Verse 26

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In plain words

Some offer hearing and the other senses into the fires of restraint; others offer sound and the other sense objects into the fires of the senses.

Word for word

Some offer hearing and the other senses in the fires of restraint; others offer sound and the other objects in the fires of the senses.

The commentators

Bhagavadgītābhāṣyam

सोऽयं सम्यग्दर्शनलक्षणः यज्ञः दैवयज्ञादिषु यज्ञेषु उपक्षिप्यते ‘ब्रह्मार्पणम्’ इत्यादिश्लोकैः प्रस्तुतः ‘श्रेयान् द्रव्यमयाद्यज्ञात् ज्ञानयज्ञः परन्तप’(भ. गी. ४ । ३३) इत्यादिना स्तुत्यर्थम् —

श्रोत्रादीनि इन्द्रियाणि अन्ये योगिनः संयमाग्निषु । प्रतीन्द्रियं संयमो भिद्यते इति बहुवचनम् । संयमा एव अग्नयः तेषु जुह्वति इन्द्रियसंयममेव कुर्वन्ति इत्यर्थः । शब्दादीन् विषयान् अन्ये इन्द्रियाग्निषु इन्द्रियाण्येव अग्नयः तेषु इन्द्रियाग्निषु जुह्वति श्रोत्रादिभिरविरुद्धविषयग्रहणं होमं मन्यन्ते ॥ २६ ॥

In plain words

So this sacrifice — the one whose whole nature is right seeing — is slipped in among the sacrifices that begin with the offering to the gods. It was already brought forward in the verses starting 'Brahman is the offering,' and it is praised in lines like 'The sacrifice of knowledge is better than any sacrifice made of material things, O scorcher of foes' (Gītā 4.33) — and what follows is said to extol it:

'The senses — hearing and the rest': other yogins pour these into the fires of restraint. Since restraint differs sense by sense, the text uses the plural. The restraints themselves are the fires, and it is into those that they offer — meaning simply that they practice sense-restraint. Others pour sound and the other objects into the fires of the senses — here the senses themselves are the fires; into those fires they offer, meaning they treat the unhindered taking-in of objects through hearing and the rest as the offering itself.

Close to the Sanskrit

That same sacrifice, whose defining mark is right vision, is thrown in among the sacrifices beginning with the sacrifice to the gods; it has been set forth by the verses beginning with 'brahmārpaṇam,' and, for the purpose of praise, by such words as 'The sacrifice of knowledge is better than the sacrifice made of material things, O scorcher of foes' (Gītā 4.33) —

'The senses — hearing and the rest' — other yogins offer into the fires of restraint. Since restraint differs for each sense, the plural is used. The restraints themselves are the fires; into those they offer — meaning they simply practice restraint of the senses. Others offer sound and the other objects into the fires of the senses — the senses themselves are the fires; into those, the fires of the senses, they offer — meaning they regard the unopposed grasping of objects through hearing and the rest as the oblation itself.