To you who do not disbelieve I shall declare this most secret knowledge combined with realization, which having known you shall be free from evil. (9:1)
Royal knowledge, royal secret, this the supreme purifier, readily understood, dharmic, pleasant to practice, eternal. (9:2)
Those who have no faith in this dharma, without attaining me are reborn in the realm of death and samsara. (9:3)
All this world is pervaded by me in my unmanifest aspect. All beings dwell within me, but I do not dwell within them. (9:4)
And yet beings do not dwell within me: behold my Divine Yoga. Sustaining beings and yet not dwelling in them, I myself cause all beings to come into manifestation. (9:5)
As mighty winds move everywhere, yet always dwell in the ether, know that even so do all beings dwell within me. (9:6)
At the end of a kalpa, all beings merge into my Prakriti: at the beginning of another kalpa, I myself send them forth. (9:7)
Resting on my Prakriti, I send forth again and again this entire multitude of beings, helpless under Prakriti’s power. (9:8)
And these acts do not bind me, sitting as one apart, indifferent and unattached in these actions. (9:9)
With me as overseer Prakriti produces both the animate and the inanimate; because of this the world revolves. (9:10)
The deluded despise me dwelling in human form, not knowing of my higher being as the Great Lord of all beings. (9:11)
Those of vain hopes, vain deeds, vain knowledge, without intelligence, abide in the delusive nature of rakshasas and asuras. (9:12)
But those great souls that abide in their divine nature, worship me single-mindedly, knowing me as the eternal Origin of beings. (9:13)
Always glorifying me and striving with firm vows, bowing to me with devotion, always steadfast, they worship me. (9:14)
And others, sacrificing by the sacrifice of knowledge, worship me as One and Manifold, variously manifested, omniscient. (9:15)
I am the ritual, I am the sacrifice, I am the offering, I am the herb, I am the mantra, I am the ghee, I am the fire, and the pouring out into the fire. (9:16)
I am the Father and Mother of this world, Establisher, Grandfather, the object of knowledge, the Purifier, the Omkara (Om), the Rig, Sama and Yajur Vedas. (9:17)
I am the Goal, the Sustainer, the Lord, the Witness, the Abode, the Refuge, the Friend, the Origin, the Dissolution, the Foundation, the Treasure house and the Eternal Seed. (9:18)
As the sun I radiate heat; I withhold and send forth rain; I am immortality and death; being and non-being am I. (9:19)
The knowers of the three Vedas, the Soma drinkers, purified of sins, worshipping by sacrifices, seek the goal of heaven; they, the meritorious, attaining the world of Indra, enjoy divine, heavenly pleasures of the gods. (9:20)
Having enjoyed the vast heaven-world, with merit exhausted, they reenter the world of mortals. Thus, carrying out the injunctions of the three Vedas, desiring objects of desire, going and coming from birth to birth, they obtain them. (9:21)
Those men who single-mindedly direct their thoughts to me, worship me. For them who are constantly steadfast I bestow what they lack and preserve that which they possess. (9:22)
Even those who with devotion worship other gods also worship me, though with a mistaken approach.* (9:23)
Truly I am the Enjoyer and Lord of all sacrifices; but because they do not know me in truth they fall back into rebirth in this world. (9:24)
Those who are devoted to the gods go to the gods. Those who are devoted to the ancestors go to the ancestors. Those who are devoted to the spirits go to the spirits. Those who are devoted to me surely come to me. (9:25)
Whoever offers to me with devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or water, I accept that offering of devotion from him whose heart is pure. (9:26)
Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer in sacrifice, whatever you give, whatever tapasya you practice, do that as an offering to me. (9:27)
Thus shall you be freed from the bonds of actions producing both good and evil fruits. Steadfast in the yoga of renunciation and totally liberated, you shall come to me. (9:28)
I am the same to all beings. There is no one who is disliked or dear to me. But they who worship me with devotion are in me, and I am also in them. (9:29)
If even an evildoer worships me single-heartedly, he should be considered righteous, for truly he has rightly resolved. (9:30)
Quickly he becomes a virtuous soul and goes to everlasting peace. Understand: no devotee of me is ever lost. (9:31)
Truly, those who take refuge in me even though they be from wicked origins, women,** Vaishyas or Shudras, they also attain the Supreme Goal. (9:32)
How much more easily, then, the holy Brahmins and devoted royal (kshatriya) sages. Having come to this impermanent and unhappy world, devote yourself to me. (9:33)
With mind fixed on me, devoted, worshipping, bow down to me. Thus steadfast, with me as your supreme aim, you shall come to me. (9:34)
* The words “with a mistaken approach” is the best I can do with avidhipurvakam. It literally means “not according to the rules” or even “without/outside the rules.” The idea seems to be that these people do not know or understand how to worship God correctly because they do not know or understand the nature of God. Other possible terms–ignorantly, incorrectly, mistakenly, improperly, inappropriately, inappositely, inaptly, ineptly, haphazardly, irregularly–either express a value judgment or add an extra meaning or attitude the Sanskrit does not include.
** At the time of Krishna, and even today in India, some people, denying the truth of the Self, claim that only Brahmin and Kshatriya males can attain liberation. Krishna denies this.
Om Tat Sat
Thus in the Upanishads of the glorious Bhagavad Gita, the science of the Eternal, the scripture of Yoga, the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna, ends the ninth discourse entitled: The Yoga of the Royal Science and Royal Secret.
Read Chapter Ten: The Yoga of Divine Glories