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Chapter 4 · Transcendental Knowledge · 42 verses

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Duty & actionChapter 4 · Transcendental Knowledge
4.264.28

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 4.27

Sacrifice, discipline and knowledge

सर्वाणीन्द्रियकर्माणि प्राणकर्माणि चापरे ।

आत्मसंयमयोगाग्न‍ौ जुह्वति ज्ञानदीपिते ॥ २७ ॥

sarvāṇīndriya-karmāṇi

prāṇa-karmāṇi cāpare

ātma-saṁyama-yogāgnau

juhvati jñāna-dīpite

Translation

Others, who are interested in achieving self-realization through control of the mind and senses, offer the functions of all the senses, and of the life breath, as oblations into the fire of the controlled mind.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

What this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.

Controlling the Mind and Senses

  1. 1Some seek self-realization by offering all sense activities and the life breath into the fire of the controlled mind.
  2. 2Prabhupāda explains that Patañjali’s yoga teaches control of the body’s airs to purify the soul of material attachment.
  3. 3Direct the activities of your senses toward self-realization rather than sense enjoyment.

Where we are

In the story

Chapter 4, Transcendental Knowledge: sacrifice, discipline and knowledge.

What it teaches

Theme summary

Act dutifully without attachment to fruits.

2

Key ideas in this verse

The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.

Key ideas: karma, sva-dharma.

3

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What does BG 4.27 establish in Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport, and how does it connect to duty & action?

Practice

Do one task today purely because it is right.

4

The story behind it

Mahābhārata episodes and stories from the purports that shed light on this verse.

All stories for chapter 4 ›
5

Related verses

Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.

BG 4.25Sacrifice, discipline and knowledgeBG 4.26Sacrifice, discipline and knowledgeBG 2.47Responsibility without ownership of outcomesBG 3.21Leadership by example

Study notes are editorial summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport.

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Back to step 3The key ideasNext · Step 5 of 7 · 5 minLive the teachingsBring it into your day with a practice and a question, straight from Prabhupāda's purports.