3.15 — Food, rain and the turning wheel

Sanskrit · Teaching film · Everyday practice

Speaker: Krishna, addressing Arjuna.

The shloka

कर्म ब्रह्मोद्भवं विद्धि ब्रह्माक्षरसमुद्भवम् ।
तस्मात्सर्वगतं ब्रह्म नित्यं यज्ञे प्रतिष्ठितम् ॥ १५ ॥

Brief meaning

Action is said to arise from Brahman, often understood here as the Veda, and that from the imperishable. So the all-pervading Brahman is ever present in yajña.

In the conversation

Krishna praises those who eat what remains after offering, and traces a cycle: beings live on food, food comes from rain, rain from yajña, and yajña from action. That action is rooted in sacred knowledge and the imperishable. Whoever refuses to take part in this turning wheel, and lives only for pleasure, lives in vain.

Word by word

कर्म ब्रह्मोद्भवम् विद्धि

Know that action arises from Brahman, here often read as the Veda,

ब्रह्म अक्षरसमुद्भवम्

and Brahman arises from the imperishable.

तस्मात् सर्वगतम् ब्रह्म

Therefore the all-pervading Brahman

नित्यम् यज्ञे प्रतिष्ठितम्

is ever established in yajña.

Going deeper

Yajña śiṣṭa means what remains after the offering. This idea lives on in the custom of prasāda, food offered first and then shared. The cakra, the wheel, links food, rain, offering and action into one turning cycle. Akṣara means the imperishable, and Brahman here is often read as the Veda. Moghaṃ means in vain: a life that only takes from the wheel misses its purpose.

Everyday reflection

In many homes a first portion of food is offered before anyone eats. The gesture is small, yet it places the meal within a larger story of rain, soil, labour and grace. Try it today, in whatever form fits your tradition: a pause, a prayer, a word of thanks. Notice whether eating feels different afterwards. Where does your daily life connect with the cycle that sustains everyone?

Consider today: Treat one ordinary act today as part of something sacred.