अन्नाद्भवन्ति भूतानि पर्जन्यादन्नसम्भवः । यज्ञाद्भवति पर्जन्यो यज्ञः कर्मसमुद्भवः ॥
annād bhavanti bhūtāni parjanyād anna-sambhavaḥ | yajñād bhavati parjanyo yajñaḥ karma-samudbhavaḥ ||
Action → yajna → rain → food → all beings. Human right-action sustains the entire chain of life.
Word by word (3)
- annāt bhavanti bhūtāni
- — beings come into being from food · Anna = food, grain. Bhūtāni = beings, creatures. The material chain begins at food — the basic sustaining substance. All living beings arise from food; this is the first link.
- parjanyāt anna-sambhavaḥ
- — food arises from rain · Parjanya = rain (the rain-god; also rain itself). Anna-sambhava = the coming into being of food. Rain enables crops; crops become food; food sustains beings. The ecological chain is precise and ancient.
- yajñāt bhavati parjanyaḥ
- — rain arises from yajna · The chain completes: action (karma) → yajna (sacrifice/giving) → rain → food → beings. Human action, when conducted as yajna, participates in and sustains the natural cycle. This is not mere metaphysics — it is the ecological truth that right human conduct maintains the conditions for life.
Beings come from food. Food comes from rain. Rain comes from yajna (sacrifice). Yajna arises from action. Therefore: human action, done as yajna, sustains the entire web of life.
A modern analogy
A community of farmers who return nutrients to the soil (yajna), maintain watersheds, and protect forests ensures rain (parjanya), which produces crops (anna), which sustains communities (bhūtāni). Cut any link — clear the forests, exhaust the soil, stop giving back — and the chain breaks. This is the Gita's ecological vision stated 5,000 years before modern environmental science.
Take with you
- Your actions are not isolated — they participate in a chain that sustains or undermines life itself.
- Yajna (giving, offering, reciprocal action) is the link between human activity and natural abundance.
- Every selfless action you take contributes to the sustaining cycle; every purely self-serving action withdraws from it.
- The Gita's cosmology is deeply ecological: right human action is part of the natural order, not separate from it.
V14 gives the complete cosmic ecology of the yajna principle: karma (action) → yajña (offering/right action) → parjanya (rain) → anna (food) → bhūtāni (all beings). This four-step chain places human action at the foundation of natural abundance. Shankaracharya explains: the cosmic forces (parjanya/rain) are sustained by yajna; when humans cease the yajna orientation and act purely selfishly, they disrupt the natural order. This is not primitive superstition but sophisticated ecological awareness: human behavior that exploits without reciprocating does measurably damage natural systems. The chain of V14 can be read both metaphysically (cosmic forces respond to human intent) and ecologically (human agricultural practices determine rainfall and crop yields). Both readings support the same ethic: right action maintains the web of life.
Modern parallels
Modern climate science confirms V14's chain in reverse: deforestation → reduced rainfall → food insecurity → species collapse. The carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle, and water cycle are all yajna-cycles in the Gita's sense: systems of reciprocal exchange that require human participation to remain in balance. Indigenous ecological knowledge systems across cultures share V14's insight: human ceremonial/ritual action (yajna in local forms) participates in maintaining natural cycles.
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
From food all creatures come into being; food is produced by rain; rain comes from sacrifice; sacrifice is born of action. [1]
From food are creatures born, and food is produced from rain; rain proceeds from sacrifice; sacrifice arises from action. [4]
From food springs all life; rain produces food; from sacrifice comes rain; and sacrifice is born of action. [6]
From food all creatures spring; Food comes from rain; and rain — it comes From sacrifice; and sacrifice is wrought By human deeds. [7]
From food are produced all creatures; food is produced from rain; rain proceeds from sacrifice; sacrifice is produced from action. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Action arises from Brahman, Brahman from the Imperishable. The all-pervading ultimate is present in every act of yajna.
Action done as an offering (yajna) does not bind. All other action creates bondage. Do your work as offering.
Those who eat yajna's remnants reach eternal Brahman. Without offering, not even this world is theirs.
Whatever you do, eat, offer, give, or practise as austerity — do it all as mad-arpaṇam, an offering to Me.
OṀ Tat Sat: triple name of Brahman — by which brāhmaṇas, Vedas, and yajñas were ordained in the beginning.
Therefore, Brahman-knowers always begin yajña, dāna, and tapas with 'OṀ' as ordained by scripture.