Daily Prayer · Before a meal
ब्रह्मार्पणम्Brahmarpanam
Mantra text
ब्रह्मार्पणं ब्रह्महविर्ब्रह्माग्नौ ब्रह्मणा हुतम् ।
ब्रह्मैव तेन गन्तव्यं ब्रह्मकर्मसमाधिना ॥
अहं वैश्वानरो भूत्वा प्राणिनां देहमाश्रितः ।
प्राणापानसमायुक्तः पचाम्यन्नं चतुर्विधम् ॥
brahmārpaṇaṃ brahmahavirbrahmāgnau brahmaṇā hutam | brahmaiva tena gantavyaṃ brahmakarmasamādhinā || ahaṃ vaiśvānaro bhūtvā prāṇināṃ dehamāśritaḥ | prāṇāpānasamāyuktaḥ pacāmyannaṃ caturvidham ||
Meaning
Meaning
The act of offering is Brahman, the oblation is Brahman, offered by Brahman into the fire of Brahman; Brahman alone is reached by one absorbed in the action that is Brahman. Becoming the fire Vaishvanara, I abide in the bodies of living beings and, joined with the in-breath and out-breath, digest the four kinds of food.
About this prayer
About this prayer
The pre-meal grace — recited before eating to offer the food as an oblation into the digestive fire of the divine within, so that the act of eating becomes a yajna. It joins two verses of the Bhagavad Geeta (4.24 and 15.14).