Chapter 4, Verse 25
दैवमेवापरे यज्ञं योगिनः पर्युपासते | ब्रह्माग्नावपरे यज्ञं यज्ञेनैवोपजुह्वति ||४-२५||
daivamevāpare yajñaṃ yoginaḥ paryupāsate . brahmāgnāvapare yajñaṃ yajñenaivopajuhvati ||4-25||
Meaning
4.25 Some Yogies perform sacrifice to the gods alone; while others (who have realised the Self) offer the self as sacrifice by the Self in the fire of Brahman alone.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna now begins a remarkable survey of the many forms of yajña — sacrifice — showing that worship takes countless shapes. Some yogis perform outward ritual sacrifice to the devas, the gods who govern nature. Others, more inwardly advanced, offer the very self as an offering into the fire of Brahman — a sacrifice of meditation in which the individual dissolves into the absolute.
The contrast is between external and internal sacrifice. The ritualist offers ghee and grain to deities; the contemplative offers his own limited selfhood into the boundless reality. Both are honored as paths of yajña. By presenting this spectrum, Krishna broadens the meaning of sacrifice far beyond fire-altars: any sincere act of giving up the lesser for the higher, whether outward or inward, is a form of worship that purifies and elevates.
💡 Key Takeaway
Sacrifice takes many forms — from outward ritual to the inner offering of the ego — and every sincere one is a path of worship.
Related Verses
ये यथा मां प्रपद्यन्ते तांस्तथैव भजाम्यहम् | मम वर्त्मानुवर्तन्ते मनुष्याः पार्थ सर्वशः ||४-११||
ye yathā māṃ prapadyante tāṃstathaiva bhajāmyaham . mama vartmānuvartante manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ ||4-11||
4.11 In whatever way men approach Me even so do I reward them; My path do men tread in all ways, O Arjuna.
काङ्क्षन्तः कर्मणां सिद्धिं यजन्त इह देवताः | क्षिप्रं हि मानुषे लोके सिद्धिर्भवति कर्मजा ||४-१२||
kāṅkṣantaḥ karmaṇāṃ siddhiṃ yajanta iha devatāḥ . kṣipraṃ hi mānuṣe loke siddhirbhavati karmajā ||4-12||
4.12 Those who long for success in action in this world sacrifice to the gods; because success is ickly attained by men through action.
गतसङ्गस्य मुक्तस्य ज्ञानावस्थितचेतसः | यज्ञायाचरतः कर्म समग्रं प्रविलीयते ||४-२३||
gatasaṅgasya muktasya jñānāvasthitacetasaḥ . yajñāyācarataḥ karma samagraṃ pravilīyate ||4-23||
4.23 To one who is devoid of attchment, who is liberated, whose mind is established in knowledge, who works for the sake of sacrifice (for the sake of God), the whole action is dissolved.