The Most Confidential Knowledge

śrī-bhagavān uvāca idaṁ tu te guhya-tamaṁ pravakṣyāmy anasūyave jñānaṁ vijñāna-sahitaṁ yaj jñātvā mokṣyase ’śubhāt

The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear Arjuna, because you are never envious of Me, I shall impart to you this most confidential knowledge and realization, knowing which you shall be relieved of the miseries of material existence.

rāja-vidyā rāja-guhyaṁ pavitram idam uttamam pratyakṣāvagamaṁ dharmyaṁ su-sukhaṁ kartum avyayam

This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge, and because it gives direct perception of the self by realization, it is the perfection of religion. It is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed.

aśraddadhānāḥ puruṣā dharmasyāsya paran-tapa aprāpya māṁ nivartante mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani

Those who are not faithful in this devotional service cannot attain Me, O conqueror of enemies. Therefore they return to the path of birth and death in this material world.

mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ jagad avyakta-mūrtinā mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni na cāhaṁ teṣv avasthitaḥ

By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them.

na ca mat-sthāni bhūtāni paśya me yogam aiśvaram bhūta-bhṛn na ca bhūta-stho mamātmā bhūta-bhāvanaḥ

And yet everything that is created does not rest in Me. Behold My mystic opulence! Although I am the maintainer of all living entities and although I am everywhere, I am not a part of this cosmic manifestation, for My Self is the very source of creation.

yathākāśa-sthito nityaṁ vāyuḥ sarvatra-go mahān tathā sarvāṇi bhūtāni mat-sthānīty upadhāraya

Understand that as the mighty wind, blowing everywhere, rests always in the sky, all created beings rest in Me.

sarva-bhūtāni kaunteya prakṛtiṁ yānti māmikām kalpa-kṣaye punas tāni kalpādau visṛjāmy aham

O son of Kuntī, at the end of the millennium all material manifestations enter into My nature, and at the beginning of another millennium, by My potency, I create them again.

prakṛtiṁ svām avaṣṭabhya visṛjāmi punaḥ punaḥ bhūta-grāmam imaṁ kṛtsnam avaśaṁ prakṛter vaśāt

The whole cosmic order is under Me. Under My will it is automatically manifested again and again, and under My will it is annihilated at the end.

na ca māṁ tāni karmāṇi nibadhnanti dhanañ-jaya udāsīna-vad āsīnam asaktaṁ teṣu karmasu

O Dhanañjaya, all this work cannot bind Me. I am ever detached from all these material activities, seated as though neutral.

mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram hetunānena kaunteya jagad viparivartate

This material nature, which is one of My energies, is working under My direction, O son of Kuntī, producing all moving and nonmoving beings. Under its rule this manifestation is created and annihilated again and again.

avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam paraṁ bhāvam ajānanto mama bhūta-maheśvaram

Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature as the Supreme Lord of all that be.

moghāśā mogha-karmāṇo mogha-jñānā vicetasaḥ rākṣasīm āsurīṁ caiva prakṛtiṁ mohinīṁ śritāḥ

Those who are thus bewildered are attracted by demonic and atheistic views. In that deluded condition, their hopes for liberation, their fruitive activities, and their culture of knowledge are all defeated.

mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ bhajanty ananya-manaso jñātvā bhūtādim avyayam

O son of Pṛthā, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.

satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ yatantaś ca dṛḍha-vratāḥ namasyantaś ca māṁ bhaktyā nitya-yuktā upāsate

Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion.

jñāna-yajñena cāpy anye yajanto mām upāsate ekatvena pṛthaktvena bahudhā viśvato-mukham

Others, who engage in sacrifice by the cultivation of knowledge, worship the Supreme Lord as the one without a second, as diverse in many, and in the universal form.

ahaṁ kratur ahaṁ yajñaḥ svadhāham aham auṣadham mantro ’ham aham evājyam aham agnir ahaṁ hutam

But it is I who am the ritual, I the sacrifice, the offering to the ancestors, the healing herb, the transcendental chant. I am the butter and the fire and the offering.

pitāham asya jagato mātā dhātā pitāmahaḥ vedyaṁ pavitram oṁ-kāra ṛk sāma yajur eva ca

I am the father of this universe, the mother, the support and the grandsire. I am the object of knowledge, the purifier and the syllable oṁ. I am also the Ṛg, the Sāma and the Yajur Vedas.

gatir bhartā prabhuḥ sākṣī nivāsaḥ śaraṇaṁ suhṛt prabhavaḥ pralayaḥ sthānaṁ nidhānaṁ bījam avyayam

I am the goal, the sustainer, the master, the witness, the abode, the refuge and the most dear friend. I am the creation and the annihilation, the basis of everything, the resting place and the eternal seed.

tapāmy aham ahaṁ varṣaṁ nigṛhṇāmy utsṛjāmi ca amṛtaṁ caiva mṛtyuś ca sad asac cāham arjuna O Arjuna, I give heat, and I withhold and send forth the rain. I am immortality, and I am also death personified. Both spirit and matter are in Me.

trai-vidyā māṁ soma-pāḥ pūta-pāpā yajñair iṣṭvā svar-gatiṁ prārthayante te puṇyam āsādya surendra-lokam aśnanti divyān divi deva-bhogān

Those who study the Vedas and drink the soma juice, seeking the heavenly planets, worship Me indirectly. Purified of sinful reactions, they take birth on the pious, heavenly planet of Indra, where they enjoy godly delights.

te taṁ bhuktvā svarga-lokaṁ viśālaṁ kṣīṇe puṇye martya-lokaṁ viśanti evaṁ trayī-dharmam anuprapannā gatāgataṁ kāma-kāmā labhante

When they have thus enjoyed vast heavenly sense pleasure and the results of their pious activities are exhausted, they return to this mortal planet again. Thus those who seek sense enjoyment by adhering to the principles of the three Vedas achieve only repeated birth and death.

ananyāś cintayanto māṁ ye janāḥ paryupāsate teṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānāṁ yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham

But those who always worship Me with exclusive devotion, meditating on My transcendental form – to them I carry what they lack, and I preserve what they have.

ye ’py anya-devatā-bhaktā yajante śraddhayānvitāḥ te ’pi mām eva kaunteya yajanty avidhi-pūrvakam

Those who are devotees of other gods and who worship them with faith actually worship only Me, O son of Kuntī, but they do so in a wrong way.

ahaṁ hi sarva-yajñānāṁ bhoktā ca prabhur eva ca na tu mām abhijānanti tattvenātaś cyavanti te

I am the only enjoyer and master of all sacrifices. Therefore, those who do not recognize My true transcendental nature fall down.

yānti deva-vratā devān pitṝn yānti pitṛ-vratāḥ bhūtāni yānti bhūtejyā yānti mad-yājino ’pi mām

Those who worship the demigods will take birth among the demigods; those who worship the ancestors go to the ancestors; those who worship ghosts and spirits will take birth among such beings; and those who worship Me will live with Me.

patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam aśnāmi prayatātmanaḥ

If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water, I will accept it.

yat karoṣi yad aśnāsi yaj juhoṣi dadāsi yat yat tapasyasi kaunteya tat kuruṣva mad-arpaṇam

Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer or give away, and whatever austerities you perform – do that, O son of Kuntī, as an offering to Me.

śubhāśubha-phalair evaṁ mokṣyase karma-bandhanaiḥ sannyāsa-yoga-yuktātmā vimukto mām upaiṣyasi

In this way you will be freed from bondage to work and its auspicious and inauspicious results. With your mind fixed on Me in this principle of renunciation, you will be liberated and come to Me.

samo ’haṁ sarva-bhūteṣu na me dveṣyo ’sti na priyaḥ ye bhajanti tu māṁ bhaktyā mayi te teṣu cāpy aham

I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all. But whoever renders service unto Me in devotion is a friend, is in Me, and I am also a friend to him.

api cet su-durācāro bhajate mām ananya-bhāk sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ samyag vyavasito hi saḥ

Even if one commits the most abominable action, if he is engaged in devotional service he is to be considered saintly because he is properly situated in his determination.

kṣipraṁ bhavati dharmātmā śaśvac-chāntiṁ nigacchati kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati

He quickly becomes righteous and attains lasting peace. O son of Kuntī, declare it boldly that My devotee never perishes.

māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya ye ’pi syuḥ pāpa-yonayaḥ striyo vaiśyās tathā śūdrās te ’pi yānti parāṁ gatim

O son of Pṛthā, those who take shelter in Me, though they be of lower birth – women, vaiśyas [merchants] and śūdras [workers] – can attain the supreme destination.

kiṁ punar brāhmaṇāḥ puṇyā bhaktā rājarṣayas tathā anityam asukhaṁ lokam imaṁ prāpya bhajasva mām

How much more this is so of the righteous brāhmaṇas, the devotees and the saintly kings. Therefore, having come to this temporary, miserable world, engage in loving service unto Me.

man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru mām evaiṣyasi yuktvaivam ātmānaṁ mat-parāyaṇaḥ

Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, become My devotee, offer obeisances to Me and worship Me. Being completely absorbed in Me, surely you will come to Me.