CHAPTER 9

Verse 1 

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

Çré Bhagavän said: O Arjuna, because you are non-envious, I shall impart to you this most confidential knowledge, which has the characteristics of pure devotion and which bestows direct realization of Me. Such knowledge will liberate you from the miseries of the material world. 

Verse 2

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

This is the king of all knowledge and the monarch of all confidential topics. It is extremely pure and can be directly realized. This transcendental wisdom is consonant with the principles of dharma. It is comprehended without difficulty and is eternal.

Verse 3

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

O Parantapa, those who have no faith in this dharma of devotional service to Me do not attain Me. They wander on the path of material existence, which is full of death.

Verse 4

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

This whole universe is pervaded by My form, which is beyond material sense perception. All living beings are situated in Me, but I am not in them.

Verse 5

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

All that is created, also, does not actually exist in Me. Behold My supernatural mystic opulence! Although I support and maintain the entire cosmic existence, I Myself am not situated within it.

Verse 6

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

Just as the all-pervasive and limitless wind rests always in the sky, in the same way, all of the cosmic elements are situated in Me, but I am not in them. 

Verse 7

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

O son of Kunté, when the universal devastation occurs, all of the universal elements merge into My material nature (prakåti), and at the beginning of the next day of Lord Brahmä, by My potency, I again create them all with their distinct characteristics.

Verse 8

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

Taking the assistance of My material nature, which consists of the three binding qualities, I repeatedly create the host of living beings who are bound by their previous karma in accordance with their individual natures.

Verse 9 

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

O Dhanaïjaya, since I remain detached, like a neutral observer, from My actions such as creation, these actions cannot bind Me.

Verse 10

mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ
sūyate sa-carācaram
hetunānena kaunteya
jagad viparivartate

 O son of Kunté, under My direction, My external potency gives birth to the cosmic manifestation with its moving and non-moving living beings. For this reason, the material world is created again and again.

Verse 11

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

Fools whose intelligence is bewildered by illusion disrespect Me when I appear in a human-like form, being unaware of My supreme nature as the Lord of all beings.

Verse 12

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

The hopes of such bewildered persons for liberation, material gain and the culture of knowledge all go in vain. Thus, with their minds distracted, they adopt the nature of the deluded, ignorant and demoniac.

Verse 13

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

O Pärtha, the great souls, however, having taken shelter of My divine nature, know Me to be the original and imperishable cause of all beings. They constantly engage in worship of Me with their minds fixed exclusively on Me.

Verse 14

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

Constantly chanting the glories of My names, qualities, form and pastimes, endeavouring with determined vows, and offering obeisances with devotion, they engage in My worship, remaining always connected with Me 

Verse 15 

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

There are others who engage in sacrifice (yajïa) by cultivating knowledge. Some worship Me with a conception of oneness, some with a conception of duality, some through the forms of various demigods, and some worship Me as the universal form.

Verse 16-19

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

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

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

tapāmy aham ahaṁ varṣaṁ
nigṛhṇāmy utsṛjāmi ca
amṛtaṁ caiva mṛtyuś ca
sad asac cāham arjuna

O Arjuna, I am the Vedic rituals such as agniñöoma, I am the smärtayajïas such as vaiçva-deva, and I am çräddha, the oblation of grain made to the forefathers. I am the potency of the healing herb, the mantra, the ghee, the fire and I am homa, or yajïa. I am the mother, the father, the maintainer and the grandsire of the universe. I am the object of knowledge and the purifier. I am the syllable oà and I am also the Åg, Yajur and Säma Vedas. I am destiny in the form of the fruit of karma, the sustainer, the Lord, the witness, the abode, the refuge and the dearest well-wishing friend. I am the creation, the dissolution‚ the basis, the foundation, the resting place and the eternal cause, or the inexhaustible seed. I give heat and I withhold and release the rain. I am immortality and I am death personified. I am the cause of everything and also the effect, and I am both spirit and matter.

Verse 20

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