Bhagavad Gita 17.14
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 14 of 28
देवद्विजगुरुप्राज्ञपूजनं शौचम् आर्जवम् । ब्रह्मचर्यम् अहिंसा च शारीरं तप उच्यते ॥
deva-dvija-guru-prājña-pūjanaṃ śaucam ārjavam | brahmacaryam ahiṃsā ca śārīraṃ tapa ucyate ||
Bodily tapas: honouring Devas/dvija/guru/wise; purity, straightforwardness, brahmacarya, non-injury.
Word by word (3)
- deva-dvija-guru-prājña-pūjanam śaucam ārjavam
- — worship/honouring (pūjanam) of Devas, twice-born/dvija (brāhmaṇas), Gurus, and the wise (prājña); purity (śauca); straightforwardness/uprightness (ārjava) — the relational + internal qualities
- brahmacaryam ahiṃsā ca
- — continence/celibacy (brahmacarya); and (ca) non-harming/harmlessness (ahiṃsā) — the two restraints completing the eight components of bodily tapas
- śārīraṃ tapa ucyate
- — this is called (ucyate) the tapas of the body (śārīra = bodily) — the word śārīra specifies that these are physical/bodily austerities, to be contrasted with speech-tapas (V15) and mind-tapas (V16)
Worship/reverence of the gods, the twice-born, teachers, and wise ones; purity, uprightness, continence, and non-harming — these are called the austerity of the body.
A modern analogy
Bodily tapas is not fasting or self-torture — it is the discipline of how you carry yourself through the world. Whom do you bow before? Is your body pure? Are your actions upright? Is your energy disciplined? Do you cause harm? These eight qualities describe a person whose body is a refined instrument, not just a vehicle for comfort.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Worshipping the Gods, the twice-born, teachers and wise men — purity, straightforwardness, continence, and abstinence from injury are termed the bodily austerity. [1]
Worship of the Devas, the twice-born, the Gurus, and the wise; purity, straightforwardness, continence, and non-injury are called the austerity of the body. [4]
Reverence to the gods, the twice-born, preceptors, and wise men; purity, straightforwardness, continence, and harmlessness — these are called the penance of the body. [9]
Reverence to the gods, regenerate ones, preceptors, and men of knowledge, purity, uprightness, the practices of a Brahmacharin, and abstention from injury, are said to constitute the penance of the body. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Your own mind is your best friend when mastered; your worst enemy when not.
Supreme bliss comes naturally to the yogi whose mind is fully at peace, passion quieted, stainless — Brahman-become.
When your mind — shaken by conflicting teachings — stands still in samādhi: that is yoga attained.
Dispassion toward sense-objects, no ego, and clearly seeing birth-death-age-disease as painful — this is jñāna!
Tamas — born of ignorance — deludes all beings and binds through carelessness, laziness, and sleep.
The guṇātīta neither hates light, activity, or delusion when present — nor yearns for them when absent.
Verse 14 of 28 · back to Chapter 17