Thursday 21 June 2012

Brahmarpanam: A Yogi's Meal Prayer

Yogis in the Sivananda lineage and many other schools of yoga bless their meals with Verse 4:24 from the Bhagavad Gita:

ब्रह्मार्पणं ब्रह्म हविर्ब्रह्माग्नौ ब्रह्मणाहुतम् ।
ब्रह्मैव तेन गन्तव्यं ब्रह्म कर्म समाधिना ।।


Transliteration:

Brahmarpanam Brahma Havir
Brahmagnau Brahmana Hutam
Brahmaiva Tena Ghantavyam
Brahmakarma Samadhina

Word-for-word translation:

brahma: spiritual in nature  
arpanam: contribution  
brahma: the Supreme
havih: butter
brahma: spiritual  
agnau: in the fire of consummation
brahmana: by the spirit soul  
hutam: offered
brahma: spiritual kingdom  
eva: certainly  
tena: by him
gantavyam: to be reached
brahma: spiritual
karma: in activities
samadhina: by complete absorption


Translation:

The act of offering is Brahman, the oblation is Brahman,
By Brahman it is offered into the fire of Brahman.
Brahman is That which is to be attained by s/he
who performs actions pertaining to Brahman.

Gratitude and mindfulness are said to transform food from mere sustenance into prasad!

For additional commentary and the source of much of this post check out sathyasai.org.

And if you like the look of these homemade pickles, find out how to make your own in this post.

Jai to the Cooks!

1 comment:

  1. Thank you soooo much Tara for this post
    You have no idea how badly I was looking for the meaning and word-to-word meaning of this sloka and although many websites had it, yours had it in the most clear, neat and easily understands manner.

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