एवं बहुविधा यज्ञा वितता ब्रह्मणो मुखे । कर्मजान्विद्धि तान्सर्वानेवं ज्ञात्वा विमोक्ष्यसे ॥
evaṃ bahu-vidhā yajñā vitatā brahmaṇo mukhe | karma-jān viddhi tān sarvān evaṃ jñātvā vimokṣyase ||
Many forms of yajna spread through Brahman's mouth — all born of action. Knowing this, you will be freed.
Word by word (3)
- evaṃ bahu-vidhā yajñāḥ vitatāḥ brahmaṇaḥ mukhe
- — thus many kinds of yajna are spread in the mouth of Brahman · Bahu-vidhā = many-formed, various kinds (bahu = many; vidhā = kind, form). Yajñāḥ = yajnas (plural). Vitatāḥ = spread out, extended, expanded (from vi+tan = to spread). Brahmaṇaḥ mukhe = in the mouth of Brahman (mukha = mouth, opening, face). The striking image: Brahman as a cosmic entity with an 'open mouth' in which all the different forms of yajna are arrayed — each one a form of offering into the infinite. All forms of sincere spiritual practice are held within the one Reality.
- karma-jān viddhi tān sarvān evaṃ jñātvā vimokṣyase
- — know all of them as born of action — knowing this, you will be freed · Karma-jān = born of action (karma + ja = born from). Viddhi = know! (imperative). Tān sarvān = all of them. Evaṃ jñātvā = having known thus. Vimokṣyase = you will be freed (future of vi+muc). The two-part conclusion: 1) all forms of yajna are karma-ja (born from the field of action — they are practices, activities, disciplines — not passive states). 2) Knowing this (jñāna) itself liberates.
- brahmaṇaḥ mukhe vitatāḥ
- — brahmaṇaḥ mukhe = in the mouth/face of Brahman (brahmaṇaḥ = of Brahman; mukha = mouth/face/opening; brahmaṇo mukhe = spread out in/from Brahman's mouth); vitatāḥ = spread/extended (from vi + tan = to spread out wide); the image: all these diverse yajnas are spread out from Brahman's own mouth — as if Brahman breathes them forth or declares them; every valid form of sacred practice has Brahman as its source and its context; no yajna exists outside Brahman's own reality
Thus many forms of yajna are spread in the mouth of Brahman. Know all of them as born of action — knowing this, you will be freed.
A modern analogy
Think of every sincere practice — prayer, meditation, charity, study, fasting, breathwork, service — spread like different offerings before an altar without walls. The altar is Brahman. The offerings are all legitimate. V32: they are all actions — not passive states — and knowing their common ground frees you.
Take with you
- Bahu-vidhā yajñāḥ (many-formed yajnas): diversity of spiritual practice is the design, not a problem to be resolved.
- Brahmaṇaḥ mukhe (in the mouth of Brahman): the vivid image — the infinite 'receives' all genuine offerings.
- Karma-jān viddhi: know them as born of action. All spiritual practices are practices — engaged doing, not passive waiting.
- Evaṃ jñātvā vimokṣyase: the knowing itself liberates. V32 closes the yajna taxonomy with jñāna as the key.
V32 formally closes the yajna taxonomy that began at V25 with a double summary: 1) all forms are spread in brahmaṇaḥ mukhe — in the mouth/opening of Brahman — suggesting that Brahman both contains and 'receives' all offerings, 2) all are karma-jāḥ — born of action, rooted in the doing-field of karma-yoga. Shankaracharya: the closure sentence evaṃ jñātvā vimokṣyase brings the taxonomy back to the theme of Ch.4 as a whole — jñāna frees. The knowing is not merely intellectual: knowing that all sincere practice is yajna, and all yajna is spread in Brahman, dissolves the competitive anxiety between paths and between practitioners. V32 thus serves as the philosophical bridge to V33, which will establish jñāna-yajna as the highest form — but without negating any of the other forms just surveyed.
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
Many and various sacrifices are spread out at the gate of Brahman. Know all these to be born of action — knowing this, you will be freed. [1]
Thus many forms of sacrifice are spread in the mouth of Brahman. Know them all to be born of action — knowing this, you shall be freed. [4]
Many and various sacrifices are thus spread out within the mouth of Brahman. Know that all are born of action — knowing this, thou shalt be free. [6]
Thus many sacrifices are spread within the mouth of Brahman. Know all of these as born of action — and knowing this, you shall be freed. [7]
Many such sacrifices of various kinds are extended in the mouth of Brahman. Know all these to be born of action — knowing this, you shall be freed. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Knowledge-yajna surpasses all material sacrifice. Every action without exception culminates in knowledge.
Some offer to the gods as yajna. Others offer yajna itself into the fire of Brahman — the practice becomes the offering.
Destroyed is my delusion, memory restored by Your grace — I stand firm, free of doubt, and will do Your word.
No effort on this path is ever wasted — even a little progress protects you from great fear.
Action done as an offering (yajna) does not bind. All other action creates bondage. Do your work as offering.
Action arises from Brahman, Brahman from the Imperishable. The all-pervading ultimate is present in every act of yajna.