श्रीभगवानुवाच |
śrībhagavānuvāca |
The Blessed Lord says: O Partha, hear how with mind attached to Me, practicing yoga and taking refuge in Me, you shall know Me completely and without doubt.
श्रीभगवानुवाच |
śrībhagavānuvāca |
I shall declare to you in full this knowledge along with realization, knowing which nothing further remains to be known in this world.
श्रीभगवानुवाच |
śrībhagavānuvāca |
Among thousands of human beings, scarcely one strives for spiritual perfection; and among those who strive and succeed, scarcely one knows Me in truth.
श्रीभगवानुवाच |
śrībhagavānuvāca |
Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intellect, and ego — these are the eightfold division of My lower nature (Prakriti).
श्रीभगवानुवाच |
śrībhagavānuvāca |
This is My lower nature. But know My other, higher nature — the life-principle (jiva-bhuta), O mighty-armed one, by which this entire universe is sustained.
श्रीभगवानुवाच |
śrībhagavānuvāca |
Know that all beings have their origin in these two natures of Mine. I am the source of the entire universe and also its dissolution.
श्रीभगवानुवाच |
śrībhagavānuvāca |
There is nothing higher than Me, O Dhananjaya. All this is strung on Me like clusters of gems on a thread.
श्रीभगवानुवाच |
śrībhagavānuvāca |
I am the taste in water, O son of Kunti, the light in the moon and sun, the syllable Om in all the Vedas, sound in ether, and ability in human beings.
श्रीभगवानुवाच |
śrībhagavānuvāca |
I am the pure fragrance in the earth, the brilliance in fire, the life in all beings, and the austerity in ascetics.
श्रीभगवानुवाच |
śrībhagavānuvāca |
Know Me to be the eternal seed of all beings, O Partha. I am the intelligence of the intelligent and the brilliance of the brilliant.
श्रीभगवानुवाच |
śrībhagavānuvāca |
I am the strength of the strong, devoid of desire and attachment. I am desire in beings that is not contrary to dharma, O best of the Bharatas.
श्रीभगवानुवाच |
śrībhagavānuvāca |
Know that all states of being — whether sattvic (pure), rajasic (passionate), or tamasic (dull) — arise from Me alone. Yet I am not in them; they are in Me.
श्रीभगवानुवाच |
śrībhagavānuvāca |
Deluded by these three modes of material nature (gunas), the whole world does not recognize Me, who am above the gunas and imperishable.
श्रीभगवानुवाच |
śrībhagavānuvāca |
This divine maya of Mine, consisting of the three gunas, is very difficult to overcome. But those who surrender unto Me alone cross beyond this maya.
श्रीभगवानुवाच |
śrībhagavānuvāca |
The evil-doers, the deluded, the lowest of humanity, those whose knowledge is stolen by maya, and those who embrace a demonic nature — these four types do not surrender to Me.
श्रीभगवानुवाच |
śrībhagavānuvāca |
Four types of virtuous people worship Me, O Arjuna: the distressed, the seeker of knowledge, the seeker of wealth, and the wise, O best of the Bharatas.
श्रीभगवानुवाच |
śrībhagavānuvāca |
Among these, the wise one who is ever united with Me through single-pointed devotion is the best. For I am exceedingly dear to the wise, and the wise one is dear to Me.
श्रीभगवानुवाच |
śrībhagavānuvāca |
All these devotees are noble, but the wise one I regard as My very Self. For, with mind steadfast, the wise one is established in Me alone as the supreme goal.
श्रीभगवानुवाच |
śrībhagavānuvāca |
At the end of many births, the wise one surrenders to Me, realizing that Vasudeva (Krishna) is everything. Such a great soul is very rare.
श्रीभगवानुवाच |
śrībhagavānuvāca |
Those whose wisdom is carried away by various desires worship other deities, following various rules and rituals, driven by their own nature.
श्रीभगवानुवाच |
śrībhagavānuvāca |
Whatever form a devotee wishes to worship with faith, I make that faith of his firm and unwavering.
श्रीभगवानुवाच |
śrībhagavānuvāca |
Endowed with that faith, the devotee engages in the worship of that particular form and obtains the desired objects — which are actually granted by Me alone.
श्रीभगवानुवाच |
śrībhagavānuvāca |
But the fruit gained by those of small understanding is finite. The worshippers of the gods go to the gods; My devotees come to Me.
श्रीभगवानुवाच |
śrībhagavānuvāca |
The unintelligent think of Me — the unmanifest — as having come into manifestation, not knowing My supreme nature, which is imperishable and unsurpassed.
श्रीभगवानुवाच |
śrībhagavānuvāca |
I am not revealed to everyone, being veiled by My yoga-maya. This deluded world does not know Me, the unborn and imperishable.
श्रीभगवानुवाच |
śrībhagavānuvāca |
I know all beings of the past, the present, and the future, O Arjuna, but no one knows Me.
श्रीभगवानुवाच |
śrībhagavānuvāca |
By the delusion of the pairs of opposites arising from desire and aversion, O Bharata, all beings fall into total bewilderment at the time of birth, O conqueror of foes.
श्रीभगवानुवाच |
śrībhagavānuvāca |
But those whose sins have come to an end, who are of virtuous deeds, who are freed from the delusion of pairs of opposites — they worship Me with firm resolve.
श्रीभगवानुवाच |
śrībhagavānuvāca |
Those who strive for liberation from old age and death, taking refuge in Me, come to know Brahman in its entirety, the Self, and the whole realm of action.
श्रीभगवानुवाच |
śrībhagavānuvāca |
Those who know Me as governing the material realm (adhibhuta), the divine realm (adhidaiva), and the realm of sacrifice (adhiyajna) — they, with minds united in Me, know Me even at the time of death.