The Bhagavad Gita

The Blessed One said:
I am singing this great secret unto you. For you are not jealous. And so this taught knowledge will become true understanding. Knowing which, you will be freed from this limited world of suffering.

This is the king of knowledge, the king of secrets, the purest, transcendental. It is understood only by directly experiencing, it is the way. It brings great bliss in its practice, and lasts for all time.

Such people as are without trust in this way, mighty fighter, without attaining me they will continue coming back from death to the paths on the wheel of suffering (samsara) the world of illusion.

The entire world is filled with me in an impersonal form. Although not all living beings are in me, I am in all of them.

Although not all beings can see that they are in me, if you witness you will find the union in my divinity. I am the force that maintains all life, though I am not myself part of life, for I am the source behind it.

Just as wherever the wind blows it is part of the great sky, so are all living things part of me. Try to understand this.

Son of Kunti, all living things enter my nature at the end of time. And again, at the beginning of time I create them anew.

Entering into my nature, I will create again and again all of these things that live. By my will, life automatically springs.

I am not bound by any of these actions, conqueror. I am neutral to all of these actions, not attached.

Through me, through my attention, all life emanates, both the animate and inanimate. Son of Kunti, it is for this reason that the world exists.

Foolish men reject me when I take on a body. They do not know my higher life. I am the great deity of all that is.

They are fools in their hopes, fools in their actions, fools in their lack of understanding. They are deluded, demonic and wicked, and the things they seek comfort in are nothing but illusions.

But the great souls, scion of Partha, have taken shelter in my divine nature. Without being distracted by their minds, they perform service, being aware that the source of existence is never-ending.

They are always singing devotionally of me, working with determination, offering signs of respect (namaste), and always practicing devotional ritual to me.

Others, by cultivating awareness, practice rituals to me as the dual, the non-dual, the infinitely diverse, or the single universal form.

I am the ritual of the priests. I am the performing of sacrifices. I am the offering. I am the healing herb. I am the mantra. I am the ritual fuel, I am the ritual fire, and I am the ritual itself.

I am the father of this universe. I am the mother, the friend, the grandfather. I am what can be known, and what purifies. I am the OM. I am all of the great scriptures.

I am the goal, the care-giver, the Lord, the watcher, the home, the safe place, the best friend, creation and destruction, the earth, the place of rest, the undying seed.

I give warmth and cold. I give rain, and drought. And I am immortality, death, spirit, and matter, Arjuna.

It is my will also that some will know the threefold teaching. Those who drink the soma juice, or purify themselves of wrongdoing by prayerful worship to gain passage to the realm of the god Indra, they enjoy the celestial divine pleasures of the gods.

When the vast pleasures of these heavens are exhausted, these holy beings fall back down to the world of mortals. Thus those who follow the threefold teaching to seek the pleasures of heaven will ultimately only gain repeated birth and death.

Those who have no such goal, but only focus their mind on me, they are practicing properly. Those who are always focused in this way will be united, protected, and supported by me.

Those who are devotees of other gods, who are trusting in their worship, they too worship me though they may not know it, son of Kunti.

I am surely the one who enjoys all rituals, I am the Lord. Those who do not know the reality of me will fall down.

Those who worship the Gods will go to the Gods, those who worship the ancestors will go to the ancestors. Those who worship ghosts will go to the ghosts. Those who are my devotees will go to me.

A leaf, a flower, fruit, or simple water. Anyone who offers these in devotion unto me, I will accept them, so long as they are offered with pure spirit.

Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer, whatever you give, whatever disciplines you practice, son of Kunti, do so as an offering to me.

In this way, you will be free of the karma of being bound to good or bad results. Having your soul firmly focused on the yoga of renunciation (sannyas), you will attain my freedom.

I am equal to all living beings. I hate no one, nor do I hold any dearer than others. But those who practice service with devotion unto me are in me, and I am certainly in them.

Even if one commits the most abominable acts, but is practicing service unto me without fail, he is certainly to be treated as a saint, because he is certainly determined in his intentions.

Very soon he becomes natural in his soul, and gains a lasting peace, son of Kunti. I declare that no devotee of mine will ever perish.

Scion of Partha, those who specifically seek shelter in me, whether they are from a low background, or women, or merchants, or untouchables, even they will go to the highest place.

How much more certainly will the priests, the righteous, the devotees, the honorable kings! So while you are in this transient world, full of suffering, gain the gift of service unto me.

Become my devotee, always thinking of me. Worship me, give motions of respect (namaste) to me. You will come completely to me, your soul will unite with me totally through devotion.

Chapter 9