Gita 04.32 – Knowing the unity among various yajnas grants liberation
evaṁ bahu-vidhā yajñā
vitatā brahmaṇo mukhe
karma-jān viddhi tān sarvān
evaṁ jñātvā vimokṣyase
Word-to-word
evam — thus; bahu-vidhāḥ — various kinds of; yajñāḥ — sacrifices; vitatāḥ — are spread; brahmaṇaḥ — of the Vedas; mukhe — through the mouth; karma-jān — born of work; viddhi — you should know; tān — them; sarvān — all; evam — thus; jñātvā — knowing; vimokṣyase — you will be liberated.
Translation
All these different types of sacrifice are approved by the Vedas, and all of them are born of different types of work. Knowing them as such, you will become liberated.
Explanation
evaṁ bahu-vidhā yajñā – The different kinds of yajna
vitatā brahmaṇo mukhe – spread through the mouth of vedas
Karma-jān viddhi tān sarvān – all of them are born of different types of work.
evaṁ jñātvā vimokṣyase – Thus knowing, you will become liberated
All these are all different kinds of sacrifices which actually emanated or spread out from brahmano mukhe. Mukhe is the mouth. So these are Brahmana — the word Brahmana can mean many things, and different acharyas have different meanings. In general, we can follow Prabhupada over here, and here it says that means Vedas. It makes logical sense also that these sacrifices have come from the Vedas.
They are all born of Karma. One who knows this attains liberation. The whole purpose of the discussion is to elevate a person towards liberation, is to help a person attain ultimately liberation. But in the context of the Bhagavad Gita, it is to help Arjuna decide what he should do. Should he adopt the path of action and fight, or should he adopt the path of inaction and renounce — the jungle?
Krishna tells Arjuna over here that we know Krishna wants Arjuna to fight the war, and Krishna is philosophically explaining why fighting is the best course of action for him. So here he states that these various kinds of sacrifices that are there are all — two characteristics he is giving. Their specifics are quite different. They are having many different forms, different components, but two commonalities he says: they come from the scripture, and more importantly for our discussion — that they are all born of Karma.
That means that they all involve some activity. Even when a person does something which involves an activity — like say the advanced yoga, Ashtang Yoga — but still, one can come to that stage by having done karma earlier. Essentially, all those are born of karma.
Here karma does not refer to the fruitive activity, which is the general meaning of the word karma. It just refers to action. All these sacrifices have some kind of action involved in them. And if we go at a deeper level, we can say even if one is motionless and even trying to curb the motion of one’s life air — not fire — then also, at that time, one is doing an activity. Because one has to consciously endeavor to offer the outgoing air and the ingoing — and the ingoing and the outgoing — and that certainly involves doing some activity.
Therefore, the point to recognize is that these are all activities which involve action. Remember that the word karma had four different meanings. It could refer generally simply to action. It could refer to one particular kind of action — that is, the action which brings positive reaction. So, that means Su-karma. It could refer to the law of action-reaction, or it could refer to the reaction that comes because of our action.
Here Krishna is using the word action in terms of activity, generically — not so much in terms of action that will bring some reaction, but rather simply activity. All these yajnas involve some activity. And therefore, Arjuna, do not adopt the path of inactivity. He adopts the path of activity. That means for Arjuna, the path of activity is the path of — is adopting the Kshatriya duty and acting as a Kshatriya, as a martial guardian of society, to protect society from unscrupulous aggressors.
Here Krishna says, one who knows this will attain liberation — not just moksha but vimokṣyase, special liberation, ultimate liberation. It’s interesting that Krishna is not framing the dialogue of this discussion of yajna in karmakandi terms — where, normally speaking, yajna is often seen as a fruitive activity which is done for satisfying the demigods, for getting some worldly results.
So just as there can be Putrakamesti Yajna, which can get a child — Krishna is not saying it that way here. What he is saying here is evaṁ jñātvā vimokṣyase. He says that vimokṣyase. He is not sticking to some specific rituals.
The word yajna — if it is used to refer to specific rituals for getting specific results — then it can be seen as a karmakanda activity. Those rituals are karmakandi. But when it is seen as a generic reference to a universal principle — that is, when it is seen as an activity involving that something which we could have used for our pleasure, we offer for the Lord’s pleasure — when it is seen that way, then this activity becomes a pathway to liberation.
It becomes a roadway, ultimately, to the disentanglement of the consciousness from matter. Because when we are doing some sacrifice, we are — at least during the activity of sacrifice — disentangling our consciousness from matter and focusing our consciousness on Krishna.
In that sense, it moves towards liberation. Of course, Krishna has talked about the liberation in the 30th verse — yānti brahma sanātanam. He also spoke earlier about it in 4.24 — brahmārpaṇaṁ brahma havir brahmāgnau brahmaṇā hutam brahmaiva tena gantavyaṁ brahma-karma-samādhinā.
Essentially, Arjuna, don’t have superficial vision on things. Don’t reduce the sacrifice to rituals involving pouring ghee into fire, and don’t reduce the activities that lead to liberation to inactive contemplation during a forest. Broaden your vision and see that even your fighting in a war field can be a sacrifice, and can be an activity that can lead to liberation.
If you look at the verse, Krishna is asking us to look at the substance under the appearance — to see beyond the specific to the universal. So first you start with bahu-vidhā yajñā — there are many different kinds of yajna. But what is the commonality? These all come from scripture, and they all involve doing some kind of activity.
Because, after all, what does sacrifice mean? There is a sacrificer who offers the object to be sacrificed into the sacred fire. There has to be the activity of offering the oblation into the fire. Like that, all these various activities that can be seen generally as sacrifices — they all involve some activity. Therefore, they all involve activity. And therefore, you should also do activity.
And if you know this universal principle, and you adopt that consciousness of sacrifice while doing your activity of fighting the war, then even this activity of fighting — which you think of as entangling — will turn out to be liberating. Knowing this, you will attain liberation.
Thank you.
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