Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 4, Verse 30
अपरे नियताहाराः प्राणान्प्राणेषु जुह्वति।
सर्वेऽप्येते यज्ञविदो यज्ञक्षपितकल्मषाः।।
सर्वेऽप्येते यज्ञविदो यज्ञक्षपितकल्मषाः।।
apare niyatāhārāḥ prāṇān prāṇeṣu juhvati
sarve py 'ete yajña-vido yajña-kṣapita-kalmaṣāḥ
also searched as "apare niyataharah pranan praneshu juhvati"
Translation
All these know the meaning of sacrifices, and through sacrifices, their sins are eradicated. Those who subsist on the ambrosial food, the remnants of sacrifices, go to eternal Brahman.
Vāṇi's rendering
Others fast, offering life-breath into life-breath. All of these know offering — and offering burns their sins away.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| अपरेapare | others, still others |
| नियताहाराःniyata-āhārāḥ | those who have made their eating measured; who fast or restrain food |
| प्राणान्prāṇān | the life-breaths |
| प्राणेषुprāṇeṣu | into the life-breaths |
| जुह्वतिjuhvati | pour as offering into fire |
| सर्वेsarve | all |
| अपिapi | also, even (sandhi: sarve + api → sarve 'py) |
| एतेete | these ones |
| यज्ञविदःyajña-vidaḥ | knowers of offering; those who understand what sacrifice is |
| यज्ञक्षपितकल्मषाःyajña-kṣapita-kalmaṣāḥ | whose stains have been worn away by offering |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4 Verse 30 mean?
It closes Krishna's long roll of offerings. Some fast, turning even hunger into an oblation, pouring prāṇa into prāṇa. Then the verdict: all of these are knowers of yajña, and what they offer wears their stains away. Different practices, one act — something held is released into a fire larger than the one holding it.
What does 'apare niyataharah pranan praneshu juhvati' mean?
Others, measured in food, offer the life-breaths into the life-breaths. When eating stops, the fire that digests has nothing but breath to work on, and breath itself becomes the oblation. Krishna is not praising austerity for its own sake. He is showing that even a body's hunger can be made into an act of giving.
Does this verse say fasting removes sin?
Not fasting by itself. Krishna says yajña wears away kalmaṣa — the stain — and fasting counts only because it is done as offering. Skipping meals while nursing pride adds nothing. What clears is the grip, not the food. Ask of any discipline you keep: is something actually being released here, or only rearranged?
Why does Krishna list so many different sacrifices and then call them equal?
Because the form was never the point. Breath, senses, wealth, study, food — each is a different thing to hand over, and Krishna refuses to rank them. He calls every one of these people yajña-vidaḥ, knowers of offering. You do not need a better practice than the one in front of you. You need to actually let go inside it.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
View on the App Store
Commentary
Fasting is the last of the offerings Krishna names, and the strangest. The one who eats little is not starving the body; he is feeding breath into breath, letting the fire that usually burns food burn nothing but itself. Then comes the line that gathers the whole chapter: all of these know offering. The breath-watchers, the sense-restrainers, the ones who give away wealth, the ones who study — Krishna does not rank them. He says each has understood the one movement, which is giving. Whatever you have been holding, hold it out. The holding is what stains. The offering is what burns clean.