The Path of the Most Confidential Wisdom
In Chapter 7, Śrī Kṛṣṇa disclosed to Arjuna transcendental knowledge and the means of its immediate realization. There was a break in this discussion owing to Arjuna’s request for clarification of the special terms employed by Kṛṣṇa at the end of Chapter 7. The answers to these questions formed Chapter 8. Now, in Chapter 9, Kṛṣṇa again returns to the topic of knowledge ( jñāna) and its realization (vijñāna).
This chapter consists of thirty-four verses, all spoken by Kṛṣṇa. Bhagavān declares that the knowledge regarding the Supreme Self and transcendence, which He is about to reveal to Arjuna, is most confidential and pure. Those who are closed to its consideration remain in the cycle of birth and death. After thus specifying the importance of jñāna and vijñāna, by assimilation of which one becomes liberated (1–3), Kṛṣṇa begins to reveal the truth of His own being. He pervades everything, all beings reside in Him, and yet He is not situated in them, being beyond everything. He is the cause of creation and destruction, and yet He is not bound by these acts (4–9).
Material nature, prakṛti, functions under His supervision (10). People who are ignorant of His true nature when He appears in a human form remain under the influence of material nature (11–12). On the other hand, those of divine nature engage in devotion to God (13–14). In the next four verses (16–19), Kṛṣṇa describes His majesty. He explains that those who worship Him through Vedic yajñas, reach heaven after death but have to return to earth after their piety is exhausted (20–21). In contrast to this, Kṛṣṇa affirms that He personally takes care of His devotees (22).
Even those who worship other devas, worship Him alone, because these devas are His manifestations for the management of the universe. But such worshipers do not attain God (25). Kṛṣṇa speaks about the process and greatness of bhakti-yoga (26–33). In the last verse, He requests Arjuna to become His devotee (34). This is His supreme instruction.
All Verses
- Verse 1Śrī Bhagavān said: I shall disclose to you, who are devoid of envy, this most secret knowledge [of devotion] along with the means of its immediate realization, knowing which you will be freed from the inauspiciousness of material existence.
- Verse 2This knowledge [of devotion] is the paramount wisdom, the king of secrets, supremely purifying, cognized through immediate intuition, intrinsically of the nature of dharma, easily undertaken, and imperishable.
- Verse 3People lacking faith in this supreme wisdom path, O scorcher of enemies, being unable to attain Me, return to the path of cyclic existence rooted in death.
- Verse 4This entire cosmos is pervaded by Me in My unmanifest form. All beings are in Me, but I am not present in them.
- Verse 5And yet all beings are not in Me. Behold My yogic opulence. Though My intrinsic nature is such that I am the origin and sustainer of all beings, I am not in them.
- Verse 6Just as the vast wind, blowing everywhere abides always in space, similarly know that all beings abide in Me.
- Verse 7O son of Kuntī, at the time of dissolution, all beings are merged in My prakṛti (material nature), and at the beginning of a new creative cycle, I send them forth again.
- Verse 8Acting through the agency of My material nature, I repeatedly send forth, in accordance with their own previously acquired natures, this entire multitude of beings, who are helplessly subjected to their past store of karma.
- Verse 9O Arjuna, those actions [of creation, sustenance, and dissolution] do not bind Me, who am unattached to them and situated as an uninvolved, impartial witness.
- Verse 10It is due to My supervision that material nature is enabled to bring forth the cosmos consisting of moving and non-moving beings. Owing to this, O son of Kuntī, the cosmos is unfolded and enfolded again and again.
- Verse 11Being unacquainted with My supreme existence as the almighty ruler of all beings, the bewildered deride Me as having accepted a [perishable and limited] human body.
- Verse 12Those whose minds are thus bewildered, being filled with vain hopes, futile actions, and pointless knowledge, have embraced a malignant, materialistic, and delusive nature.
- Verse 13But the highly self-realized, O Pārtha, who have embraced the divine nature and whose minds are fixed exclusively on Me, worship Me, knowing Me as the origin of all beings and immutable.
- Verse 14Such devotees of firm vows, who are always engaged in glorifying Me, who are perseverant in their practice and who bow down to Me — they, being ever united with Me [through meditative absorption], worship Me with devotion.
- Verse 15And others, worshiping through the yajña of knowledge, honor Me, either as identical with them, or as separate, or pluralistically, as He whose countenance is the universe.
- Verse 16I am the Vedic and the smārta sacrifice*. I am the offering to the forefathers, the food grains [offered in the fire sacrifice], and the mantra. I alone am the ghee (clarified butter), the sacrificial fire, and the oblations offered in the fire.
- Verse 17I am the father, the mother, the sustainer, and the grandsire of this cosmos. I am the knowable, the purifier, the sacred syllable Oṁ, and also the Ṛk, Sāma, and Yajur [Vedas].
- Verse 18I am the goal, the supporter, the controller, the witness, the abode, the refuge, the well-wishing friend, the creation, the dissolution, the sustenance, the repository, and the eternal seed.
- Verse 19I radiate heat, and I restrain and send forth the rain. I am immortality and indeed death, as well as the cause and the effect, O Arjuna.
- Verse 20The performers of the ritualistic actions prescribed in the three Vedas [Ṛk, Sāma, and Yajur], worshiping Me through the performance of sacrifices [offered to Indra* and other devas], drinking soma juice as the remnant of sacrifice, and becoming thus purified from sin, pray to attain the heavenly realm. Having reached the meritorious abode of Lord Indra, they enjoy the celestial pleasures of the devas in heaven.
- Verse 21Having enjoyed the extensive pleasures of the heavenly sphere and having exhausted their stock of piety, they return to the mortal world. Thus, those who are devoted to the fruitive rituals prescribed in the three Vedas and who seek material pleasures come and go repeatedly.
- Verse 22Those people who are exclusively devoted to Me and who worship Me, being constantly absorbed in meditation on Me — for them, who are ever united with Me, I bear the responsibility to furnish their needs and to protect their possessions.
- Verse 23O son of Kuntī, even those devotees of other devas who worship them, being endowed with faith, actually worship Me alone, although in an improper manner.
- Verse 24Indeed, I alone am the one for whom all yajñas are intended and the one who bestows their results. But they do not know Me in truth and, therefore, they fall down.
- Verse 25The worshipers of the devas go to the devas, the worshipers of the forefathers go to the forefathers, the worshipers of spirit entities go to the spirits, while My worshipers attain even to Me.
- Verse 26If one endowed with devotion offers Me a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or water, I accept the offering of such a pure-hearted person presented with devotion.
- Verse 27Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer as yajña, whatever you donate in charity, and whatever austerities you perform, O son of Kuntī, do all of that as an offering unto Me.
- Verse 28In this way, you will be freed from the bondage of action and its auspicious and inauspicious results. With your mind absorbed in the yoga of detachment from the results of action, and being thus liberated, you will attain Me.
- Verse 29I am equal to all beings. There is no one detestable or dear to Me, but those who worship Me with devotion are in Me and I am also in them.
- Verse 30If a person, who although exceedingly ill-behaved, is imbued with exclusive devotion and worships Me, he should be regarded as indeed virtuous, for he is rightly resolved.
- Verse 31Very quickly he becomes righteous-minded and attains eternal peace. O son of Kuntī, proclaim it boldly that My devotee never perishes.
- Verse 32O Pārtha, even those of sinful birth*, women, merchants and farmers (vaiśyas), and also the laborer class (śūdras), by taking refuge in Me certainly attain the supreme destination.
- Verse 33Then what doubt can there be that pious brāhmaṇas and royal sages who are devoted to Me [also attain the supreme destination]? Therefore, having acquired this impermanent body devoid of beatitude, you should worship Me.
- Verse 34Fix your mind on Me, become My devotee, worship Me, and offer obeisances to Me. Uniting the self with Me in this manner and being intently devoted to Me, you will attain Me alone.