Brahmarpanam — Meal Prayer — Sanskrit Text, Transliteration & Meaning

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Brahmarpanam — Meal Prayer

ब्रह्मार्पणं (भोजन मंत्र)

Mantras, Slokas & Daily PrayersTraditionalSanskrit

The two Gita verses recited before meals — offering the food, the eater and the act of eating itself to Brahman, and remembering the divine fire that digests all nourishment.

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Bhagavad Gita 4.24

ब्रह्मार्पणं ब्रह्म हविः ब्रह्माग्नौ ब्रह्मणा हुतम् । ब्रह्मैव तेन गन्तव्यं ब्रह्मकर्मसमाधिना ॥

brahmarpanam brahma havih brahmagnau brahmana hutam brahmaiva tena gantavyam brahma-karma-samadhina

brahmārpaṇaṃ brahma haviḥ brahmāgnau brahmaṇā hutam brahmaiva tena gantavyaṃ brahma-karma-samādhinā

The offering is Brahman, the oblation is Brahman, poured by Brahman into the fire of Brahman; Brahman alone is reached by one absorbed in action as Brahman.

Bhagavad Gita 15.14

अहं वैश्वानरो भूत्वा प्राणिनां देहमाश्रितः । प्राणापानसमायुक्तः पचाम्यन्नं चतुर्विधम् ॥

aham vaishvanaro bhutva praninam deham ashritah pranapana-samayuktah pacamy annam caturvidham

ahaṃ vaiśvānaro bhūtvā prāṇināṃ deham āśritaḥ prāṇāpāna-samāyuktaḥ pacāmy annaṃ caturvidham

Becoming the fire Vaishvanara dwelling in the bodies of living beings, joined with prana and apana, I digest the four kinds of food.

When it is recited: Before every meal, with a moment of stillness. Widely taught to children as the standard bhojan mantra.

Traditional significance: Eating becomes a yajna: the food is the offering, the digestive fire is the sacred fire, and the one who eats with this awareness sees Brahman in the whole act. The second verse recalls that the Lord himself, as Vaishvanara, digests the four kinds of food.

Questions

What are the four kinds of food?

Traditionally: food that is chewed, drunk, licked and swallowed (bhakshya, bhojya/peya, lehya, choshya) — that is, nourishment in all its forms.

Kayena Vacha — Prayer of Dedication Gayatri Mantra

Source: Bhagavad Gita 4.24 and 15.14. Regional versions may vary — this text follows the version most widely used in community worship.