BG 18.5
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Devanagari
यज्ञदानतप:कर्म न त्याज्यं कार्यमेव तत् ।
यज्ञो दानं तपश्चैव पावनानि मनीषिणाम् ॥ ५ ॥
Verse text
yajṣa-dāna-tapaḥ-karma
na tyājyaṁ kāryam eva tat
yajṣo dānaṁ tapaś caiva
pāvanāni manīṣiṇām
Synonyms
yajṣa
—
of sacrifice
;
dāna
—
charity
;
tapaḥ
—
and penance
;
karma
—
activity
;
na
—
never
;
tyājyam
—
to be given up
;
kāryam
—
must be done
;
eva
—
certainly
;
tat
—
that
;
yajṣaḥ
—
sacrifice
;
dānam
—
charity
;
tapaḥ
—
penance
;
ca
—
also
;
eva
—
certainly
;
pāvanāni
—
purifying
;
manīṣiṇām
—
even for the great souls.
Translation
Acts of sacrifice, charity and penance are not to be given up; they must be performed. Indeed, sacrifice, charity and penance purify even the great souls.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
5. Sacrifice, charity and austerity should not be given up but should be performed, since they purify even the wise.
Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
5. Sacrifice, charity and austerity should not be given up but should be performed, since they purify the wise.
Purport
The yogīs should perform acts for the advancement of human society. There are many purificatory processes for advancing a human being to spiritual life. The marriage ceremony, for example, is considered to be one of these sacrifices. It is called vivāha-yajṣa. Should a sannyāsī, who is in the renounced order of life and who has given up his family relations, encourage the marriage ceremony? The Lord says here that any sacrifice which is meant for human welfare should never be given up. Vivāha-yajṣa, the marriage ceremony, is meant to regulate the human mind so that it may become peaceful for spiritual advancement. For most men, this vivāha-yajṣa should be encouraged even by persons in the renounced order of life. Sannyāsīs should never associate with women, but that does not mean that one who is in the lower stages of life, a young man, should not accept a wife in the marriage ceremony. All prescribed sacrifices are meant for achieving the Supreme Lord. Therefore, in the lower stages, they should not be given up. Similarly, charity is for the purification of the heart. If charity is given to suitable persons, as described previously, it leads one to advanced spiritual life.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
According to the Lord, even among kāmya-karmas (optional), those sacrifices, charities and austerities which are sattvic in nature, , should be performed without desire for results. [Note: In the second verse, sannyāsa was defined as giving up kāmya-karmas.] This is explained in this verse. Sacrifice, austerity and charity must be done, because they cause purification of the consciousness.
Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
In two verses, the Lord first states His own conviction in the matter. For the wise, the obligatory activities such as sacrifices, charity and austerity should never be given up, because they purify (pāvaṇāni)—they destroy the faults accumulated by repeated births, through the knowledge arising within them like a lotus blossoming from a root.
Surrender Unto Me
The acaryas mention in their explanation that: 'as a lotus stem has fibers inside, these three activities have the fiber of jnana, or knowledge, inside. Do these activities as Krsna's prescriptions and become purified in the heart and thereby you will attain knowledge.'