Bg 4.24
brahmārpaṇaṁ brahma havir brahmāgnau brahmaṇā hutam
brahmaiva tena gantavyaṁ brahma-karma-samādhinā
Translation:
24. BRAHMAN is the oblation; BRAHMAN is the clarified butter, etc. , constituting the offerings; by BRAHMAN is the oblation poured into the fire of BRAHMAN; BRAHMAN verily shall be reached by him who always sees BRAHMAN in all actions.
Commentary Excerpts:
This is a famous stanza which is chanted throughout India as a prayer at the table before the Hindus eat their meals, although, today, ninety per cent of those who chant this stanza before their meals do not understand or care to follow its meaning. All the same it contains infinite suggestions and almost summarises the entire philosophic content of Vedanta.
The Infinite Reality, which is the changeless substratum behind and beneath the changing panorama of the world, is indicated by the Vedic term Brahman, and this is contrasted with that aspect of Truth which functions in and through the body as the Atman. But though the Eternal Truth has been thus indicated by two different terms, Vedanta roars that "The Atman is Brahman."
The metaphor is borrowed from the very well-known divine ritualism of the Vedas, the Yajnas. In every Yajna there are four essential factors --- (1) the deity invoked to whom the oblations are offered, (2) the fire in which the offerings are poured, (3) the material things that constitute the offerings and (4) the individual who is performing the Yajna.
Here the stanza explains the mental attitude and the experience of the Perfect-Sage when he performs the Yajna. To him Truth alone exists and not the delusory plurality which his erstwhile ignorance had conjured up for him in his mind. Therefore, to him, all Yajnas arise from Brahman; (III-14, 15) in which Brahman, the Truth, is the performer; offering Brahman, the material; to the sacred fire, which is also nothing other than Brahman; invoking but Brahman. When one wave jumps over another and breaks itself up to embrace and become one with its comrade, we, who know that "all waves are nothing but the ocean," can certainly understand that in this act of union between two waves nothing has happened except that the ocean rising over the ocean, broke itself to become one with the ocean!!
If an individual can thus see the substratum, or the essential nature, in and through, all names and forms, actions and behaviours, to him, irrespective of all conditions and circumstances, all beings and things are but a remembrance of the Infinite Blissful Truth. If actions are performed by a Saint, invoking no deity other than Brahman, "ALL HIS ACTIONS DISSOLVE AWAY" because he is invoking but the One Truth through all his actions.
The significance of the stanza as a prayer to be said before food is amply self-evident. To live we must eat. Food is necessary for existence. Whatever be the type of food, when one is hungry one will enjoy one's meals. The suggestion is that even at this moment of natural enjoyment, we are not to forget the great Truth that it is Brahman eating Brahman, and that during our meals we are offering to Brahman, the food that is Brahman, invoking nothing but the grace of Brahman. To keep this idea constantly in the mind is to get perfectly detached from the enjoyment and raise ourselves to a greater and endless beatitude which is the reward of Super-manhood.
Sources: Vedabase.com; The Holy Geeta
brahmārpaṇaṁ brahma havir brahmāgnau brahmaṇā hutam
brahmaiva tena gantavyaṁ brahma-karma-samādhinā
Translation:
24. BRAHMAN is the oblation; BRAHMAN is the clarified butter, etc. , constituting the offerings; by BRAHMAN is the oblation poured into the fire of BRAHMAN; BRAHMAN verily shall be reached by him who always sees BRAHMAN in all actions.
Commentary Excerpts:
This is a famous stanza which is chanted throughout India as a prayer at the table before the Hindus eat their meals, although, today, ninety per cent of those who chant this stanza before their meals do not understand or care to follow its meaning. All the same it contains infinite suggestions and almost summarises the entire philosophic content of Vedanta.
The Infinite Reality, which is the changeless substratum behind and beneath the changing panorama of the world, is indicated by the Vedic term Brahman, and this is contrasted with that aspect of Truth which functions in and through the body as the Atman. But though the Eternal Truth has been thus indicated by two different terms, Vedanta roars that "The Atman is Brahman."
The metaphor is borrowed from the very well-known divine ritualism of the Vedas, the Yajnas. In every Yajna there are four essential factors --- (1) the deity invoked to whom the oblations are offered, (2) the fire in which the offerings are poured, (3) the material things that constitute the offerings and (4) the individual who is performing the Yajna.
Here the stanza explains the mental attitude and the experience of the Perfect-Sage when he performs the Yajna. To him Truth alone exists and not the delusory plurality which his erstwhile ignorance had conjured up for him in his mind. Therefore, to him, all Yajnas arise from Brahman; (III-14, 15) in which Brahman, the Truth, is the performer; offering Brahman, the material; to the sacred fire, which is also nothing other than Brahman; invoking but Brahman. When one wave jumps over another and breaks itself up to embrace and become one with its comrade, we, who know that "all waves are nothing but the ocean," can certainly understand that in this act of union between two waves nothing has happened except that the ocean rising over the ocean, broke itself to become one with the ocean!!
If an individual can thus see the substratum, or the essential nature, in and through, all names and forms, actions and behaviours, to him, irrespective of all conditions and circumstances, all beings and things are but a remembrance of the Infinite Blissful Truth. If actions are performed by a Saint, invoking no deity other than Brahman, "ALL HIS ACTIONS DISSOLVE AWAY" because he is invoking but the One Truth through all his actions.
The significance of the stanza as a prayer to be said before food is amply self-evident. To live we must eat. Food is necessary for existence. Whatever be the type of food, when one is hungry one will enjoy one's meals. The suggestion is that even at this moment of natural enjoyment, we are not to forget the great Truth that it is Brahman eating Brahman, and that during our meals we are offering to Brahman, the food that is Brahman, invoking nothing but the grace of Brahman. To keep this idea constantly in the mind is to get perfectly detached from the enjoyment and raise ourselves to a greater and endless beatitude which is the reward of Super-manhood.
Sources: Vedabase.com; The Holy Geeta
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