The Secret of Secrets

1. Said Lord Supreme," To you who is not envious of Me, I am now declaring the most secretive knowledge along with wisdom by knowing which you will be released from the misery of inauspicious material existence.

2. "This is a very superior science and highly enigmatic. It is very sacred, supreme, directly attainable through righteousness, very easy to practice and inexhaustible.

3. "O Paramtapa, those who are not sincerely interested in this dharma, return to the path of mortal existence, without attaining Me.

4. "The whole cosmic manifestation is pervaded by Me by My unmanifest form. All beings exist in Me though I am not in them.

5. "These beings do not exists in Me. Look at my mystic richness. Although I am the bearer and creator of all the beings , My Self does not exist in any of the cosmic manifestations.

6. "Know that just as the mighty air moving everywhere is always situated in the sky, so do all these beings exist in Me.

7. "O son of Kunti, at the end of each kalpa (time cycle) all beings enter My Prakriti (Creative Energy) and at the beginning of every kalpa I create them again.

8. "Holding My Nature under my control, I create hordes of beings again and again who are under the control of nature.

9. "O Dhananjaya these works do not bind Me as I am situated without any attachment and without any interest.

10. "Under My control Nature manifests the whole creation, both the moving and the unmoving, and because of this only the whole world revolves.

11. "When I assume the human form, the deluded fools do not know Me as the Lord of all Beings, not knowing My transcendental nature .

12. "With deluded hopes, deluded actions and deluded knowledge, perverted, they take shelter in the demonic, wicked and deluded nature.

13. "The great men O Partha, who have partaken Divine Nature, worship Me without thinking of anything else, knowing Me as the Primal Being and the Inexhaustible.

14. "Always singing about Me, striving with determination, offering me obeisance, My devotees worship Me continuously.

15. "Others worship Me through the Yoga of Knowledge as One or as Many, as the Universal Form with faces in all directions.

16. "I am kratu (Vedic ritual), I am yagna (sacrificial ceremony), I am svadha (an offering in the sacrificial ceremony), I am medicine, I am the Mantra (the sacred chant), I am adyam (fuel in the Yagna), I am Agni (fire) and I am hutam (the burnt remains of an offering in the yagna).

17. "I am the Father of the whole world, its Mother, Upholder and Grand Father also. I am the sacred knowable form of OM and I am also the three Vedas- Rigveda, Yajurveda and Samaveda.

18. "I am the Directions, the Sustainer, Lord, Witness, Abode, Refuge, Companion, Origin, Destruction, the Resting Place and the Imperishable Seed.

19. "I am the source of heat. I with hold and send forth the rain. I am the giver of immortality and death. I am both Reality and Unreality, O Arjuna.

20. "The knowers of the three Vedas, drinkers of soma juice, purified of their sins, perform sacrifices and worship Me, praying for safe passage to heaven. By virtue of their pious deeds they attain the world of Indra and enjoy divine pleasures in heaven.

21. "After enjoying the heavenly pleasures and exhausting their merits, they return to the mortal world. Thus following the injunctions laid down in the three Vedas desiring sense enjoyments, they go back and forth between the earth and the heavenly world.

22. "Those who worship Me always without thinking of anything else and those who are constantly engaged in devotion, I consider it as My personal responsibility to look after their personal and spiritual welfare.

23. "Even those devotees who worship other gods sincerely and steadfastly, they too worship Me only , O Kaunteya, though improperly and inappropriately.

24. "I am indeed the enjoyer of all sacrificial ceremonies and their Lord. But these men, not knowing the truth, fall down.

25. "Those who worship gods go to gods. Those who worship ancestors go their ancestors. Those who worship the elements go to the elements. But those who worship Me come to Me only.

26. "Whatever that is offered to me with great devotion whether it is a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water, that offering of the pure soul I accept.

27. "O Kaunteya, whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer or give away, whatever penances you perform, O Kaunteya, offer all that to Me.

28. "Thus established in the yoga of renunciation you will become free from the bondage of karma caused by the fruits of good and bad actions and, being liberated, you will come to Me.

29. "I am equally situated in all beings. There is none who is particularly hateful to me or dearer to Me. But those who worship Me with devotion I am in them and they are in Me.

30. "Even if a man of sinful conduct worships Me with undisturbed devotion, he should be regarded as a saintly person because he is has made the right resolve.

31. "Such a person promptly becomes a righteous soul and attains eternal peace. O Kaunteya, know for sure that My devotees shall never perish.

32. "O Partha, by taking refuge in Me, even those born of sinful wombs, women, vaishyas (merchants), sudras (the fourth caste in the Vedic caste system) also attain the highest state.

33. "Then what to speak of the pious brahmins and the devoted kings who worship Me! Having come into this world of impermanence and unhappiness you should worship Me alone.

34. "Constantly think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me only and offer your respects to Me. By constantly repeating My name in your heart and established in Me, you will definitely come to Me.

Thus ends the eighth chapter named Yoga of Imperishable Brahman in the Upanishad of the divine Bhagavad-Gita , the knowledge of the Absolute, the yogic scripture, and the debate between Arjuna and Lord Krishna.