The kingly secret

To you, who do not carp, I will now declare this deepest knowledge, joined with direct realization, knowing which you'll be freed from evil.

Of sciences the highest, of secrets the deepest, this is the supreme purifier—understood by direct perception, in accord with dharma, very easy to practice, and imperishable.

People without faith in this dharma fail to reach me, scorcher of foes, and return to the path of death-bound rebirth.

This whole world is pervaded by me in my unmanifest form. All beings exist in me, but I do not dwell in them.

And yet beings do not exist in me—behold my divine yoga! My self, bringing forth and sustaining beings, does not dwell in them.

As the great wind, moving everywhere always, rests forever in space, know that in the same way all beings rest in me.

At the end of a kalpa, son of Kunti, all beings return into my prakṛti; at the start of the next kalpa, I send them forth again.

Taking hold of my own prakṛti, I project again and again this whole mass of beings, powerless, under the sway of prakṛti.

These acts do not bind me, Dhanañjaya—I remain seated as if indifferent, unattached to them.

Under my oversight, prakṛti brings forth all this, the moving and the unmoving. Because of this cause, son of Kunti, the world turns round and round.

Fools disregard me when I take on human form, not knowing my higher nature as the great lord of beings.

Their hopes empty, their actions empty, their knowledge empty, they are without discernment—clinging to the deluding nature of rākṣasas and asuras.

But the great-souled ones, son of Pṛthā, resting in the divine prakṛti, worship me with undivided mind, knowing me as the source of beings, imperishable.

Always glorifying me, striving with firm resolve, bowing to me in devotion, ever disciplined, they worship me.

Others, too, sacrificing through the yajña of knowledge, worship me the all-facing one—as one, as distinct, as manifold.

I am the kratu, I am the yajña, I am the svadhā offering, I am the healing herb, I am the mantra, I am the ghee, I am the fire, and I am the oblation poured.

I am the father of this world, the mother, the sustainer, the grandfather; the thing to be known, the purifier, the syllable Om, and also the Ṛg, Sāma, and Yajur.

The goal, the supporter, the lord, the witness, the abode, the refuge, the friend; the origin, the dissolution, the ground, the treasury, the imperishable seed.

I give heat; I hold back the rain and I send it forth; I am immortality and also death; I am being and non-being, Arjuna.

Knowers of the three Vedas, who drink soma and are purified of sin, worship me through sacrifice and pray for the path to heaven. Reaching the holy world of the lord of the gods, they enjoy in heaven the divine pleasures of the gods.

Having enjoyed that vast heavenly world, when their merit is exhausted they enter the mortal world again. Thus, following the duties laid down in the three Vedas, desiring desires, they get only coming and going.

For those who meditate on me alone, with no other thought, and worship me without division, ever disciplined in this way, I carry what they lack and preserve what they already have.

Even those devotees who worship other gods with faith are worshiping me alone, son of Kunti—but by an incorrect method.

For I alone am the enjoyer and lord of all sacrifices, but they do not know me as I truly am, and so they fall back.

Those devoted to the gods go to the gods; those devoted to the ancestors go to the ancestors; those who worship spirits go to the spirits; and those who sacrifice to me come to me.

Whoever offers me with devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or water—that offering of devotion from a pure heart I accept.

Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer in sacrifice, whatever you give away, whatever austerity you undertake, son of Kunti—do it as an offering to me.

In this way you'll be freed from the bonds of action bearing good and evil fruit. With mind fixed steady in the yoga of renunciation, liberated, you'll come to me.

I am the same to all beings; no one is hateful to me nor dear. But those who worship me with devotion are in me, and I am also in them.

Even if a person of the worst conduct worships me with devotion to no other, he should be regarded as righteous, for he has resolved rightly.

He soon becomes one whose soul is righteous and attains lasting peace. Son of Kunti, declare it boldly: my devotee is never destroyed.

For taking refuge in me, son of Pṛthā, even those who may be born from a lowly womb—women, vaiśyas, as well as śūdras—even they reach the highest goal.

How much more, then, holy brāhmaṇas and devoted royal sages! Having come into this fleeting, joyless world, worship me.

Fix your mind on me, be my devotee, sacrifice to me, bow down to me. Having thus disciplined yourself, holding me as the highest goal, you will come to me.