Bhagavad Gita 9.27
Spoken by Krishna ★ Essential verse · Verse 27 of 34
यत्करोषि यदश्नासि यज्जुहोषि ददासि यत् | यत्तपस्यसि कौन्तेय तत्कुरुष्व मदर्पणम् ||२७||
yat karoṣi yad aśnāsi yaj juhoṣi dadāsi yat | yat tapasyasi kaunteya tat kuruṣva mad-arpaṇam || 27 ||
Whatever you do, eat, offer, give, or practise as austerity — do it all as mad-arpaṇam, an offering to Me.
Word by word (3)
- yat karoṣi yad aśnāsi yaj juhoṣi dadāsi yat yat tapasyasi
- — Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer, whatever you give, whatever you practise as austerity · yat = whatever (relative pronoun — 'whatever, anything that'; yat + karoṣi = 'whatever you do'). karoṣi = you do (√kṛ = to do, to make; second person singular present — 'you do, you make'; all of life's activity is included in karoṣi). yad = whatever (relative variant). aśnāsi = you eat (√aś = to eat, to consume; second person singular — 'you eat'; daily eating as an activity addressed). yaj = whatever (relative variant before j). juhoṣi = you offer into fire (√hu = to offer oblation into fire; juhoṣi = 'you pour oblation, you offer in fire sacrifice'). dadāsi = you give (√dā = to give; dadāsi = 'you give, you bestow' — charitable giving, dakṣiṇā, gifts). yat = whatever (again). tapasyasi = you practise austerity (tapas = heat, austerity — from √tap = to heat; tapasyasi = 'you practise austerity' — fasting, discipline, spiritual effort). kaunteya = O son of Kuntī (vocative — Arjuna, personally addressed). V27's opening line: five verbs covering the complete range of human activity: karoṣi (work/action), aśnāsi (eating/consuming), juhoṣi (ritual sacrifice), dadāsi (charitable giving), tapasyasi (spiritual austerity). ALL of life's activity in one verse — nothing is left out. The yat... yat... yaj... pattern of repeated relatives creates a sweeping inclusiveness: not some activities but every activity.
- tat kuruṣva mad-arpaṇam
- — Do that as an offering to Me — as mad-arpaṇam · tat = that (demonstrative pronoun referring back to all the yat-yat-yaj activities: 'all that'). kuruṣva = do, perform (imperative of √kṛ — 'do it, perform it'; the instruction). mad-arpaṇam = as an offering to Me (mat = My, of Me; arpaṇam = offering, surrender, laying down — from ā + √ṛ = to place at, to lay down as offering; mad-arpaṇam = 'as offering to Me, as surrender to Me'). V27's second line: tat kuruṣva mad-arpaṇam — 'do that as offering-to-Me.' The entire arc of V27: all five categories of human activity (work, eating, sacrifice, giving, austerity) + one instruction (kuruṣva = do it) + one orientation (mad-arpaṇam = as offering to Me). This is the karma yoga reorientation at its simplest: the activity does not change — what changes is the orientation. Karoṣi (whatever you do) becomes mad-arpaṇam (offering to the divine). Aśnāsi (whatever you eat) becomes mad-arpaṇam. Everything becomes a devotional act by the quality of its orientation. V27 is V26's general form: V26 said 'offer leaf/flower/fruit/water with bhakti'; V27 says 'offer EVERYTHING with this orientation.' V26 is the formal-offering case; V27 is the universal principle.
- mad-arpaṇam — the principle that transforms all action into devotional offering
- — V27's mad-arpaṇam (offering to Me) is the Gita's most comprehensive practice instruction: the reorientation of all life's activity into devotional offering · Mad-arpaṇam (offering to Me) is the universal principle of karma yoga + bhakti yoga integration. Arpaṇam (from ā + √ṛ = to lay down at someone's feet, to surrender, to offer) is the complete surrender of the action's ownership — not 'I do this and offer the fruit to the divine' (V2.47's model) but 'the entire act, from beginning to end, is offered as arpaṇam (laid down) at the divine's feet.' The transformation mad-arpaṇam produces: (1) All action (karoṣi) becomes karma yoga — action without binding (V9.28: thus you shall be freed from the bonds of karma); (2) Even eating (aśnāsi) becomes devotional — V17.13's āyuḥ-sattva-bala-ārogya-sukha-prīti food concept; (3) Even sacrifice (juhoṣi) becomes bhakti rather than merit-seeking (contrast to V20's soma-drinking for heaven); (4) Even giving (dadāsi) becomes unconditional gift rather than merit-investment; (5) Even austerity (tapasyasi) becomes devotional discipline rather than self-punishment or spiritual achievement. Mad-arpaṇam is the practical bridge from ordinary life to spiritual life: the Gita's answer to 'how do I practice spirituality while living in the world?' — not by changing what you do but by reorienting everything toward the divine as mad-arpaṇam. V27 thus IS V22's ananya orientation (undivided, toward Me) applied to ALL daily activity. The ananya-bhakta of V22 and the mad-arpaṇam practitioner of V27 are the same person described from two angles.
Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer or give, whatever austerity you practise — do it, O son of Kuntī, as an offering to Me.
A modern analogy
A musician who plays every note FOR the music — not for applause, not for income, not for reputation, but for the music itself — is living this verse. Every practice session, every performance, every moment of warming up becomes an offering to the music as the divine dimension of their work. The verse says: apply this to ALL of your activity (not just formal spiritual practice): eating, working, giving, disciplining yourself. Make all of it an offering to the divine (mad-arpaṇam). The quality of this offering transforms the activity itself.
What it does NOT mean
Offering to Me (mad-arpaṇam) does not mean mechanical recitation of 'I offer this to God' before every action. It is a quality of orientation: the heart's genuine direction toward the divine in every act. The five activities listed (work, eating, sacrifice, giving, austerity) cover ALL of life — the verse is teaching a total life orientation, not a ritual addition to existing life.
Take with you
- This verse is a complete life practice: the previous verse showed the minimal formal offering (leaf and water and devotion). This verse shows that no separate formal practice is needed: whatever you already do (your work, your meals, your giving, your disciplines) — do it as an offering to Me. Your existing life IS the practice when reoriented. The verse removes the excuse 'I don't have time for spiritual practice': you already do the five categories (work, eat, give, and the rest) — just reorient them.
- The five categories work as a coverage check: (1) karoṣi = work/action (is your work done as an offering?); (2) aśnāsi = eating (is your eating done with devotional awareness?); (3) juhoṣi = ritual/formal practice (is your formal practice done as offering rather than merit-earning?); (4) dadāsi = giving (is your generosity done as offering to the divine through others?); (5) tapasyasi = discipline/austerity (is your self-discipline done as devotion rather than self-punishment?). Use these five as a weekly review.
- Offering to Me (mad-arpaṇam) is the antidote to compartmentalization: most people separate 'spiritual life' from 'ordinary life.' This verse dissolves the partition: ordinary life (work, eating, discipline, giving) IS spiritual life when done as an offering. The integration is not adding spiritual practice to an already full life but recognizing that the full life IS already the field of spiritual practice.
Public-domain translations (3) compare all →
Whatever thou doest, whatever thou eatest, whatever thou offerest in sacrifice, whatever thou givest, whatever thou practisest as austerity, O Kaunteya, do thou that as an offering unto Me. [4]
Whatever thou doest, whatever thou eatest, whatever thou sacrificest, whatever thou givest, whatever mortification thou performest, do that, O son of Kunti, as an offering to me. [6]
Whatsoe'er thou dost, Arjuna! doing it, / Make it My gift to Me; whate'er thou gain'st, / Give it to Me; whate'er thou think'st to do / Make Me the Thought [7]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
A leaf, a flower, a fruit, a drop of water — offered with devotion, I receive it: the striving heart's gift is enough.
Your right is to act — never to the fruits. Don't act for results. Don't hide in inaction.
Instrument, offering, fire, act, destination — all Brahman. One absorbed in Brahman-action reaches Brahman alone.
Thus freed from karma's bonds — both good and evil fruits — unified in renunciation-yoga, liberated, you come to Me.
OṀ Tat Sat: triple name of Brahman — by which brāhmaṇas, Vedas, and yajñas were ordained in the beginning.
Action → yajna → rain → food → all beings. Human right-action sustains the entire chain of life.
Verse 27 of 34 · back to Chapter 9