Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 4, Verse 26
श्रोत्रादीनीन्द्रियाण्यन्ये संयमाग्निषु जुह्वति।
शब्दादीन्विषयानन्य इन्द्रियाग्निषु जुह्वति।।
शब्दादीन्विषयानन्य इन्द्रियाग्निषु जुह्वति।।
śrotrādīnīndriyāṇyanye sanyamāgniṣu juhvati
śabdādīn viṣayānanya indriyāgniṣu juhvati
also searched as "shrotradinindriyanyanye sanyamagnishu juhvati"
Translation
Others offer as oblations hearing and other senses into the fires of restraint. Some others offer as oblations the objects of the senses, such as sound and the rest, into the fires of their senses.
Vāṇi's rendering
Some offer their senses into the fire of restraint; others offer the world into the fire of the senses.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| श्रोत्रादीनिśrotra-ādīni | hearing and the rest — the ear first, then the other powers of sense |
| इन्द्रियाणिindriyāṇi | the senses (final vowel merges into the next word) |
| अन्येanye | some others |
| संयमाग्निषुsanyama-agniṣu | into the fires of restraint, of holding back |
| जुह्वतिjuhvati | pour in as offering, feed to the fire |
| शब्दादीन्śabda-ādīn | sound and the rest — what is heard, seen, tasted |
| विषयान्viṣayān | objects, the world as it presents itself |
| अन्येanye | still others (written anya here through sandhi before the vowel) |
| इन्द्रियाग्निषुindriya-agniṣu | into the fires of the senses themselves |
| जुह्वतिjuhvati | pour in as offering |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4 Verse 26 mean?
It names two ways of making life an offering. One withdraws the senses and feeds them to the fire of saṃyama, restraint. The other lets sound, sight and touch come and burns them in the senses themselves, so nothing sticks. Krishna sets both down as yajña, without ranking them.
Shrotradini indriyanyanye sanyamagnishu juhvati — what is being sacrificed here?
The senses themselves, in the first half. Not the ear cut off, but the ear's grasping given over — hearing offered into restraint until it stops reaching. In the second half the offering is the world: sound and form poured into the senses and consumed there, leaving no residue in you.
Is restraint better than engagement, according to this verse?
Krishna does not say so. He lays the two side by side, both called sacrifice. Withdrawal and encounter are only the shape of the vessel. What matters is that a fire is burning — that something is being given up rather than accumulated. A closed eye can hoard as easily as an open one.
How do I practise this in an ordinary day?
Choose your fire honestly. Some hours ask you to pull the senses back and let the wanting burn down. Other hours you must be in the noise, and then the work is to let each thing pass through without lodging. Either way, at day's end something should have been consumed, not collected.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Two opposite movements, and Krishna calls both sacrifice. One person shuts the ear, the eye, the tongue — pours them into restraint until the flame takes them. Another lets sound and sight arrive, and burns them as they come, so nothing lodges. The first looks like discipline, the second like ordinary living; the difference is not in the traffic but in the fire. Arjuna wanted to know which path was the holy one. Krishna keeps widening the list. Whether you fast from the world today or meet it head-on, ask only whether something is being consumed — or quietly stored.