Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 17, Verse 14
देवद्विजगुरुप्राज्ञपूजनं शौचमार्जवम्।ब्रह्मचर्यमहिंसा च शारीरं तप उच्यते।।
deva-dwija-guru-prājña- pūjanaṁ śaucam ārjavam
brahmacaryam ahinsā ca śārīraṁ tapa ucyate
also searched as "deva-dvija-guru-prajna-pujanam shaucam arjavam"
Translation
Worshiping the gods, the twice-born, the preceptors, the enlightened ones, practicing purity, uprightness, continence, and non-injury—these are called austerity of the body.
Vāṇi's rendering
Honouring the gods, the learned, teachers, and the wise; cleanliness, straightness, brahmacharya, harmlessness — austerity of the body.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| देवद्विजगुरुप्राज्ञपूजनम्deva-dvija-guru-prājña-pūjanam | honouring the gods, the twice-born, teachers, and the wise |
| शौचम्śaucam | cleanliness, purity of body |
| आर्जवम्ārjavam | straightness, an upright bearing without crookedness |
| ब्रह्मचर्यम्brahmacaryam | brahmacharya — the guarding of one's vital energy |
| अहिंसाahiṁsā | harmlessness, causing no injury |
| चca | and |
| शारीरम्śārīram | belonging to the body, bodily |
| तपःtapaḥ | austerity, disciplined heat (sandhi: tapaḥ + ucyate → tapa ucyate) |
| उच्यतेucyate | is called, is said to be |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 17 Verse 14 mean?
Krishna names the austerity that belongs to the body: honouring the gods, the learned, teachers and the wise; cleanliness; straightness; brahmacarya; harmlessness. Not extreme feats — ordinary conduct held steady. Tapas here is what your hands, mouth and posture do when nobody is grading you.
What does deva-dvija-guru-prajna-pujanam shaucam arjavam teach about worship?
That reverence is physical before it is felt. You stand, you fold your hands, you make room for someone worthier. Krishna places pūjanam first among bodily disciplines because a body trained to honour is already softened. Feeling follows the gesture more often than the gesture follows feeling.
Is brahmacharya in this verse only about celibacy?
It is wider than that. Brahmacarya is the guarding of vital energy — not spending yourself in every direction that invites you. Celibacy is one form of it. So is not talking yourself empty, not consuming without pause. Whatever leaks strength out of you is the matter here.
Why is austerity divided into body, speech and mind?
Because discipline that lives in only one of them collapses. Krishna gives the body its own tapas in this verse, speech its own in the next, mind its own after that. You may keep a spotless body and a cruel tongue. He closes that escape by naming each door separately.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Notice that the list begins outside you. Gods, the learned, teachers, the wise — tapas of the body starts with a bow, not with fasting. Krishna is answering what discipline looks like when it is honest, and none of it is spectacular. Wash. Stand straight. Keep your energy from leaking. Hurt no one. Arjuna expected austerity to mean the forest and the burning sun; here it is a body that behaves well in ordinary rooms. The body is the first instrument you are given and the last one you learn to govern. Begin where it is easiest to cheat — how you greet the person who taught you.