Shloka 28

सूक्ष्मभूत-भूतात्मविज्ञानम्

Knowing the subtle principle and the bhūtātman through yoga

Devanagari script

प्रादेशमात्रे हृदि निःसृतं यत्‌ तस्मिन्‌ प्राणानात्मयाजी जुहोति । तस्याग्निहोत्रं हुतमात्मसंस्थं सर्वेषु लोकेषु सदेवकेषु,आत्मयज्ञ करनेवाला ज्ञानी पुरुष नाभिसे लेकर हृदयतकका जो प्रादेशमात्र स्थान है, उसमें प्रकट हुई जो चैतन्यज्योति है, उसीमें समस्त प्राणोंकी--इन्द्रिय, मन आदिकी आहुति देता है अर्थात्‌ समस्त प्राणादिका आत्मामें लय करता है। उसका प्राणाग्निहोत्र यद्यपि अपने शरीरके भीतर ही होता है तथापि वह सर्वात्मा होनेके कारण उसके द्वारा देवताओंसहित सम्पूर्ण लोकोंमें प्राणाग्निहोत्रकर्म सम्पन्न हो जाता है; अर्थात्‌ उसके प्राणोंकी तृप्तिसे सम्पूर्ण ब्रह्माण्डके प्राण तृप्त हो जाते हैं

Transliteration

prādeśamātre hṛdi niḥsṛtaṃ yat tasmin prāṇān ātmayājī juhoti | tasyāgnihotraṃ hutam ātmasaṃsthaṃ sarveṣu lokeṣu sadevakeṣu ||

Translation

Vyāsa said: The knower who performs the inner sacrifice offers his vital powers into that consciousness-flame which has arisen within the heart, in the space of a mere span. Though his agnihotra is offered within his own self, it is, by virtue of his identity with the universal Self, accomplished throughout all worlds together with the gods—so that by the satisfaction and pacification of his own prāṇas, the life-forces of the whole cosmos are as it were satisfied.

Word by Word

प्रादेशमात्रेin a space of only a span/measure

हृदिin the heart

निःसृतम्gone forth, emerged

यत्which

तस्मिन्in that

प्राणान्vital breaths/energies

आत्मयाजीone who sacrifices to the Self (self-worshipper)

जुहोतिoffers (as oblation)

तस्यof him/its

अग्निहोत्रम्Agnihotra (fire-offering rite)

हुतम्offered, sacrificed

आत्मसंस्थम्situated/established in the Self

सर्वेषुin all

लोकेषुin the worlds

सदेवकेषुin those (worlds) together with the gods

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

hṛd (heart)

prāṇa (vital forces)

agnihotra (fire-offering)

devas (gods)

lokas (worlds)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

External ritual is reinterpreted as an inner yajña: the wise person offers the prāṇas (including senses and mind) into the Self’s inner light in the heart. Because the realized person abides as the universal Self, this inward offering is said to be effective for all worlds, expressing the ethical ideal that self-mastery and inner purification have universal benefit.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vyāsa is describing the practice and stature of a jñānī who performs ātma-yajña. The verse portrays a contemplative ‘agnihotra’ occurring within the heart-space, where the practitioner dissolves the functions of life and mind into consciousness, and it frames this as a cosmic act reaching even the realms of the gods.