अपरे नियताहाराः प्राणान्प्राणेषु जुह्वति । सर्वेऽप्येते यज्ञविदो यज्ञक्षपितकल्मषाः ॥
apare niyatāhārāḥ prāṇān prāṇeṣu juhvati | sarve 'py ete yajña-vido yajña-kṣapita-kalmaṣāḥ ||
Regulated food, prāṇas offered into prāṇas — ALL these are knowers of yajna; yajna destroys all their impurities.
Word by word (3)
- apare niyatāhārāḥ prāṇān prāṇeṣu juhvati
- — others — with regulated food — offer the prāṇas into the prāṇas · Niyatāhārāḥ = those with regulated eating (niyata = regulated, controlled; āhāra = food, intake). Prāṇān prāṇeṣu = the prāṇas into the prāṇas (all the vital airs offered into each other — the five prāṇas: prāṇa, apāna, samāna, udāna, vyāna — circulating into each other). The practice of regulated eating reduces the prāṇa-burden, allowing finer prāṇa management. Simplest form: fasting as yajna.
- sarve api ete yajña-vidaḥ yajña-kṣapita-kalmaṣāḥ
- — ALL of these are knowers of yajna — their impurities destroyed by yajna · Sarve api ete = all of these indeed. Yajña-vidaḥ = knowers of yajna (vidaḥ = those who know, from vid = to know). Yajña-kṣapita-kalmaṣāḥ = whose impurities/sins have been destroyed by yajna (yajña = the offering; kṣapita = destroyed, diminished, from kṣap = to destroy; kalmaṣa = impurity, sin, stain). The closing declaration of the taxonomy: every single one of the forms of yajna listed in V25-30 destroys impurity and produces the same result for the sincere practitioner.
- niyatāhārāḥ
- — niyatāhārāḥ = those with regulated food (niyata = regulated/controlled, from ni + yat = firmly restrained; āhāra = food/intake, from ā + hṛ = to bring toward/ingest; niyatāhāra = one who has brought their eating into firm regulation); this practice is itself a yajna — offering the impulse to eat without restraint into the fire of discipline; āhāra-regulation also appears in Ch.6 V16-17 as the foundation of yoga practice; here it closes the yajna catalogue, showing that even the most basic bodily act can be a form of sacred offering
Others — who regulate their eating — offer the prāṇas into the prāṇas. All of these are knowers of yajna, whose impurities have been destroyed by yajna.
A modern analogy
At the end of a survey: the philanthropist, the meditator, the breathwork practitioner, the scholar, the faster — each arrives at the same clearing. V30's closing declaration: ALL of them are yajña-vidaḥ (knowers of yajna) and ALL have their impurities destroyed. The fire is different. The fuel is different. The destruction of impurity is the same.
Take with you
- Niyatāhāra (regulated eating): even the simplest discipline — controlling food — qualifies as yajna.
- Prāṇān prāṇeṣu: the five prāṇas offered into each other — the internal circulation as self-sustaining sacrifice.
- Sarve api ete: ALL — not some, not the best ones. Every sincere practitioner in V25-30 is recognized.
- Yajña-kṣapita-kalmaṣa: the practical result of all forms of yajna: impurities destroyed. Same destination, many roads.
V30 closes the yajna taxonomy of V25-30 with the most important declaration: sarve api ete yajña-vidaḥ — all of them, without exception, are knowers of yajna. The closing epithet yajña-kṣapita-kalmaṣāḥ (sins/impurities destroyed by yajna) applies equally to all the forms listed: from the most external (dravya-yajna) to the most interior (jñāna-yajna), from the most traditional (daiva-yajna) to the most embodied (prāṇāyāma-yajna). Shankaracharya: the unifying principle is the act of offering — yajanti — not the specific form or content of the offering. This is V11 (ye yathā māṃ prapadyante) applied to the domain of practice: how you approach matters; sincerity is the fire; all sincere fires purify. The taxonomy closes with ete yajña-vidaḥ — and the wisdom from V24 rings underneath: all yajna is ultimately Brahman offering Brahman into Brahman.
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
Others of regulated food offer the prāṇas in the prāṇas. All these are knowers of sacrifice, whose sins are destroyed by sacrifice. [1]
Others who are of regulated diet sacrifice the prāṇas in the prāṇas. All these are indeed knowers of sacrifice, whose impurities have been destroyed by sacrifice. [4]
And others, who subsist on regulated food, sacrifice their senses in their senses. All these who know what sacrifice is have their sins destroyed by sacrifice. [6]
Others, vowed to regulate their food, Pour life-breath into life-breath. All these know What sacrifice is, and, knowing, put away Their sinfulness. [7]
Others who regulate their diet offer the life-breaths in the life-breaths. All these are knowers of sacrifice, and by sacrifice their sins have been destroyed. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Some offer to the gods as yajna. Others offer yajna itself into the fire of Brahman — the practice becomes the offering.
Knowledge-yajna surpasses all material sacrifice. Every action without exception culminates in knowledge.
Knowing Me as the enjoyer of all sacrifice and austerity, Great Lord of all worlds, Friend of all beings — peace comes.
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.
Whatever is sacrificed, given, done, or tapas practiced without śraddhā — that is asat: naught here or hereafter.