17.24 Beginning with Om Krishna speaks
तस्मादोमित्युदाहृत्य यज्ञदानतपःक्रियाः
प्रवर्तन्ते विधानोक्ताः सततं ब्रह्मवादिनाम्
tasmād oṁ ity udāhṛitya yajña-dāna-tapaḥ-kriyāḥ
pravartante vidhānoktāḥ satataṁ brahma-vādinām
So those who speak of Brahman always begin the acts of offering, giving and austerity with the utterance of Om, as the scriptures direct.
Explanation
Om, at the start.
Those who speak of Brahman begin offering, giving and austerity with the utterance — as directed.
It is the plainest, most procedural verse in a chapter otherwise about interiors. Placed here, immediately after 17.23, it reads as the answer to Arjuna's original question: the form matters too, and it is not much to observe.
Word by word
- tasmāt
- therefore
- om
- sacred syllable om
- iti
- thus
- udāhṛitya
- by uttering
- yajña
- sacrifice
- dāna
- charity
- tapaḥ
- penance
- kriyāḥ
- performing
- pravartante
- begin
- vidhāna-uktāḥ
- according to the prescriptions of Vedic injunctions
- satatam
- always
- brahma-vādinām
- expounders of the Vedas
Long-press or right-click the image to copy it. Nothing is uploaded — it is drawn here, on your device.