Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5, Verse 29

Chapter 5 – Karma Sanyasa Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

भोक्तारं यज्ञतपसां सर्वलोकमहेश्वरम् ।
सुहृदं सर्वभूतानां ज्ञात्वा मां शान्तिमृच्छति ॥

Transliteration

bhoktāraṃ yajñatapasāṃ sarvalokamaheśvaram .
suhṛdaṃ sarvabhūtānāṃ jñātvā māṃ śāntimṛcchati ॥

Meaning

Knowing Me as the enjoyer of sacrifices and austerities, the great Lord of all worlds and the friend of all beings, one attains peace.

Word meanings

माम् – Me
यज्ञतपसाम् – of sacrifices and austerities
भोक्तारम् – the enjoyer, the recipient
सर्वलोकमहेश्वरम् – the great Lord of all worlds
सुहृदम् – the friend, well-wisher
सर्वभूतानाम् – of all beings
ज्ञात्वा – having known
शान्तिम् – peace
ऋच्छति – attains

Anvaya (word order)

माम् यज्ञतपसां भोक्तारं सर्वलोकमहेश्वरं सर्वभूतानां सुहृदं च ज्ञात्वा शान्तिम् ऋच्छति ।

Explanation

The chapter closes with a verse that places the whole path inside a loving relationship. "Knowing Me as the enjoyer of sacrifices and austerities, the great Lord of all the worlds, and the friend of all beings, he attains peace." The Lord names three aspects of Himself, and each one answers a different kind of anxiety.

First, He is the bhokta, enjoyer, of yajna and tapas. Every offering, every disciplined effort, every act of service finds its recipient in Him. This is a deeply consoling thought for the worker: nothing done with sincerity is wasted, and no one is unseen. Second, He is the maheshvara of all worlds, the great Lord. The universe is not governed by blind chance, and our small affairs sit inside a larger order which is not hostile. Third, He is suhrid, the well-wishing friend of all beings, the closest companion who wishes only their good, whether or not they notice.

Shankara holds that one who knows the Lord thus, as the enjoyer of the sacrifices and austerities performed by all, as the supreme Lord of all, and as a friend who helps without expecting a return, obtains peace, which is the cessation of the cycle of sorrow. Ramanuja treats the verse as the culmination of the chapter: knowing the Lord as the real recipient of every act and the loving ruler of all, the soul gains the peace of a final refuge. Madhva emphasises the Lord's sovereignty and friendliness as the fixed object of devotion and knowledge.

To feel what this means, imagine two workers in a large organisation. One believes that no one notices him, that the whole system is indifferent and that he must fight for every inch. He is anxious and tired. The other believes that the work is part of something good, that there is a wise hand behind it and that his sincere effort has meaning. He works as steadily but with far less strain. The difference is the one the verse points to: peace comes from knowing the Lord as friend.

The word "shantim" is worth keeping in mind: not excitement, not even joy at first, but peace. A heart that knows it is not alone loses much of its dread. Verse 6.30 and 9.29 carry the same note of nearness; 9.18 speaks of the Lord as the friend and refuge of all, and 18.62 invites complete surrender. With this verse the Lord has laid, in a few chapters, a bridge from action through renunciation, meditation and knowledge to devotion, which He will develop at length from chapter 6 onwards.

Context

This is the last verse of Chapter 5. After hinting at meditation in 5.27–5.28, the Lord here supplies the devotional support for that practice. The next chapter will describe meditation in detail.

Life lesson

Trust that the final recipient of all your actions is a loving, just God who is the friend of all. This faith removes the mind's unrest and gives deep peace.

Key terms

Bhokta: the recipient of the fruit of sacrifice and austerity
Maheshvara: the great Lord, master of all worlds
Suhrid: the unconditional friend, well-wisher