Sovereign Secret
The Blessed Lord said:
1. I shall now declare to you, who are endowed with reverence, that profoundest of all
mystic doctrines and the way to its experience, by which you will be free from the baneful
life of Samsara.
2. It is a sovereign science, and a profound mystery. Supremely sanctifying, demonstrable
by experience, and yielding imperishable results, it is also easy to perform and is in
agreement with the moral law.
3. Men without faith in this sacred doctrine (who continue to look upon the body as the
self) fail to attain Me. They remain caught up in Samsara, the eternally recurring cycle of
births and deaths.
4. All this world is pervaded by Me, the Unmanifested Being. All objects subsist in Me, but
not I in them.
5. And yet objects do not abide in Me! Behold My mysterious Divine Power! Source and
support of all objects, and yet not abiding in (i.e.not limited by) them!
6. Know that, as the mighty atmosphere ever abides in space, so do all objects abide in Me
(without restricting or limiting Me in the least).
7. At the end of a cosmic cycle, O son of Kunti! all beings resolve into Nature (Prakriti),
which is My own, and at the beginning of a new one (after the period of dissolution or
Pralaya is over), I bring them out again.
8. Resorting to Prakriti (Nature) which is My own Power, I send forth again and again this
multitude of beings that are without any freedom, owing to Nature's sway over them.
9. These activities do not in any way bind me, because I remain detached like one
unconcerned in their midst.
10. Under My direction and control, Nature brings out this mighty universe of living and
non-living beings. Thus does the wheel of this world revolve.
11. Foolish men, without an understanding of My higher nature as the Supreme Lord of all
that exists, disregard Me manifested in the human body.
12. Futile are the hopes, futile the works, and futile the knowledge of these men of
perverted understanding who are deluded by their cruel, proud and passionate nature,
characteristic of Rakshasas and Asuras.
13. But the high-souled ones, endowed with virtues characteristic of Devas, understand Me
to be the Immutable and the source of all beings, and adore Me with a mind undistracted
by anything else.
14. Strenuous and steadfast in their vows, these ever-integrated devotees worship Me with
devotion, always singing My glories and prostrating before Me.
15. Others, again, who offer wisdom sacrifice to Me, worship Me the All-inclutive Whole
(All-formed)- as the One, as the Distinct, and as the Immanent in all.
16. I am the sacrifice (kratu), I am the worship (yajna),I am the ancestral offering (svadha),
I am the medicinal herb. Again I am the Vedic hymn, I am the sacrificial ingredients. I am
the sacrificial fire, and I am the sacrificial oblation too.
17. To this world I am the father, the mother, the grandsire and the sustainer. I am the
Holy One to be known, as also the syllable Om, the Rig, Sama and Yajus.
18. The goal, the support, the Lord, and the consciousness witnessing - all this I am. I am
again the abode, the refuge, and the friend of all, as also their origin, their dissolution,
their ground, their treasure-house and their seed imperishable.
19. I give heat, and I send. forth as well as withhold rain. I am, O Arjuna! both immortality
and death, both being and non-being.
20. Men versed in the Vedas, cleansed of their sins by the performance of sacrifices
attended with the drinking of consecrated Soma juice, pray for heavenly regions (as the
reward for adoring Me with those rites). They go to the heaven of Indra, attainable by
meritorious deeds, and enjoy heavenly felicities there.
21. Having enjoyed the varied felicities of heaven for long, they come back to the world of
human beings when their asset of meritorious deeds is exhausted. Thus, being desire-
ridden, the followers of the Vedic sacrificial rites stagnate in Samsara, the repetitive state of
going and returning.
22. Whoever, being devoted to me solely, engage themselves always in contemplation and
worship of Me - to such ever-steadfast devotees I ensure the procurement of all their wants
(salvation) and the preservation of their assets (worldly interests).
23. O son of Kunti! Those devotees who worship even other deities with deep faith, they
also are worshipping Me alone, though contrary to injunctions.
24. I am indeed the only enjoyer and the Lord of all sacrifices. But they (the worshippers of
other deities) do not understand Me in My true nature (as the object of all worship). So
they fall.
25. The votaries of the deities go to the deities; of the manes, to the manes; and of the
spirits, to the spirits, while My worshippers come to Me.
26. Whoever makes an offering to Me with devotion, be it of leaf, flower, fruit or water -
that devout offering by a pure-hearted man, I accept with joy.
27. O son of Kunti! Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer in sacrifice,
whatever you give as charity, whatever austerity you perform - do that as offering unto
Me.
28. Thus shall you be freed from the bonds of Karma bearing good and evil fruits. With the
heart firmly set on renunciation, you will attain liberation and thereby come to Me.
29. I am the same towards all beings. None is hateful, and none dear to Me. But those who
worship Me with devotion dwell in Me, and I too dwell in them.
30. Even a confirmed sinner, if he worships Me with unwavering faith and devotion, must
verily be considered as righteous; for he has indeed taken the right resolve.
31. Soon will he become righteous and attain to lasting peace. No devotee of Mine will ever
perish; you may swear to this effect, O Arjuna!
32. O son of Pritha! Taking refuge in Me, women, Vaishyas, Shudras, and likewise even
men of inferior birth, attain to the highest spiritual goal.
33. Then how much more so in the case of holy Brahmanas and also of devoted royal
sages! Having come into this impermanent and unhappy world, engage yourself in My
worship.
34. Let your mind be absorbed in Me. Be devoted to Me, sacrifice unto Me, and bow down
to Me. Thus, having Me as your highest goal, and united with Me in mind, you shall come
to Me alone.
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