Chapter 4, Verse 28
द्रव्ययज्ञास्तपोयज्ञा योगयज्ञास्तथापरे | स्वाध्यायज्ञानयज्ञाश्च यतयः संशितव्रताः ||४-२८||
dravyayajñāstapoyajñā yogayajñāstathāpare . svādhyāyajñānayajñāśca yatayaḥ saṃśitavratāḥ ||4-28||
Meaning
4.28 Others again offer wealth, austerity and Yoga as sacrifice, while the ascetics of self-restraint and rigid vows offer study of scriptures and knowledge as sacrifice.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna broadens the catalogue of sacrifice into the practical forms most people can recognize. Some offer dravya — material wealth, through charity and giving. Some offer tapas — austerity and self-discipline. Some offer their practice of yoga. And the strivers of strict vows (saṃśita-vrata) offer svādhyāya and jñāna — the study of scripture and the pursuit of knowledge — as their sacred sacrifice.
The sweep of this list is significant. Krishna deliberately includes a wide range of human endeavors — generosity, discipline, contemplation, learning — and dignifies them all as yajña. Whatever genuine effort a person makes to grow, purify, and rise beyond the small self qualifies as sacrifice. There is no single 'correct' offering; the divine receives the gift of sincere striving in all its many forms.
💡 Key Takeaway
Generosity, discipline, practice, and study are all sacred offerings — every sincere effort to grow is a form of sacrifice.
Related Verses
निराशीर्यतचित्तात्मा त्यक्तसर्वपरिग्रहः | शारीरं केवलं कर्म कुर्वन्नाप्नोति किल्बिषम् ||४-२१||
nirāśīryatacittātmā tyaktasarvaparigrahaḥ . śārīraṃ kevalaṃ karma kurvannāpnoti kilbiṣam ||4-21||
4.21 Without hope and with the mind and the self controlled, having abandoned all covetousness, doing mere bodily action, he incurs no sin.
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.
ब्रह्मार्पणं ब्रह्म हविर्ब्रह्माग्नौ ब्रह्मणा हुतम् | ब्रह्मैव तेन गन्तव्यं ब्रह्मकर्मसमाधिना ||४-२४||
brahmārpaṇaṃ brahma havirbrahmāgnau brahmaṇā hutam . brahmaiva tena gantavyaṃ brahmakarmasamādhinā ||4-24||
4.24 Brahman is the oblation; Brahman is the melted butter (ghee); by Brahman is the oblation poured into the fire of Brahman; Brahman verily shall be reached by him who always sees Brahman in action.