Self-Knowledge and Enlightenment

The Blessed Lord said, "O Arjuna, hear how you shall, without doubt, know Me fully, with your mind intent on Me, practicing Yoga and taking refuge in Me."

He who wishes to attain some result or reward performs the ritual known as Agnihotra or does charity, sinks wells, builds hospitals, resting places, etc., with Sakama Bhavana (with an inner profit motive) and attains…

I will declare to you in full this knowledge combined with realization, after knowing which nothing else remains to be known here.

Jnanam is Paroksha Jnanam or indirect knowledge of Brahman obtained through the study of the Upanishads. Vijnanam is Visesha Jnanam, i.e., Aparoksha Jnanam obtained through direct Selfrealisation (intuitional wisdom).In…

Among thousands of men, one may perchance strive for perfection; even among those successful strivers, only one may perchance know Me in essence.

Mark how difficult it is to attain to the knowledge of the Self or to how Brahman in essence. Siddhanam literally means those who have attained to perfection (the perfected ones) but here it means only those who strive…

Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intellect, and egoism—thus is My Nature divided eightfold.

This eightfold Nature constitutes the inferior Nature or Apara Prakriti. The five gross elements are formed out of the Tanmatras or rootelements through the process of Pancikarana or fivefold mixing. Tanmatras are the…

O mighty-armed Arjuna, this is the inferior Prakriti; know it as distinct from My higher Prakriti, the very life-element, by which this world is upheld.

The eightfold Nature described in the previous verse is the inferior Nature. It constitutes the Kshetra or the field or matter. It is impure. It generates evil and causes bondage. But the superior Nature is pure. It is…

Know that these two are the womb of all beings; thus, I am the source and dissolution of the whole universe.

These two Natures, the inferior and the superior, are the womb of all beings. As I am the source of these two Prakritis or Natures also, I am the cause of this universe. The whole universe originates from Me and…

There is nothing higher than Me, O Arjuna. All this is strung on Me, like clusters of gems on a string.

There is no other cause of the universe but Me. I alone am the the cause of the universe. This illustration of gems and thread illustrates only the idea that all beings and the whole world are threaded on the Lord. The…

I am the flavor in water, O Arjuna; I am the light in the moon and the sun; I am the syllable Om in all the Vedas, sound in the ether and virility in men.

In Me all beings and the whole world are woven as a cloth in the warp. In Me as sapidity the water is woven in Me as light, the sun and the moon are woven in Me as the sacred syllable Om all the Vedas are woven in Me as…

I am the sweet fragrance in the earth and the brilliance in the fire, the life in all beings, and I am the austerity of ascetics.

In Me as odour in the earth woven in Me as brilliance is the fire woven in Me as life all beings are woven in Me as austerity all ascetics are woven. I am the support (Adhishthanam or Asraya) for everything.I am the…

Know Me, O Arjuna, as the eternal seed of all beings; I am the intelligence of the intelligent, and the splendour of the splendid objects.

Seed means cause.Tejas also means heroism or bravery.Had Arjuna asked, Who is the seed for Thee, the Lord would have replied, There is no seed for Me. There is no cause for Me. I am the source of everything. I am the…

Of the strong, I am the strength devoid of desire and attachment, and in all beings, I am the desire in accordance with Dharma, O Arjuna.

Kama Desire for those objects that come in contact with the senses.Raga attachment for those objects that come in contact with the senses.I am that strength which is necessary for the bare sustenance of the body. I am…

Whatever beings (and objects) that are pure, active, and inert, know that they proceed from Me. They are in Me, yet I am not in them.

This is a world of the three Gunas, viz., Sattva (purity), Rajas (passion) and Tamas (inertia). All sentient and insentient objects are the aggregate of these three alities of Nature. One quality predominates in them and…

Deluded by these Natures, composed of the three qualities of Nature, all this world does not know Me as distinct from them and immutable.

Persons of this world are deluded by the three alities of Nature or Maya. Affection, attachment and infatuated love are all modifications of these alities. On account of delusion created by these three alities they are…

Verily, this divine illusion of Mine, composed of the three qualities, is difficult to cross over; those who take refuge in Me alone, can cross over this illusion.

Maya is the Upadhi or the causal body (Karana Sarira) of Isvara. It is the material cause of this universe. It is inherent in the Lord. It is constituted of the three alities, viz., Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. Those who…

The evil-doers and the deluded, who are the lowest of men, do not seek Me; those whose knowledge is destroyed by illusion follow the ways of demons.

These three kinds of people have no discrimination between right and wrong, the Real and the unreal. They commit murder, robbery, theft and other kinds of atrocious actions. They speak untruth and injure others in a…

Four kinds of virtuous men worship Me, O Arjuna, and they are the distressed, the seekers of knowledge, the seekers of wealth, and the wise, O Lord of the Bharatas.

The distressed is he who is suffering from a chronic and incurable disease, he whose life is in jeopardy on account of earthake, volcanic eruption, thunder, attack by a dacoit or enemy or tiger, etc. When Draupadi and…

Of them, the wise who are ever steadfast and devoted to the One, excel; for I am exceedingly dear to the wise, and they are dear to Me.

Ekabhaktih means unswerving, singleminded devotion to the Supreme Being.The JnaniBhakta is beyond all cults or creeds or formal religion or rules of society. As the wise man is constantly harmonised and as he is devoted…

Indeed, all these are noble; however, I consider the wise man as My very Self; for, he is steadfast in mind and established in Me alone as the supreme goal.

Are not the other three kinds of devotees dear to the Lord They are. They are all noble souls. But the wise man is exceedingly dear because he has a steady mind he has fixed his mind on Brahman. He does not want any…

At the end of many births, the wise man comes to Me, realizing that all this is Vaasudeva (the innermost Self); such a great soul (Mahatma) is very hard to find.

Vaasudeva is a name of Lord Krishna as He is the son of Vasudeva. He is the allpervading Brahman.The aspirant gradually evolves through Yogic practices, selfless service, devotion and constant meditation in many births…

Those whose wisdom has been taken away by this or that desire, go to other gods, following this or that rite, led by their own nature.

Those who desire wealth, children, the (small) Siddhis, etc., are deprived of discrimination. They devote themselves to other minor gods such as Indra, Mitra, Varuna, etc., impelled or driven by their own nature or…

Whatever form any devotee desires to worship with faith, I make that same faith of his firm and unflinching.

Tanu or body is used here in the sense of a Devata (god).The Lord, the indweller of all beings, makes the faith of that devotee who worships the lesser divinities, which is born of the Samskaras of his previous birth,…

Endowed with that faith, he engages in the worship of that form and obtains his desired outcome, which is ordained by Me alone.

The last two words Hi and Tan are taken as one word, Hitan meaning benefits. This is another interpretation. The devotee who worships the lesser gods attains the objects of his desire (minor psychic powers, etc.). Those…

Verily, the reward (fruit) that accrues to those men of small intelligence is finite. The worshippers of the gods go to them, whereas My devotees come to Me.

The exertion in the two kinds is the same and yet people do not attempt to worship the Supreme Being in order to attain the maximum benefits or the infinite reward (liberation or Moksha). The reward obtained by men of…

The foolish think of Me, the Unmanifest, as having manifestation, not knowing My higher, immutable, and most excellent nature.

The ignorant take Lord Krishna as a common mortal. They think that He has taken a body like ordinary human beings from the unmanifested state on account of the force of Karma of the previous birth. They have no knowledge…

I am not manifest to all, veiled as I am by the Yoga-Maya. This deluded world does not know Me, who am unborn and imperishable.

I am not manifest to all the people, but I am certainly manifest to the chosen few who are My devotees, who have taken sole refuge in Me alone. I am not visible to those who are deluded by the three Gunas and the pairs…

I know, O Arjuna, the beings of the past, the present, and the future; however, no one knows Me.

Persons who are deluded by the three alities of Nature do not know the Lord. As they lack in the knowledge of His real nature, they do not adore Hi. But the Lord knows through His omniscience the beings of the past, the…

O Bharata, all beings are subject to delusion at birth due to the delusion of the pairs of opposites arising from desire and aversion, O Parantapa.

Where there is pleasure there is Raga or attachment where there is pain there is Dvesha or aversion. There is the instinct in man to preserve his body. Man wishes to attain those objects which help the preservation of…

But those men of virtuous deeds, whose sins have come to an end and who are freed from the delusion of the pairs of opposites, worship Me steadfastly, with their vows.

By the performance of good deeds the heart is slowly purified Sattva increases Rajas and Tamas are gradually thinned out. The mind becomes serene and calm. The little selfarrogating personality slowly dies. You grow in…

Those who strive for liberation from old age and death, taking refuge in Me, realize in full that Brahman, the whole knowledge of the Self, and all action.

They attain to the full knowledge of the Self or perfect knowledge of Brahman. They attain to the Bhuma or the Highest or the Unconditioned. All their doubts are totally destroyed. They fully realise now, All is…

Those who know Me with the Adhibhuta (pertaining to the elements), Adhidaiva (pertaining to the gods), and the Adhiyajna (pertaining to the sacrifice) know Me even at the time of death, remaining steadfast in mind.

They who are steadfast in mind, who have taken refuge in Me, who know Me as the knowledge of elements in the physical plane, as the knowledge of the gods in the celestial or mental plane, as the knowledge of the…