Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 4, Verse 25
दैवमेवापरे यज्ञं योगिनः पर्युपासते।
ब्रह्माग्नावपरे यज्ञं यज्ञेनैवोपजुह्वति।।
ब्रह्माग्नावपरे यज्ञं यज्ञेनैवोपजुह्वति।।
daivam evāpare yajñaṁ yoginaḥ paryupāsate
brahmāgnāvapare yajñaṁ yajñenaivopajuhvati
also searched as "daivam evapare yajnam yoginah paryupasate"
Translation
Some yogis resort only to the sacrifice relating to gods; others offer sacrifice into the fire of Brahman solely through sacrifice.
Vāṇi's rendering
Some yogis make offerings to the gods. Others offer the offering itself into the fire of Brahman.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| दैवम्daivam | having to do with the gods; the divine powers as recipients |
| एवeva | only, and nothing else |
| अपरेapare | some, one set of people (joined to the preceding eva by sandhi) |
| यज्ञम्yajñaṁ | sacrifice, the act of offering |
| योगिनःyoginaḥ | yogis, those under discipline |
| पर्युपासतेparyupāsate | attend upon, keep to, worship all around |
| ब्रह्माग्नौbrahma-agnau | in the fire that is Brahman (sandhi: brahmāgnau) |
| अपरेapare | others, a second set |
| यज्ञम्yajñaṁ | the sacrifice, the offering itself |
| यज्ञेनyajñena | by means of sacrifice |
| एवeva | itself, precisely that (sandhi with the following word) |
| उपजुह्वतिupajuhvati | pour in as an oblation, feed to the fire |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4 Verse 25 mean?
It names two ways of offering. Some yogis direct their yajña outward, to the shining powers, expecting a return. Others put the offering, the offerer and the offering's purpose into the fire of Brahman, keeping nothing aside. The second is not a better ritual. It is a ritual with no one standing outside it.
What does daivam evapare yajnam yoginah paryupasate teach?
That devotion aimed at the gods is real yajña, not a lesser thing — Krishna calls those who do it yogis. But it still has two ends: a giver here, a receiver there. Hold that shape honestly, and you will begin to feel where it strains.
How can sacrifice be offered by sacrifice itself?
When the act is done wholly, the doer is consumed in the doing. There is no leftover self measuring what was spent or what should come back. That is yajñena eva upajuhvati — the offering poured in by offering. You have felt a trace of it in work where you forgot yourself.
Is one of these two sacrifices higher than the other?
Krishna states both without a verdict, and the restraint matters. What separates them is not technique but retention. Whatever you keep back — the credit, the hope, the watching — remains outside the fire. Give that too, and the distinction dissolves on its own.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Two kinds of giving stand side by side here, and Krishna does not rank them out loud. The first is familiar: you have something, you offer it to someone, you hope. The second is stranger. The offering itself goes into the fire — the act, the giver, the wanting-it-to-work, all of it. Nothing is held back to watch the result. Arjuna is being shown that sacrifice can widen until there is no one left outside it making the sacrifice. Notice what you keep for yourself when you give. That reserved portion is the whole distance between the two fires.