God-Knowledge

One who truly understands my divine birth and action in this way is not reborn on leaving the body, but comes to me, Arjuna.

जन्म कर्म च मे दिव्यमेवं यो वेत्ति तत्त्वतः | त्यक्त्वा देहं पुनर्जन्म नैति मामेति सोऽर्जुन ||४-९||

Through devotion he comes to know me truly, what and who I am; then, knowing me truly, he enters me immediately after.

भक्त्या मामभिजानाति यावान्यश्चास्मि तत्त्वतः | ततो मां तत्त्वतो ज्ञात्वा विशते तदनन्तरम् ||१८-५५||

Know me also to be the knower of the field in all fields, Bharata. Knowledge of the field and its knower — that I consider to be true knowledge.

क्षेत्रज्ञं चापि मां विद्धि सर्वक्षेत्रेषु भारत | क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञयोर्ज्ञानं यत्तज्ज्ञानं मतं मम ||१३-३||

Beyond the great is the Unmanifest; beyond the Unmanifest is the Person. Beyond the Person there is nothing at all; that is the end, that is the supreme goal.

महतः परमव्यक्तमव्यक्तात्पुरुषः परः । पुरुषान्न परं किंचित्सा काष्ठा सा परा गतिः ॥ ११॥

His form does not stand within sight; no one sees him with the eye. He is grasped by the heart, by insight, by the mind. Those who know this become immortal.

न संदृशे तिष्ठति रूपमस्य न चक्षुषा पश्यति कश्चनैनम् । हृदा मनीषा मनसाऽभिक्लृप्तो य एतद्विदुरमृतास्ते भवन्ति ॥ ९॥

But beyond the unmanifest is the Person, all-pervading and without any mark; knowing whom a creature is freed and attains immortality.

अव्यक्तात्तु परः पुरुषो व्यापकोऽलिङ्ग एव च । यं ज्ञात्वा मुच्यते जन्तुरमृतत्वं च गच्छति ॥ ८॥

He is not grasped by the eye, nor by speech, nor by the other gods, nor by austerity or works. When one's being is purified by the clarity of knowledge, then, meditating, one sees him who is without parts.

न चक्षुषा गृह्यते नापि वाचा नान्यैर्देवैस्तपसा कर्मणा वा । ज्ञानप्रसादेन विशुद्धसत्त्व- स्ततस्तु तं पश्यते निष्कलं ध्यायमानः ॥ ८॥

I will declare that which is to be known, knowing which one attains immortality: the beginningless supreme Brahman, which is said to be neither being nor non-being.

ज्ञेयं यत्तत्प्रवक्ष्यामि यज्ज्ञात्वामृतमश्नुते | अनादिमत्परं ब्रह्म न सत्तन्नासदुच्यते ||१३-१३||

But the great souls, Arjuna, who partake of the divine nature, worship me with minds fixed on nothing else, knowing me as the imperishable source of all beings.

महात्मानस्तु मां पार्थ दैवीं प्रकृतिमाश्रिताः | भजन्त्यनन्यमनसो ज्ञात्वा भूतादिमव्ययम् ||९-१३||

The Blessed Lord said: To you, who do not carp, I will now declare this most secret knowledge together with its realization, knowing which you will be freed from misfortune.

श्रीभगवानुवाच | इदं तु ते गुह्यतमं प्रवक्ष्याम्यनसूयवे | ज्ञानं विज्ञानसहितं यज्ज्ञात्वा मोक्ष्यसेऽशुभात् ||९-१||

Those who strive for freedom from old age and death, taking refuge in me, come to know that Brahman in full, the whole of the self, and action in its entirety.

जरामरणमोक्षाय मामाश्रित्य यतन्ति ये | ते ब्रह्म तद्विदुः कृत्स्नमध्यात्मं कर्म चाखिलम् ||७-२९||

I know the beings that are past, those that are present, and those yet to come, Arjuna; but no one knows me.

वेदाहं समतीतानि वर्तमानानि चार्जुन | भविष्याणि च भूतानि मां तु वेद न कश्चन ||७-२६||

This is my lower nature. But know, mighty-armed one, that I have another, higher nature: the living principle by which this world is sustained.

अपरेयमितस्त्वन्यां प्रकृतिं विद्धि मे पराम् | जीवभूतां महाबाहो ययेदं धार्यते जगत् ||७-५||

Earth, water, fire, air, space, mind, intellect, and ego — this is my nature, divided eightfold.

भूमिरापोऽनलो वायुः खं मनो बुद्धिरेव च | अहंकार इतीयं मे भिन्ना प्रकृतिरष्टधा ||७-४||

I will explain to you fully this knowledge together with its realization, and once you know it, nothing further remains here to be known.

ज्ञानं तेऽहं सविज्ञानमिदं वक्ष्याम्यशेषतः | यज्ज्ञात्वा नेह भूयोऽन्यज्ज्ञातव्यमवशिष्यते ||७-२||

The Blessed Lord said: Listen, Arjuna, to how — with your mind attached to me, practicing yoga, and taking refuge in me — you will know me completely, beyond any doubt.

श्रीभगवानुवाच | मय्यासक्तमनाः पार्थ योगं युञ्जन्मदाश्रयः | असंशयं समग्रं मां यथा ज्ञास्यसि तच्छृणु ||७-१||

I do not think I know it well, yet not that I do not know it — I both know and do not know. Whoever among us understands that saying, "not that I do not know, and yet I know," he knows it.

नाहं मन्ये सुवेदेति नो न वेदेति वेद च ।यो नस्तद्वेद तद्वेद नो न वेदेति वेद च ॥ २॥

"It was Brahman," she said. "It was in the victory of Brahman that you gloried." Then indeed he knew that it was Brahman.

सा ब्रह्मेति होवाच ब्रह्मणो वा एतद्विजये महीयध्वमितिततो हैव विदाञ्चकार ब्रह्मेति ॥ १॥

This syllable is indeed Brahman; this syllable is indeed the supreme. Knowing this syllable, whatever one desires is his.

एतद्ध्येवाक्षरं ब्रह्म एतद्ध्येवाक्षरं परम् । एतद्ध्येवाक्षरं ज्ञात्वा यो यदिच्छति तस्य तत् ॥ १६॥

Tell me what you see as other than right and other than wrong, other than what is done and not done, other than what has been and what will be.

अन्यत्र धर्मादन्यत्राधर्मा- दन्यत्रास्मात्कृताकृतात् । अन्यत्र भूताच्च भव्याच्च यत्तत्पश्यसि तद्वद ॥ १४॥