Yoga through the King of Sciences

The Blessed Lord said, "I shall now declare to thee, who does not cavil, the greatest secret—the knowledge combined with experience (Self-realisation). Having known this, thou shalt be free from evil."

Idam (this) alludes to knowledge of the Self.Jnana Theoretical knowledge of Brahman through the study of the Upanishads, also known as Paroksha Brahma Jnana.Vijnana Direct intuitive perception of Brahman or…

This is the royal science, the royal secret, the supreme purifier, realizable by direct intuitive knowledge, according to righteousness, very easy to perform and imperishable.

In this verse Lord Krishna eulogies the knowledge of Brahman very highly in order to create a great interest in the spiritual aspirants for attaining It quickly.There is neither blind faith nor faithmongering in this…

Those who have no faith in this Dharma, O Parantapa, return to the path of this world without attaining Me.

Arjuna asks, O Lord, why do people not attempt to attain this knowledge of the Self when it can be easily attained, when it is the highest of all things, and when it gives the greatest benefits All should certainly…

All of this world is pervaded by Me in My unmanifest aspect; all beings exist within Me, but I do not dwell within them.

Avyaktamurti is Para Brahman or the Supreme Unmanifested Being invisible to the senses but cognisable through intuition. All beings from Brahma, the Creator, down to the blade of grass or an ant, dwell in the…

Nor do beings exist in Me (in reality); behold, My divine Yoga, which supports all beings, but does not dwell in them, is My Self, the efficient cause of beings.

As the mighty wind, moving everywhere, always rests in the ether, so too, know that all beings rest in Me.

The Lord gives a beautiful illustration or simile in this verse to explain what He has said in the previous two verses. Just as the wind ever rests in the ether (space) without any contact or attachment, so also all…

All beings, O Arjuna, go into My Nature at the end of a Kalpa; I send them forth again at the beginning of the next Kalpa.

Prakriti The inferior one or the lower Nature composed of the three alities, Sattva, Rajas and Tamas.Just as the grass grows from the earth and dries up in the earth, just as the ripples and waves rise from the ocean and…

Animating My Nature, I again and again send forth all this multitude of beings, helpless under the force of Nature.

The Lord leans on, presses or embraces Nature. He invigorates and fertilises Nature which had gone to sleep at the end of the Mahakalpa or universal dissolution and projects again and again this whole multitude of…

These acts do not bind Me, O Arjuna, sitting as one indifferent, unattached to those acts.

These acts Creation and dissolution of the universe. I am the only cause of dissolution of the universe. I am the only cause of Nature and its activities and yet, being indifferent to everythin, I do nothing. Nor do I…

Under Me, as supervisor, Nature produces the moving and the unmoving; therefore, O Arjuna, the world revolves.

The Lord presides only as a witness. Nature does everything. By reason of His proximity or presence, Nature sends forth the moving and the unmoving. The prime cause of this creation is Nature. For the movable and the…

Fools disregard Me, clad in human form, not knowing My higher Being as the great Lord of all beings.

Fools only find fault with My pure nature, just as a man with jaundiced eyes finds all objects to be yellow. The man who is suffering from fever finds even milk as bitter as the essence of neem. Those who wish to behold…

They are possessed of the deceitful nature of demons and undivine beings, filled with vain hopes, vain actions, and vain knowledge that is senseless.

They entertain vain hopes, for there can be no hope in perishable forms. It is vain hope because they run after transient objects and miss the Eternal. It is vain action, because it is not performed by them as sacrifice…

But the great souls, O Arjuna, partaking of My divine nature, worship Me with a single-minded devotion, knowing Me as the imperishable source of all beings.

Jnatva Bhutadimavyayam There is another interpretation -- knowing Me to be the source or the origin of beings and imperishable.Daivim Prakritim Divine or Sattvic nature. Those who are endowed with divine nature, and who…

Always glorifying Me, striving, firm in their vows, prostrating themselves before Me, they worship Me with steadfast devotion.

These great souls sing My glory. They do Japa (repetition) of Pranava (Om). They study and recite the Upanishads. They hear the Srutis (the Vedas) from their spiritual preceptor, reflect and meditate on the attributeless…

Others also, sacrificing with the wisdom-sacrifice, worship Me, the All-Faced, as one, distinct, and manifold.

Others too sacrificing by the wisdomsacrifice, i.e., seeing the Self in all, adore Me the One and the manifold, present everywhere. They regard all the forms they see as the forms of God, all sounds they hear as the…

I am Kratu; I am Yajna; I am the offering to the manes; I am the medicinal herbs and all plants; I am the Mantra; I am also the ghee or melted butter; I am the fire; I am the oblation.

Kratu is a kind of Vedic sacrifice.Yajna is the worship enjoined in the Smriti or the holy books laying down lay and the code of conduct.I am the Mantra, the chant with which the oblation is offered to the manes or…

I am the father of this world, the mother, the dispenser of the fruits of actions, and the grandfather; the one thing to be known, the purifier, the sacred monosyllable (Om), and also the Rik, Sama, and Yajur Vedas.

Dhata Supporter or sustainer by dispenser of the fruits of actions.Isvara or the Saguna Brahman is the father. MulaPrakriti or the primordial Nature is the mother. The pure Satchidananda Para Brahman…

I am the goal, the supporter, the Lord, the witness, the abode, the shelter, the friend, the origin, the dissolution, the foundation, the treasure-house, and the imperishable seed.

I am the goal, the fruit of action. He who nourishes and supports is the huand. I am the witness of the good and evil actions done by the Jivas (individuals). I am the abode wherein all living beings dwell. I am the…

As the sun, I give heat; I withhold and send forth the rain; I am immortality and also death, existence and non-existence, O Arjuna.

I radiate heat in the form of the sun. I send forth the rain in the form of Indra in the rainy season and I take it back during the rest of the year.Sat Existence, the manifested world (the effect).Asat Nonexistence, the…

The knowers of the three Vedas, the drinkers of Soma, purified of all sins, worshipping Me through sacrifices, pray for the way to heaven; they reach the holy world of the Lord of the gods and enjoy the divine pleasures of the gods in heaven.

May aspirants climb up to a certain height on the ladder of Yoga. They are irresistibly swept away by the temptation of the higher planes (the heaven, and the plane of the celestial beings, etc.). They lose their power…

They, having enjoyed the vast heaven, enter the world of mortals when their merit is exhausted; thus abiding by the injunctions of the three (Vedas) and desiring objects of desires, they attain to the state of coming and going.

When the accumulated merit (the cause of heavenly pleasures) is exhausted, they descend to this world. They come and go. They have no independence.The Dharma of the three Mere Vedic ritual, enjoined by the three Vedas.…

For those men who worship Me alone, thinking of no one else, for those ever-united, I secure what they have not already possessed and preserve what they already possess.

Ananyah Nonseparate. This is another interpretation. Persons who, meditating on Me as nonseparate, worship Me in all beings -- to them who are ever devout, I secure gain and safety. They consider themselves as…

Even those devotees who, endowed with faith, worship other gods, worship Me alone, O Arjuna, but by the wrong method.

They worship Me in ignorance. Their mode of worship is contrary to the ancient,rule. Hence they return to this world.People worship Agni, Indra, Surya, Varuna, the Vasus, etc. Even they attain Me, because I am…

For I alone am the enjoyer and Lord of all sacrifices; but they do not know Me in reality, and thus they return to this mortal world.

They do not know that I, the Supreme Self, am the enjoyer of all sacrifices enjoined in the Vedas and the Smritis (the codes of right conduct) and the Lord of all sacrifices. As I am the inner Ruler of this world I am…

The worshippers of the gods go to them; the ancestor-worshippers go to the manes; the worshippers of the deities who preside over the elements go to them; but My devotees come to Me.

The worshippers of the manes such as the Agnisvattas who perform Sraaddha and other rites in devotion to their ancestors go to the manes. Those who worship the gods with devotion and vows go to them.Bhutas are elemental…

Whoever offers Me with devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or a little water, that, so offered devotedly by the pure-minded, I accept.

A gift, however small, is accepted by the Lord, when it is offered with profound faith. The Lord is ite satisfied even with a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water, when it is offered with singleminded devotion and pure…

Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer in sacrifice, whatever you give, whatever austerity you practice, O Arjuna, do it as an offering to Me.

Consecrate all acts to the Lord. Then you will be freed from the bondage of Karma. You will have freedom in action. He who tries to live in the spirit of this verse will be able to do selfsurrender unto the Lord.…

Thus, you shall be freed from the bonds of actions yielding good and evil fruits; with the mind steadfast in the Yoga of renunciation, and liberated, you shall come to Me.

Evam Thus -- when you thus offer everything to Me.Renunciation of the fruits of all works is Sannyasa. He who is eipped with the mind steadfast in the Yog of renunciation is Sannyasayogayuktatma. The act of offering…

I am the same to all beings; there is none hateful or dear to Me; but those who worship Me with devotion are in Me, and I am also in them.

The Lord has an even outlook towards all. He regards all living beings alike. None He has condemned, none has He favoured. He is the enemy of none. He is the partial lover of none. He does not favour some and frown on…

Even if the most sinful worships Me, with devotion to no one else, he should indeed be regarded as righteous, for he has rightly resolved.

Even if the most sinful worships Him with undivided heart, he too must indeed be deemed righteous for he has made the holy resolution to give up the evil ways of his life. Rogue Ratnakar became Valmiki by his holy…

Soon he becomes righteous and attains eternal peace; O Arjuna, proclaim thou for certain that My devotee never perishes.

Listen, this is the truth, O Arjuna you may proclaim that My devotee who has sincere devotion to Me, who has offered his inner soul to Me never perishes.

For, taking refuge in Me, they who, O Arjuna, may be of a sinful birth—women, Vaisyas, and Sudras—attain the Supreme Goal.

Chandalas or outcastes are of a sinful birth. Women and Sudras are darred by social rules from the study of the Vedas. What is wanted is devotion. There is no need for family traditions. The elephant Gajendra remembered…

How much more easily, then, do Brahmins and devoted royal saints attain the goal? Having come to this impermanent and unhappy world, do thou worship Me.

Rajarshis are kings who have become saints while discharging the duties of the kingdom.It is very difficult to get a human birth which is the means of attaining the goal of life. Being born in this human body you should…

Fix your mind on Me; be devoted to Me; sacrifice to Me; bow down to Me; having thus united your whole self to Me, taking Me as the supreme goal, you will come to Me.

Fill thy mind with Me. Fix your head, heart and hands on Me. Get your heart in tune with Me. Become a true worshipper. You will secure eternal bliss. Having known Me, you will cross beyond death.The whole being of man…