrṣuṇāpi kriyamāṇaṃ karma paramārthataḥ akarma brahma-buddhy-upamṛditatvāt — thus even action done for the welfare of the world is, in ultimate truth, no action, because the awareness of Brahman has dissolved it. Brahmaiva idaṃ sarvam iti abhijānataḥ viduṣaḥ karmābhāvaḥ — for the wise one who knows "all this is Brahman alone", action does not exist.

Acharya Ramanuja — all action has Brahman as its self. Arpyate anena iti arpaṇaṃ srug-ādi — arpana (the instrument of offering) = the ladle and so on; tad brahma-kāryatvād brahma — it is Brahman because it is an effect of Brahman. The oblation, the fire, the doer — all are brahma-bhūta (of the nature of Brahman). Sarvaṃ karma brahmātmakatvād brahmamayam iti yaḥ samādhatte sa brahma-karma-samādhiḥ — one who sees the whole of action as full of Brahman, since Brahman is its self. Such a person attains brahmātmakatayā brahma-bhūtam ātma-svarūpaṃ gantavyam — the nature of the self, which is of the form of Brahman because Brahman is its self. Conclusion: mumukṣūṇāṃ kriyamāṇaṃ karma para-brahmātmakam eva ity anusandhāna-yuktatayā jñānākāraṃ sākṣād ātmāvalokana-sādhanam, na jñāna-niṣṭhā-vyavadhānena — the action of seekers of liberation, being seen as having the Supreme Brahman as its self, takes the form of knowledge and is a direct means to the vision of the self — without the intervening stage of jnana-nishtha.

AI-assisted draft translation — under review.

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