Bhagavad Gita Chapter 9: Raja Vidya Raja Guhya Yoga, All 34 Verses with Meaning

इदं तु ते गुह्यतमं प्रवक्ष्याम्यनसूयवे
ज्ञानं विज्ञानसहितं यज्ज्ञात्वा मोक्ष्यसेऽशुभात् ॥ ९.१ ॥

Idam tu te guhyatamam pravakshyamy anasuyave
Jnanam vijnanasahitam yaj jnatva mokshyase 'shubhat

MeaningThe Blessed Lord says: To you, who do not find fault, I will now tell the most secret knowledge, together with its realisation. When you know it you will be freed from what is harmful.

NoteChapter 9 is the centre of the Gita's teaching on devotion. Krishna says he will now give the most secret knowledge to Arjuna because Arjuna does not find fault. The word used, anasuyu, is often taken to describe the right attitude of a pupil: one who listens without looking for fault.

राजविद्या राजगुह्यं पवित्रमिदमुत्तमम्
प्रत्यक्षावगमं धर्म्यं सुसुखं कर्तुमव्ययम् ॥ ९.२ ॥

Rajavidya rajaguhyam pavitram idam uttamam
Pratyakshavagamam dharmyam susukham kartum avyayam

MeaningIt is the royal knowledge and the royal secret, a supreme purifier. It can be grasped directly, it is in keeping with dharma, it is very easy to practise, and it does not wear away.

NoteThe verse praises the knowledge in a string of phrases. The word raja, royal, means the best and the most noble, in the sense of the king of knowledge. It also says the teaching is direct and easy to practise, which is a notable claim in a text full of difficult disciplines.

अश्रद्दधानाः पुरुषा धर्मस्यास्य परंतप
अप्राप्य मां निवर्तन्ते मृत्युसंसारवर्त्मनि ॥ ९.३ ॥

Ashraddadhanah purusha dharmasyasya parantapa
Aprapya mam nivartante mrityusamsaravartmani

MeaningPeople who have no faith in this dharma, scorcher of foes, do not reach me, and they return to the road of death and wandering.

मया ततमिदं सर्वं जगदव्यक्तमूर्तिना
मत्स्थानि सर्वभूतानि न चाहं तेष्ववस्थितः ॥ ९.४ ॥

Maya tatam idam sarvam jagad avyaktamurtina
Matsthani sarvabhutani na chaham teshv avasthitah

MeaningAll this world is spread out by me, in my unseen form. All beings rest in me, but I do not rest in them.

NoteVerses 4 and 5 seem to contradict each other: beings rest in the Lord, and yet do not rest in him. Teachers read them as saying that the world depends on the Lord for its being, while the Lord is not limited or changed by it. Verse 6 gives the picture of wind in space.

न च मत्स्थानि भूतानि पश्य मे योगमैश्वरम्
भूतभृन्न च भूतस्थो ममात्मा भूतभावनः ॥ ९.५ ॥

Na cha matsthani bhutani pashya me yogam aishvaram
Bhutabhrin na cha bhutastho mamatma bhutabhavanah

MeaningAnd yet beings do not rest in me. See my lordly power of yoga. My self holds up beings and brings them into being, yet it does not stay in them.

यथाकाशस्थितो नित्यं वायुः सर्वत्रगो महान्
तथा सर्वाणि भूतानि मत्स्थानीत्युपधारय ॥ ९.६ ॥

Yathakashasthito nityam vayuh sarvatrago mahan
Tatha sarvani bhutani matsthanity upadharaya

MeaningJust as the mighty wind, moving everywhere, always rests in space, so understand that all beings rest in me.

NoteThe wind moves everywhere, and yet space is not moved by it. This is the image the Gita uses for how beings rest in the Lord without troubling him.

सर्वभूतानि कौन्तेय प्रकृतिं यान्ति मामिकाम्
कल्पक्षये पुनस्तानि कल्पादौ विसृजाम्यहम् ॥ ९.७ ॥

Sarvabhutani kaunteya prakritim yanti mamikam
Kalpakshaye punas tani kalpadau visrijamy aham

MeaningAt the end of an age, Kaunteya, all beings go back into my nature. At the beginning of the next age I send them forth again.

NoteVerses 7 and 8 describe the cycle of creation and dissolution from the Lord's point of view. At the end of an age beings go back into nature and at its start he sends them out again.

प्रकृतिं स्वामवष्टभ्य विसृजामि पुनः पुनः
भूतग्राममिमं कृत्स्नमवशं प्रकृतेर्वशात् ॥ ९.८ ॥

Prakritim svam avashtabhya visrijami punah punah
Bhutagramam imam kritsnam avasham prakriter vashat

MeaningTaking hold of my own nature, I send out again and again this whole crowd of beings, who are helpless under the power of nature.

न च मां तानि कर्माणि निबध्नन्ति धनंजय
उदासीनवदासीनमसक्तं तेषु कर्मसु ॥ ९.९ ॥

Na cha mam tani karmani nibadhnanti dhananjaya
Udasinavad asinam asaktam teshu karmasu

MeaningThese actions do not bind me, Dhananjaya. I sit like one who is indifferent, not attached to those actions.

NoteThe Lord's work in the world does not bind him, because he sits like one who is indifferent. The verse is not about coldness. It is about being free from attachment in the midst of action.

मयाध्यक्षेण प्रकृतिः सूयते सचराचरम्
हेतुनानेन कौन्तेय जगद्विपरिवर्तते ॥ ९.१० ॥

Mayadhyakshena prakritih suyate sacharacharam
Hetunanena kaunteya jagad viparivartate

MeaningWith me looking on, nature brings forth everything that moves and does not move. By this means, Kaunteya, the world keeps turning.

अवजानन्ति मां मूढा मानुषीं तनुमाश्रितम्
परं भावमजानन्तो मम भूतमहेश्वरम् ॥ ९.११ ॥

Avajananti mam mudha manushim tanum ashritam
Param bhavam ajananto mama bhutamaheshvaram

MeaningThe foolish disregard me when I take a human body. They do not know my higher state as the great Lord of beings.

NoteThe verse speaks of the Lord taking a human body. It is read together with 4.6 to 4.8, where the descent is described.

मोघाशा मोघकर्माणो मोघज्ञाना विचेतसः
राक्षसीमासुरीं चैव प्रकृतिं मोहिनीं श्रिताः ॥ ९.१२ ॥

Moghasha moghakarmano moghajnana vichetasah
Rakshasim asurim chaiva prakritim mohinim shritah

MeaningWith empty hopes, empty actions and empty knowledge, and with scattered minds, they rely on a deluding nature, of the fiendish and demonic kind.

महात्मानस्तु मां पार्थ दैवीं प्रकृतिमाश्रिताः
भजन्त्यनन्यमनसो ज्ञात्वा भूतादिमव्ययम् ॥ ९.१३ ॥

Mahatmanas tu mam partha daivim prakritim ashritah
Bhajanty ananyamanaso jnatva bhutadim avyayam

MeaningBut the great souls, Partha, who rely on the divine nature, worship me with minds that go nowhere else, knowing me as the beginning of beings and as unchanging.

सततं कीर्तयन्तो मां यतन्तश्च दृढव्रताः
नमस्यन्तश्च मां भक्त्या नित्ययुक्ता उपासते ॥ ९.१४ ॥

Satatam kirtayanto mam yatantash cha dridhavratah
Namasyantash cha mam bhaktya nityayukta upasate

MeaningAlways praising me, striving, firm in their vows and bowing to me with devotion, they worship me, ever joined to me.

ज्ञानयज्ञेन चाप्यन्ये यजन्तो मामुपासते
एकत्वेन पृथक्त्वेन बहुधा विश्वतोमुखम् ॥ ९.१५ ॥

Jnanayajnena chapy anye yajanto mam upasate
Ekatvena prithaktvena bahudha vishvatomukham

MeaningOthers also worship me by the sacrifice of knowledge, seeing me as one, as many, and in many forms, with faces on every side.

अहं क्रतुरहं यज्ञः स्वधाहमहमौषधम्
मन्त्रोऽहमहमेवाज्यमहमग्निरहं हुतम् ॥ ९.१६ ॥

Aham kratur aham yajnah svadhaham aham aushadham
Mantro 'ham aham evajyam aham agnir aham hutam

MeaningI am the rite and I am the sacrifice. I am the offering to the ancestors and I am the healing herb. I am the sacred word, I am the ghee, I am the fire, and I am the offering made.

NoteVerses 16 to 19 are a long list of ways the Lord is present in the world, from the sacrifice and the fire to the father and mother, and from the seed to death. It is a song of the Lord as all things, and a preview of chapter 10.

पिताहमस्य जगतो माता धाता पितामहः
वेद्यं पवित्रमोंकार ऋक्साम यजुरेव च ॥ ९.१७ ॥

Pitaham asya jagato mata dhata pitamahah
Vedyam pavitram onkara rik sama yajur eva cha

MeaningI am the father of this world, its mother, its supporter and its grandfather. I am what is to be known, the purifier, the syllable Om, and the Rig, Sama and Yajur Vedas.

गतिर्भर्ता प्रभुः साक्षी निवासः शरणं सुहृत्
प्रभवः प्रलयः स्थानं निधानं बीजमव्ययम् ॥ ९.१८ ॥

Gatir bharta prabhuh sakshi nivasah sharanam suhrit
Prabhavah pralayah sthanam nidhanam bijam avyayam

MeaningI am the goal, the supporter, the Lord, the witness, the dwelling, the refuge and the friend. I am the origin and the dissolving, the foundation, the storehouse and the seed that does not fail.

तपाम्यहमहं वर्षं निगृह्णाम्युत्सृजामि च
अमृतं चैव मृत्युश्च सदसच्चाहमर्जुन ॥ ९.१९ ॥

Tapamy aham aham varsham nigrihnamy utsrijami cha
Amritam chaiva mrityush cha sad asach chaham arjuna

MeaningI give heat, and I hold back the rain and send it out. I am immortality and also death, being and not being, Arjuna.

त्रैविद्या मां सोमपाः पूतपापा यज्ञैरिष्ट्वा स्वर्गतिं प्रार्थयन्ते
ते पुण्यमासाद्य सुरेन्द्रलोकमश्नन्ति दिव्यान्दिवि देवभोगान् ॥ ९.२० ॥

Traividya mam somapah putapapa yajnair ishtva svargatim prarthayante
Te punyam asadya surendralokam ashnanti divyan divi devabhogan

MeaningThose who know the three Vedas, who drink the soma and are cleansed of wrong, worship me with sacrifices and ask for the way to heaven. Reaching the world of the lord of the gods through their merit, they enjoy in heaven the divine pleasures of the gods.

NoteVerses 20 and 21 describe those who follow the rituals of the Vedas for the sake of heaven. Heaven is real in the verse but not final, since merit runs out and the person returns. The verse does not reject ritual. It points to something beyond it.

ते तं भुक्त्वा स्वर्गलोकं विशालं क्षीणे पुण्ये मर्त्यलोकं विशन्ति
एवं त्रयीधर्ममनुप्रपन्ना गतागतं कामकामा लभन्ते ॥ ९.२१ ॥

Te tam bhuktva svargalokam vishalam kshine punye martyalokam vishanti
Evam trayidharmam anuprapanna gatagatam kamakama labhante

MeaningHaving enjoyed that vast world of heaven, they enter the world of mortals when their merit is used up. So those who follow the dharma of the three Vedas and desire desires gain going and coming.

अनन्याश्चिन्तयन्तो मां ये जनाः पर्युपासते
तेषां नित्याभियुक्तानां योगक्षेमं वहाम्यहम् ॥ ९.२२ ॥

Ananyash chintayanto mam ye janah paryupasate
Tesham nityabhiyuktanam yogakshemam vahamy aham

MeaningThose people who think of me with no other thought and worship me, to those who are always devoted I bring what they lack and keep safe what they have.

NoteThe phrase yogakshema, getting what is lacking and keeping what is already held, is one of the most quoted in the Gita. In the tradition it is read as the Lord's promise of care for the devoted.

येऽप्यन्यदेवता भक्ता यजन्ते श्रद्धयान्विताः
तेऽपि मामेव कौन्तेय यजन्त्यविधिपूर्वकम् ॥ ९.२३ ॥

Ye 'py anyadevata bhakta yajante shraddhayanvitah
Te 'pi mam eva kaunteya yajanty avidhipurvakam

MeaningEven devotees of other gods who worship with faith, Kaunteya, worship me alone, though not in the way laid down.

NoteThis verse says that worship of other deities with faith still reaches the Lord, though not by the straight way. It should be read with 7.20 to 7.23, which speak of the limits of such worship. Readers in the tradition take the two passages together as respect for other forms of worship while holding that the Lord is the real object of all of them.

अहं हि सर्वयज्ञानां भोक्ता च प्रभुरेव च
न तु मामभिजानन्ति तत्त्वेनातश्च्यवन्ति ते ॥ ९.२४ ॥

Aham hi sarvayajnanam bhokta cha prabhur eva cha
Na tu mam abhijananti tattvenatash chyavanti te

MeaningFor I am the enjoyer of all sacrifices and also their Lord. But they do not know me as I am, and so they fall away.

यान्ति देवव्रता देवान्पितॄन्यान्ति पितृव्रताः
भूतानि यान्ति भूतेज्या यान्ति मद्याजिनोऽपि माम् ॥ ९.२५ ॥

Yanti devavrata devan pitrin yanti pitrivratah
Bhutani yanti bhutejya yanti madyajino 'pi mam

MeaningWorshippers of the gods go to the gods, worshippers of the ancestors go to the ancestors, worshippers of spirits go to the spirits, and those who worship me come to me.

पत्रं पुष्पं फलं तोयं यो मे भक्त्या प्रयच्छति
तदहं भक्त्युपहृतमश्नामि प्रयतात्मनः ॥ ९.२६ ॥

Patram pushpam phalam toyam yo me bhaktya prayachchhati
Tad aham bhaktyupahritam ashnami prayatatmanah

MeaningA leaf, a flower, a fruit or water: whoever offers me one of these with devotion, I accept that offering made with love by a pure-hearted person.

NoteThis is the best known verse of the chapter. It stresses that what the Lord receives is the devotion with which a gift is made, and that anyone can make such an offering. In Hindu worship the leaf, flower, fruit and water are still the basic offerings of the home shrine.

यत्करोषि यदश्नासि यज्जुहोषि ददासि यत्
यत्तपस्यसि कौन्तेय तत्कुरुष्व मदर्पणम् ॥ ९.२७ ॥

Yat karoshi yad ashnasi yaj juhoshi dadasi yat
Yat tapasyasi kaunteya tat kurushva madarpanam

MeaningWhatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer in sacrifice, whatever you give away, whatever austerity you practise, Kaunteya, do it as an offering to me.

NoteThe verse takes the idea of offering from the shrine into the whole of life. Eating, working, giving and austerity are all to be done as an offering. It is the same teaching as 3.30 and 4.24, said in a warmer voice.

शुभाशुभफलैरेवं मोक्ष्यसे कर्मबन्धनैः
संन्यासयोगयुक्तात्मा विमुक्तो मामुपैष्यसि ॥ ९.२८ ॥

Shubhashubhaphalair evam mokshyase karmabandhanaih
Sannyasayogayuktatma vimukto mam upaishyasi

MeaningIn this way you will be freed from the bonds of action, with its good and bad fruits. With a self joined in the yoga of renunciation, you will be free and will come to me.

समोऽहं सर्वभूतेषु न मे द्वेष्योऽस्ति न प्रियः
ये भजन्ति तु मां भक्त्या मयि ते तेषु चाप्यहम् ॥ ९.२९ ॥

Samo 'ham sarvabhuteshu na me dveshyo 'sti na priyah
Ye bhajanti tu mam bhaktya mayi te teshu chapy aham

MeaningI am the same to all beings. None is hateful to me and none is dear. But those who worship me with devotion are in me, and I am in them.

NoteThe Lord is said to be the same to all beings, and the devotee is said to be in him and he in the devotee. The verse puts equality and closeness side by side.

अपि चेत्सुदुराचारो भजते मामनन्यभाक्
साधुरेव स मन्तव्यः सम्यग्व्यवसितो हि सः ॥ ९.३० ॥

Api chet suduracharo bhajate mam ananyabhak
Sadhur eva sa mantavyah samyag vyavasito hi sah

MeaningEven if a person of very bad conduct worships me with devotion to no other, that person is to be thought of as good, for the resolve is right.

NoteA verse often quoted for its hope. It says that even a person of poor conduct is to be regarded as good once the resolve to worship is right. The point is the direction of the person, not a ruling on past conduct.

क्षिप्रं भवति धर्मात्मा शश्वच्छान्तिं निगच्छति
कौन्तेय प्रतिजानीहि न मे भक्तः प्रणश्यति ॥ ९.३१ ॥

Kshipram bhavati dharmatma shashvachchhantim nigachchhati
Kaunteya pratijanihi na me bhaktah pranashyati

MeaningQuickly such a person becomes devoted to dharma and reaches lasting peace. Know this for certain, Kaunteya: my devotee is not lost.

मां हि पार्थ व्यपाश्रित्य येऽपि स्युः पापयोनयः
स्त्रियो वैश्यास्तथा शूद्रास्तेऽपि यान्ति परां गतिम् ॥ ९.३२ ॥

Mam hi partha vyapashritya ye 'pi syuh papayonayah
Striyo vaishyas tatha shudras te 'pi yanti param gatim

MeaningFor those who take refuge in me, Partha, even those who are born in lowly wombs, women, traders and servants as well, reach the highest goal.

NoteThe verse speaks in the social terms of its day, naming those born in lowly wombs, women, traders and servants. The words reflect the assumptions of the time and are not ones we would use. The teaching of the verse itself is clear: no birth, sex or station shuts anyone out from the highest goal.

किं पुनर्ब्राह्मणाः पुण्या भक्ता राजर्षयस्तथा
अनित्यमसुखं लोकमिमं प्राप्य भजस्व माम् ॥ ९.३३ ॥

Kim punar brahmanah punya bhakta rajarshayas tatha
Anityam asukham lokam imam prapya bhajasva mam

MeaningHow much more, then, the virtuous brahmins and the devoted royal sages. Having come into this passing and joyless world, worship me.

मन्मना भव मद्भक्तो मद्याजी मां नमस्कुरु
मामेवैष्यसि युक्त्वैवमात्मानं मत्परायणः ॥ ९.३४ ॥

Manmana bhava madbhakto madyaji mam namaskuru
Mam evaishyasi yuktvaivam atmanam matparayanah

MeaningFix your mind on me, be devoted to me, offer worship to me and bow to me. Joining yourself to me in this way, with me as your highest aim, you will come to me alone.

NoteThe chapter ends with four commands, to fix the mind on the Lord, to be his devotee, to worship and to bow. Verse 18.65, near the end of the Gita, repeats the first line word for word.