Chapter 18 · Liberation through renunciation
Bhagavad Gita 18.5
Sacrifice, giving and austerity are never to be given up.
Shri Bhagavan
यज्ञदानतपःकर्म न त्याज्यं कार्यमेव तत् ।
यज्ञो दानं तपश्चैव पावनानि मनीषिणाम् ॥
yajñadānatapaḥkarma na tyājyaṁ kāryameva tat / yajño dānaṁ tapaścaiva pāvanāni manīṣiṇām
The works of sacrifice, charity and austerity are not to be abandoned; they must indeed be performed, for sacrifice, charity and austerity are purifiers of the thoughtful.
हिंदी · यज्ञ, दान और तप रूपी कर्म त्यागने योग्य नहीं हैं, वे तो अवश्य करने चाहिए; क्योंकि यज्ञ, दान और तप मनीषियों को पवित्र करने वाले हैं।
What it means
Sacrifice, giving and austerity are never to be given up.
Acts of sacrifice, giving and austerity should not be abandoned; they must be done. For they purify even the wise.
This is the Trust’s own reading, written for this site. The verse above it is the text.
Verses that share its vocabulary
Near it in the text’s own words.
- 17.27Steadiness in yajna, in tapas and in dana is also called Sat. And any action done for the sake of the Supreme is likewise named Sat.
- 18.3Some thinkers say that action should be abandoned as being tainted with fault; others say that the works of sacrifice, charity and austerity should not be abandoned.
- 8.28The yogi who knows all this passes beyond whatever merit is laid down for the Vedas, for sacrifices, for austerities and for gifts, and reaches the supreme and original abode.
- 11.48Not by study of the Vedas or by sacrifice, not by gifts, not by rituals, not by harsh austerities can I be seen in this form in the world of men by anyone but you, great warrior of the Kurus.
- 17.7Even the food each person prefers is of three kinds, and so are yajna, tapas and dana. Listen now to how they differ from one another.
- 17.24So those who speak of Brahman always begin the acts of yajna, dana and tapas that the rules lay down by first uttering Om.
Chosen by shared uncommon vocabulary, weighted so that a rare word counts for far more than a common one. A reading aid, not a claim that these verses mean the same thing.