Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4, Verse 30

Chapter 4 – Jnana Karma Sanyasa Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

अपरे नियताहाराः प्राणान्प्राणेषु जुह्वति ।
सर्वेऽप्येते यज्ञविदो यज्ञक्षपितकल्मषाः ॥

Transliteration

apare niyatāhārāḥ prāṇānprāṇeṣu juhvati .
sarve.apyete yajñavido yajñakṣapitakalmaṣāḥ ॥

Meaning

Others, regulating their food, offer the vital breaths into the vital breaths. All of these are knowers of sacrifice, and through sacrifice their impurities are destroyed.

Word meanings

अपरे – others
नियताहाराः – those of regulated, disciplined diet
प्राणान् – the vital breaths
प्राणेषु – into the vital breaths
जुह्वति – offer
सर्वे – all
अपि – indeed
एते – these
यज्ञविदः – knowers of sacrifice
यज्ञक्षपितकल्मषाः – whose impurities have been destroyed by sacrifice

Anvaya (word order)

अपरे नियताहाराः प्राणान् प्राणेषु जुह्वति । एते सर्वे अपि यज्ञविदः यज्ञक्षपितकल्मषाः (सन्ति) ।

Explanation

The last sacrifice in the list appears in the first half of this verse: ‘apare niyataharah pranan praneshu juhvati’ — others, regulating and limiting their food, offer the vital breaths into the vital breaths. Shankara explains that restraining one's diet calms and weakens the senses and vital forces; then whichever function of prana is brought under control, the others merge into it — this is the ‘offering of pranas into pranas’.

Indian thought has always recognised the link between food and mind. The Upanishad says that when food is pure, the inner being becomes pure. Later, in Chapter 6 (6.16–17), Krishna Himself will say that yoga is not for one who eats too much nor for one who does not eat at all; it is for one who is moderate in food that yoga destroys sorrow. ‘Niyatahara’ therefore does not mean starving, but eating food that is balanced, measured and wholesome.

In the second half of the verse Krishna sums up all the sacrifices: ‘sarve'py ete yajna-vido yajna-kshapita-kalmashah’. All the seekers described from 4.25 to this point are ‘yajna-vid’ — those who know the true meaning of sacrifice — and their ‘kalmasha’, their sins and the impurities of the mind, have been destroyed through sacrifice.

Here the broad-minded vision of the Gita shines out. Krishna does not declare any single practice to be the only way. Worship, sense-restraint, charity, austerity, study, breath control, moderation in food — all are sacrifices when done in an unselfish spirit. Their common fruit is purity of mind, and a pure mind in turn becomes fit to receive knowledge.

Context

In 4.29 Krishna described the sacrifice of breath control. Here, by mentioning the sacrifice of regulated diet, He completes the list begun in 4.25, and declares that all these seekers are cleansed of impurity through sacrifice. In the next verse (4.31) He speaks of the fruit of partaking of the nectar-like remnants of sacrifice, and of the plight of one who performs no sacrifice.

Life lesson

Food does not only fill the stomach; it also shapes the mind. Adopt a balanced, wholesome and moderate diet; and remember that whatever your spiritual practice, if it is done unselfishly it will surely purify your mind.

Key terms

Niyatahara: one who eats in a balanced, disciplined and moderate way
Yajna-vid: one who knows the true meaning of sacrifice
Kalmasha: sin; the impurity and stain of the mind