Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 4, Verse 32
एवं बहुविधा यज्ञा वितता ब्रह्मणो मुखे।
कर्मजान्विद्धि तान्सर्वानेवं ज्ञात्वा विमोक्ष्यसे।।
कर्मजान्विद्धि तान्सर्वानेवं ज्ञात्वा विमोक्ष्यसे।।
evaṁ bahu-vidhā yajñā vitatā brahmaṇo mukhe
karma-jān viddhi tān sarvān evaṁ jñātvā vimokṣyase
also searched as "evam bahuvidha yajna vitata brahmano mukhe"
Translation
Thus, many forms of sacrifices have been spread out as means of reaching Brahman (individual self in its own nature). Know that all of these are born of actions. Knowing thus, you will be free.
Vāṇi's rendering
Many offerings, all spread before the eternal, all born of action. Know this, and you are free.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| एवम्evaṁ | thus, in these ways |
| बहुविधाःbahu-vidhā | of many kinds, manifold |
| यज्ञाःyajñā | offerings, sacrifices |
| वितताःvitatā | spread out, laid forth |
| ब्रह्मणःbrahmaṇo | of the eternal (also read as: of the Veda); sandhi of brahmaṇaḥ before mukhe |
| मुखेmukhe | at the mouth, in the presence of, before |
| कर्मजान्karma-jān | born of action |
| विद्धिviddhi | know |
| तान्tān | them |
| सर्वान्sarvān | all |
| एवम्evaṁ | thus, in this way |
| ज्ञात्वाjñātvā | having known |
| विमोक्ष्यसेvimokṣyase | you will be freed |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4 Verse 32 mean?
It closes Krishna's long list of offerings by saying one thing about all of them: they are born of action. Many forms, one origin. Knowing that, you stop treating any single practice as the destination, and the grip of doing loosens. Krishna calls that loosening freedom.
What does evam bahuvidha yajna vitata brahmano mukhe teach?
That the offerings are spread out before the eternal — laid at its mouth, not equal to it. The variety is real and useful; the ranking is not. Whatever you offer, whether breath, study, restraint or wealth, it stands in the same place as everyone else's.
Why does Krishna say all sacrifices are born of action?
Because it removes their mystique. A practice is not a gift from beyond; it is something a person does, in time, with effort. Seeing this, you neither despise the simple ones nor worship your own. Action remains, but the pride that clung to it falls away.
How does knowing this make me free?
The bondage was never in the work. It was in believing the work defined you. When you see that every offering is action-born, and the eternal is not, you keep acting without staking your worth on the acting. Krishna promises release, not retirement.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Krishna has just named a dozen offerings — breath into breath, senses into fire, wealth, study, austerity — and now he collects them in one hand. All of them are made of action. None arrived from elsewhere; each is something someone did. That levelling is the freedom he promises. The moment you see your practice as karma-born, you stop ranking it above another's, and you stop believing the doing itself will carry you across. Arjuna wanted to know which path was highest. He is told they are all spread before the eternal, and none of them is the eternal. Keep practising. Just stop wearing the practice like a title.