Shloka
अपरे नियताहाराः प्राणान्प्राणेषु जुह्वति |
सर्वेऽप्येते यज्ञविदो यज्ञक्षपितकल्मषाः ||४-३०||Transliteration
apare niyatāhārāḥ prāṇānprāṇeṣu juhvati .
sarve.apyete yajñavido yajñakṣapitakalmaṣāḥ ||4-30||Translations
Dr.S.Sankaranarayan
4.29. - 4.30. [Some sages] offer the prana into the apana; like-wise others offer the apana into the prana. Having controlled both the courses of the prana and apana, the same sages, with their desire fulfilled by the above activities, and with their food restricted, offer the pranas into pranas. All these persons know what sacrifices are and have their sins destroyed by sacrifices.
Shri Purohit Swami
4.30 Others, controlling their diet, sacrifice their worldly life to the spiritual fire. All understand the principal of sacrifice, and by its means their sins are washed away.
Sri Abhinav Gupta
4.29-30 Apane etc. Apare etc. Prana (1st) : the arising one i.e., the nada which has, as its end, that one where the first syllabic instance of Pranava dissolves. Into the apana : into what sets down, and is of the nature of entering inot the Svananda. They offer : Thus is the svadhyaya of the nature of the firmness of the body is described.
What sets down, some [sages] established on what rises up, so that the pupil’s self (mind) may learn the processes of sending out and drawing in [the vital airs]. By [thus] uniting these two, they bestow emanciaption on their own Self and on the Self of the pupils; and they, on that account, remain with their mind firmly established on the svadhyaya-sacrifice full of Svananda (i.e., Nijananda) and Parananda - a svadhyaya of the nature of examining, enlightening, entering and uniting [the prana nad apana] in their own Self and in the Self of the pupils. That is why the process of filling [the vital air] in has been first mentioned; and the process of emptying the same out at the last. Further, the process of the inward turning of the act of enjoying objects, is suggested by the first arter of the verse (29), and by the second arter the act of coming out for enjoying the objects through the process of having the supreme state-of-bodylessness. Therefore, the performers of the sacrifice of wisdom are not different from the performers of the svadhyaya-sacrifice.
The same sages have the desries of their own and of their pupils fulfilled on account of their thorough practice of the said activity; control both the said paths, restrict their food viz., enjoyment of objects; and offer pranas into the pranas, i.e, they offer, by means of the ietude at the stage of stopping [the vital air], the rising of all the mental modifications into the splendour of rising waves of Parananda and Nirananda. All these persons know the truth (or nature) of hte sacrifices, starting from the material-sacrifice upto the wisdom-sacrifice; only by that means they have eradicated their sins; that is to say, they have uprooted the mighty delusion with its roots, made of mental impressions of duality.
Sri Ramanuja
4.29 - 4.30 Other Karma Yogins are devoted to the practice of breath control. They are of three types because of the differences in inhalation, exhalation and stoppage of breath. Puraka (inhalation) is that in which the inward breath is sacrificed in the outward breath. Recaka (exhalation) is that when the outward breath is sacrificed in the inward breath. Kumbhaka (stoppage of breath) is that when the flow of both inward and outward breaths is stopped. The clause, restricting of diet, applies to all the three types of persons devoted to the control of breath.
All these, according to their liking and capacity are engaged in performing the various kinds of Karma Yoga beginning from the sacrifice of material objects to the control of breath. They know and are devoted to sacrifices comprising obligatory and occasional rituals preceded by the performance of ’the great sacrifices’ (Panca-Maha-Yajna), as alluded to in ‘Creating men along with the sacrifices’ (3.10). Because of this only, their sins are done away with. Those who are engaged in Karma Yoga by sustaining their bodies only by the ambrosia of sacrificial remains will go to the eternal Brahman. ‘Go to Brahman’ here means realise the self which has Brahman for Its soul.
Sri Shankaracharya
4.30 Besides, apare, others; niyata-aharah, having their food regulated; juhvati, offer; pranan, the vital forces, the different kinds of vital forces; pranesu, in the vital forces themselves. Whichever function of the vital forces is brought under control, in it they offer the other functions. These latter become, as it were, merged in the former. Sarve api, all; of ete, them; yajna-vidah, are knowers of the sacrifice; and yajna-ksapita-kamasah, have their sins destroyed by the sacrifices as mentioned above. After accomplishing the above-mentioned sacrifices,
Swami Adidevananda
4.30 All these know the meaning of sacrifices and through sacrifices are their sins eradicated. Those who subsist on the ambrosial food, the remnants of sacrifices, go to eternal Brahman.
Swami Gambirananda
4.30 Others, having their food regulated, offer the vital forces in the vital forces. All of them are knowers of the sacrifice and have their sins destroyed by sacrifice.
Swami Sivananda
4.30 Others who regulate their diet offer life-breaths in life-breaths. All these are knowers of sacrifice, whose sins are destroyed by sacrifice.
Commentaries
Swami Sivananda
4.30 अपरे other persons? नियताहाराः of regulated food? प्राणान् lifreaths? प्राणेषु in the lifreaths? जुह्वति sacrifice? सर्वे all? अपि also? एते these? यज्ञविदः knowers of sacrifice? यज्ञक्षपितकल्मषाः whose sins are destroyed by sacrifice.Commentary Niyataharah means persons of regulated or limited food. They take moderate food. By rigid dieting they control the passions and appetites by weakening the functions of the organs of action.Yogis pour the lifreaths as sacrifice in the controlled lifreath. The former becomes merged in the latter.Performance of the above sacrifice leads to the purification of the mind and destruction of sins.