सर्वाणीन्द्रियकर्माणि प्राणकर्माणि चापरे । आत्मसंयमयोगाग्नौ जुह्वति ज्ञानदीपिते ॥
sarvāṇīndriya-karmāṇi prāṇa-karmāṇi cāpare | ātma-saṃyama-yogāgnau juhvati jñāna-dīpite ||
All sense-actions, all vital-breath actions — offered into the fire of self-mastery yoga, kindled by knowledge.
Word by word (3)
- sarvāṇi indriya-karmāṇi prāṇa-karmāṇi ca apare
- — others offer all sense-actions and vital-breath actions · Sarvāṇi = all. Indriya-karmāṇi = the actions of the senses (seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, smelling — the entire sensory apparatus in action). Prāṇa-karmāṇi = the actions of the prāṇa (vital breath/life force — inhalation, exhalation, digestion, excretion, the upward/downward movements of life energy). Ca = and. Apare = others. The offering here is total: not just some senses, not just breath — ALL sense-action AND all prāṇa-activity.
- ātma-saṃyama-yoga-agnau juhvati jñāna-dīpite
- — they offer into the fire of ātma-saṃyama-yoga, kindled by knowledge · Ātma-saṃyama = self-restraint, self-mastery (ātman + saṃyama = the yoga of controlling the self). Yogāgni = the fire of yoga (yoga itself as fire). Jñāna-dīpite = kindled/lit by knowledge (jñāna + dīpita = illuminated, kindled, from dīp = to light). The fire in which everything is offered is yoga itself, illuminated by knowledge. This is the highest form of the sensory-offering yajna: complete offering of all action into the knowledge-illuminated yoga.
- jñāna-dīpite
- — jñāna-dīpite = kindled/lit by knowledge (jñāna = self-knowledge/wisdom; dīpita = kindled, from dīp = to shine/flame; jñāna-dīpita = made to blaze by jñāna); the ātma-saṃyama-yoga fire is not kindled by effort alone but by jñāna — distinguishing this yajna from mere willpower; only when jñāna lights the fire of self-mastery does it become a true yajna that transforms; jñāna here is the specific understanding that the ātman is distinct from the senses and prāṇas being offered
Others sacrifice all the actions of the senses and all the functions of the vital breath into the fire of the yoga of self-restraint, which is kindled by knowledge.
A modern analogy
The advanced meditator who places every perception, every impulse of the body, every movement of breath into the field of pure awareness — not suppressing, not indulging, but offering. The fire is self-mastery. The kindling is knowledge (jñāna-dīpite). V27: nothing is held back. Total offering of the embodied life.
Take with you
- Sarvāṇi indriya-karmāṇi prāṇa-karmāṇi: not some but all — the scope is complete.
- Jñāna-dīpite: the fire of yoga must be kindled by knowledge, not just effort. Discipline without understanding is just suppression.
- The ātma-saṃyama-yoga-agni: self-mastery yoga as the fire — the practice itself becomes the consuming flame.
- V27 is the interior version of V26's offering: V26 offered the senses; V27 offers the entire dynamic life-process.
V27 gives the fifth variety: total offering of all sensory and vital activity into the fire of ātma-saṃyama-yoga, lit by jñāna. Shankaracharya: jñāna-dīpite is the crucial qualifier — the fire of self-mastery that is kindled by knowledge is qualitatively different from mere suppression or physical discipline. Knowledge here means the recognition of the ātman as the ground of all sensation and breath — when that is seen, the offering becomes natural. The senses arise from Brahman and return to Brahman; breath arises from the life-force and returns to it. The practitioner who sees this simply witnesses the natural offering that is already occurring. V27 points toward samādhi — the complete absorption where the distinction between offerer and offered begins to dissolve, anticipating V24's brahma-karma-samādhinā.
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
Others sacrifice all the functions of the senses and the functions of the vital breath in the fire of the yoga of self-restraint, kindled by knowledge. [1]
Others again sacrifice all the functions of the senses and the functions of the breath into the fire of self-restraint-yoga, kindled by knowledge. [4]
Others sacrifice all the actions of the senses and the actions of the breath in the fire of the yoga of self-restraint, kindled by knowledge. [6]
And yet others sacrifice in the fire of self-control, The movements of the senses and the vital breath, Made bright by knowledge. [7]
Others sacrifice all actions of the senses and all actions of the life-breaths in the fire of the yoga of self-restraint, kindled by knowledge. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Instrument, offering, fire, act, destination — all Brahman. One absorbed in Brahman-action reaches Brahman alone.
Regulate food, recreation, effort and sleep — and yoga becomes the destroyer of all pain.
By bhakti one truly knows what and who I am; then knowing Me truly, one enters into Me immediately.
Where yogeśvara Kṛṣṇa is, where archer Pārtha stands — there abide fortune, victory, flourishing, and steadfast dharma.
If you know the soul is indestructible — who kills whom?
Know the Self as higher than the intellect. Steady the self by the Self. Then slay the formidable enemy — desire.