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Chapter 9

राजविद्याराजगुह्ययोग

The Royal Secret (Rājavidyārājaguhyayoga)

Krishna calls this the king of knowledge and the most intimate secret: he pervades everything yet is not bound by it. He accepts even a leaf, a flower or a little water offered with love, and promises to care for those who think of him with undivided hearts.

Love offered sincerely matters more than the size of the offering.

  1. 9.1इदं तु ते गुह्यतमं प्रवक्ष्याम्यनसूयवे।Krishna tells Arjuna that, because he does not look for faults, he will now share the most hidden wisdom: knowledge joined with direct experience. Knowing it, Arjuna will be freed from all that is harmful.
  2. 9.2राजविद्या राजगुह्यं पवित्रमिदमुत्तमम्।Krishna calls this the king of all knowledge and the king of secrets. It is supremely purifying, can be known through direct experience, is in harmony with dharma (rightful living), is very easy to practise, and never fades.
  3. 9.3अश्रद्दधानाः पुरुषा धर्मस्यास्य परन्तप।Krishna says that people who have no faith in this path do not reach him. Instead they keep returning to the road of death and repeated birth.
  4. 9.4मया ततमिदं सर्वं जगदव्यक्तमूर्तिना।Krishna says that in his unseen form he pervades this entire universe. All beings rest in him, but he does not rest in them, as if depending on them.
  5. 9.5न च मत्स्थानि भूतानि पश्य मे योगमैश्वरम्।Yet, Krishna says, in another sense beings do not rest in him either. He asks Arjuna to see this divine mystery: his Self sustains all beings and brings them into existence, yet is not contained in them.
  6. 9.6यथाऽऽकाशस्थितो नित्यं वायुः सर्वत्रगो महान्।Krishna gives an example: just as the mighty wind, moving everywhere, always remains within space, in the same way all beings remain within him.
  7. 9.7सर्वभूतानि कौन्तेय प्रकृतिं यान्ति मामिकाम्।Krishna tells Arjuna that at the end of a cosmic age all beings merge back into his own nature, and at the start of a new age he sends them forth again.
  8. 9.8प्रकृतिं स्वामवष्टभ्य विसृजामि पुनः पुनः।Krishna says that, resting on his own nature, he sends forth this whole multitude of beings again and again. They are carried along by the force of that nature, not by their own control.
  9. 9.9न च मां तानि कर्माणि निबध्नन्ति धनञ्जय।Krishna tells Arjuna that these actions of creation do not bind him. He stays like someone sitting apart, neutral, unattached to all of that activity.
  10. 9.10मयाऽध्यक्षेण प्रकृतिः सूयते सचराचरम्।Krishna says that under his watch, nature gives birth to everything, moving and unmoving. Because of this, the world keeps turning.
  11. 9.11अवजानन्ति मां मूढा मानुषीं तनुमाश्रितम्।Krishna says that deluded people look down on him when he takes a human form, because they do not know his higher nature as the great Lord of all beings.
  12. 9.12मोघाशा मोघकर्माणो मोघज्ञाना विचेतसः।Such people, Krishna says, have empty hopes, empty actions and empty knowledge, and their minds are confused. They fall into a deluding nature that is harsh and self-centred.
  13. 9.13महात्मानस्तु मां पार्थ दैवीं प्रकृतिमाश्रिताः।But great souls, Krishna says, take on a divine nature. Knowing him as the imperishable source of all beings, they worship him with minds that do not wander elsewhere.
  14. 9.14सततं कीर्तयन्तो मां यतन्तश्च दृढव्रताः।Always singing his glory, striving with firm resolve and bowing to him with love, Krishna says, these devoted people worship him with constant steadiness.
  15. 9.15ज्ञानयज्ञेन चाप्यन्ये यजन्तो मामुपासते।Others, Krishna says, worship him through the offering of knowledge. Some see him as one with all, some as distinct, and some as present in many forms, facing every direction.
  16. 9.16अहं क्रतुरहं यज्ञः स्वधाऽहमहमौषधम्।Krishna says that he is the Vedic rite and the sacrifice itself. He is the offering to the ancestors, the healing herb, the sacred chant, the ghee, the fire, and the act of offering.
  17. 9.17पिताऽहमस्य जगतो माता धाता पितामहः।Krishna says he is the father, mother, sustainer and grandfather of this world. He is what is to be known, the purifier, the sacred syllable Om, and the Rig, Sama and Yajur Vedas.
  18. 9.18गतिर्भर्ता प्रभुः साक्षी निवासः शरणं सुहृत्।Krishna says he is the goal, the supporter, the master, the witness, the home, the refuge and the true friend. He is the origin and the dissolution, the ground, the storehouse, and the seed that never perishes.
  19. 9.19तपाम्यहमहं वर्षं निगृह्णाम्युत्सृजामि च।Krishna tells Arjuna that he gives heat, holds back the rain and sends it down. He is both immortality and death, both what is and what is not.
  20. 9.20त्रैविद्या मां सोमपाः पूतपापा यज्ञैरिष्ट्वा स्वर्गतिं प्रार्थयन्ते।Krishna says that those who follow the three Vedas, drink the soma, and are cleansed of wrongdoing worship him through rituals and pray to reach heaven. Earning merit, they reach the world of Indra and enjoy heavenly pleasures.
  21. 9.21ते तं भुक्त्वा स्वर्गलोकं विशालं क्षीणे पुण्ये मर्त्यलोकं विशन्ति।Having enjoyed that vast heaven, Krishna says, when their merit runs out they return to the world of mortals. So those who follow Vedic ritual out of desire for enjoyment keep coming and going.
  22. 9.22अनन्याश्चिन्तयन्तो मां ये जनाः पर्युपासते।Krishna promises that for those who think of him alone and worship him with constant devotion, he himself takes care of their welfare, bringing what they lack and protecting what they have.
  23. 9.23येऽप्यन्यदेवता भक्ता यजन्ते श्रद्धयाऽन्विताः।Krishna tells Arjuna that even those who worship other gods with faith are in truth worshipping him alone, though not in the way that leads directly to him.
  24. 9.24अहं हि सर्वयज्ञानां भोक्ता च प्रभुरेव च।Krishna says he alone is the receiver and the lord of all sacrifices. But people who do not know him as he truly is fall back again.
  25. 9.25यान्ति देवव्रता देवान् पितृ़न्यान्ति पितृव्रताः।Krishna says that 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 worship him come to him.
  26. 9.26पत्रं पुष्पं फलं तोयं यो मे भक्त्या प्रयच्छति।Krishna says that whoever offers him with love even a leaf, a flower, a fruit or a little water, he accepts that loving gift from a pure-hearted person.
  27. 9.27यत्करोषि यदश्नासि यज्जुहोषि ददासि यत्।Krishna tells Arjuna: whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer in worship, whatever you give, and whatever effort of self-discipline you make, do it as an offering to me.
  28. 9.28शुभाशुभफलैरेवं मोक्ष्यसे कर्मबन्धनैः।In this way, Krishna says, Arjuna will be freed from the bonds of action and their good and bad results. With his mind joined in renunciation, free, he will come to Krishna.
  29. 9.29समोऽहं सर्वभूतेषु न मे द्वेष्योऽस्ति न प्रियः।Krishna says he is the same towards all beings; no one is hateful to him and no one is his favourite. Yet those who worship him with love are in him, and he is in them.
  30. 9.30अपि चेत्सुदुराचारो भजते मामनन्यभाक्।Krishna says that even if a person of very wrong conduct worships him with undivided devotion, that person should be regarded as good, because they have made the right resolve.
  31. 9.31क्षिप्रं भवति धर्मात्मा शश्वच्छान्तिं निगच्छति।Such a person quickly becomes righteous and attains lasting peace. Krishna asks Arjuna to declare it boldly: his devotee never perishes.
  32. 9.32मां हि पार्थ व्यपाश्रित्य येऽपि स्युः पापयोनयः।Krishna says that whoever takes refuge in him, even those whom society regards as low-born, as well as women, merchants and labourers, all reach the highest goal.
  33. 9.33किं पुनर्ब्राह्मणाः पुण्या भक्ता राजर्षयस्तथा।Then how much more so, Krishna says, for pure-hearted priests and devoted royal sages. Having come into this passing, troubled world, Arjuna should turn to him in devotion.
  34. 9.34मन्मना भव मद्भक्तो मद्याजी मां नमस्कुरु।Krishna concludes: fix your mind on me, be devoted to me, worship me and bow to me. Disciplining yourself this way, with me as your highest goal, you will surely come to me.