Lord Krishna said: I shall explain to you this most secret knowledge, as you are free from envy. By gaining this knowledge, along with its realization, you will be totally freed from all kinds of inauspiciousness.

Krishna steps into a new phase of exposition, without any prompting from Arjuna. Wholesome and insistent he is in fulfilling the spiritual Teacher's role. Grief having been redressed, Arjuna is posing as a full seeker of śreyas, supreme felicity. This is solely a spiritual quest, Krishna meets in all fullness, raising the dialogue from a mere discussion on fighting. Krishna reinforces Arjuna with far greater knowledge. Krishna is going to expose besides knowledge, vijñāna, experiential knowledge, the crowning spirituality! Self-knowledge is not like any other knowledge. It is the knowledge about one's own real identity. It has to be realized as such.

A kingly knowledge, a kingly secret, this is the best purifier, directly experiential, the very law of being, comfortable to practise and imperishable too.

Krishna has already described yogic pursuit as a treasure and legacy of the Kings (4.1,2). Arjuna's ancestors lost it due to the ravages of time and hence he somehow missed it, making him suffer the way he did after having arrived in Kurukṣetra to fight the most consequential war of his life. Krishna calls Self-knowledge a royal possession and hence a great secret, hard to access, like any vital regal matter. Having to fulfil the duties of kingship, including punishment to the wrong-doers, kings found shelter under the enlightening grace of Self-knowledge to purify their mind and sublimate their heart. Unlike the ritualistic rewards, the seeker can directly experience the Self. The practice of Self-knowledge makes interactional life relieving, reassuring and pleasant. It is free from the defects of loss of effort and adverse outcome, as explained in the beginning (2.40). Yoga-sādhanā is thus easy, comfortable and fulfilling for all.

O scorcher of foes (Arjuna), those humans who are inattentive and averse to the pursuit of yoga-sādhanā, unable to reach Me (the Supreme), return to the worldly path of recurring deaths.

Krishna is firm to make Arjuna and others discreet about the need to ascend to the transcendental level. Krishna reiterates this point. To be indifferent to yoga-sādhanā is to remain trapped in ephemerality, disregarding the place and purpose of human life as set forth clearly in Vedas, especially the Upaniṣhads. The sole mission of Upaniṣhads is to enlighten seekers. Upaniṣhadic exhortations will enhance viveka (discrimination), making one accept the indispensability of the knowledge-path leading to the Supreme. Inattention and lack of viveka will result in missing the greatness and blissfulness of the Self, which Upaniṣhads expose vociferously. As a result, one will remain enmeshed in the transitory gains here and hereafter. The misplaced addiction to rituals will continue, and consequently one will remain a victim to the cycle of births and deaths.

(Identifying himself with the Supreme, Krishna says:) This entire Universe is permeated by My unmanifest aspect. All beings inhere in Me, but I do not abide in them.

As spirituality deals with our life's needs and fulfilment, it has to explain the mystery of creation to the seeker's satisfaction. Thus Krishna explains how the whole world manifests. He says that he, in his unmanifest form pervades the whole world. All beings are hence subsisting on him. But he does not dwell in them. Can such a state be? Any inference can be adduced only on the grounds of experiential data. Between wakeful and sleep states, we have dream, solely an inner creation. It also has all wakeful factors like time, space, objects and personality. And they are valid, effective and fulfilling too in dream, as they are wakeful elements are in their state. On waking up, dream objects disappear, but not mind, their creator. Likewise, wakeful objects disappear when one sleeps. But the sleeper rises to display waking objects again. Thus objects rest on the mind, but the mind does not rest on objects.

Lo, the beings verily do not abide in Me (the Supreme); see My Inscrutable Power. Though the Supreme creates and sustains the creation, It does not abide in it! (This is the wonder of the whole creational display.)

Krishna first said all existences, objects, are in him, the inner Subject, the Supreme. Now he adds that even the objects do not exist in the Supreme. This is the ultimate Truth, revelation, springing from Self-realization. Every experience, sensory or inner, is of, in and by the 'I'. Your inside alone makes and becomes the object imprint. So, even the objects do not have any distinct existence. The sole purpose of the dream state is to reveal this fact. If 'I', Consciousness, can equally display dream in and of itself, it can equally display waking too, with greater focus. This unveils the contradictory, inexplicable nature of creation. Spirituality is the science and art of turning to the Subject within from the objects without, and realizing the truth of the fictitious object-display by the subject Self. In terms of experience, it is indisputable.

Know that just as the ever present, all-pervading, mighty air inheres in ākāśa (space), so too all beings inhere in Me, the Supreme.

Whenever it is difficult to grasp an idea, knowledge or truth conveyed, a suitable simile makes the process easier. Examples help effective communication. Krishna states that unlike earth, water and fire, air is invisible, though present around earth, water and fire. Our skin and eyes feel the impact of air. Space, though invisible, can still be sensed. As is air established in space, so are objects existing in the Supreme. Here the word ‘bhūta’ denotes small and big objects of existence, including the pañca-bhūtas. Of the five bhūtas (elements), four inhere in space. But where does space itself inhere? Yet, space is truly inferable. In human life, inference and sensory perception should go hand in gloves with each other. That alone will make human life complete, and our perception effective and fulfilling. The Soul is inferred first and then realized directly.

All beings, O Kaunteya (Arjuna), attain to My nature at the end of the kalpa, and at the beginning of kalpa I release them again.

Krishna cites Brahma's day, kalpa, which is 72 million ṣaṣṭhi-saṁvatsaras (human 60-year cycles), on the basis of which Vedic rituals are performed - a traditional practice in vogue in Bharat. Each of these 60-year cycles has a distinct name. The cycle begins with Prabhava, the first, and ends with Akshaya, the last. Krishna says the Supreme absorbs all beings at the end of a kalpa and releases them at the beginning of next kalpa. The gap in between is left to one's conjecture. Such stupendous reckoning shows the true relevance and merit of the yogic pursuit. If beings go on meandering within the creational fold due to lack of viveka (discrimination) as mentioned earlier (8.18-28), the choice before the intelligent is to pursue viveka discarding everything else. Reflect upon the 'I', the imperishable Self it denotes. With the senses, one distinguishes colours and shapes. With intelligence, he should discriminate the lasting from the fleeting and realize the Consciousness animating the body.

I, as the Supreme, by animating My Prakṛti (Nature), release this entire aggregate of beings helpless by the force of Prakṛti, again and again.

Prakṛti (Nature) is an aggregate, and the Supreme is the singular animator of it. Prakṛti itself cannot do anything. It consists of matter and energy, and the various forms and functions they are led to. Once they are animated and propelled, multiple series of products and processes irresistibly come to play, resulting in a host of cycles big and small, long and short, kalpa being the biggest conceivable of these. It is like mammals and humans giving birth to children through a process, and the children growing and becoming parents themselves. Children and grandchildren become themselves grandparents. The sequences of growth, events and fruitions take place within this broad cycle of emergence and subsidence, kalpa marking a definite end for the whole display. In this course, the conscious Supreme animates Prakṛti, resulting in evolution of matter, energy and beings, leading to dissolution of everything at the end of the kalpa.

Those acts (of creation and dissolution) do not affect and bind Me, O Dhananjaya (Arjuna). For I am seated with lofty indifference, not clinging to those actions.

Creation abounds in amazing variety ranging from the best of goodness and beauty, to the worst of cruelty and ugliness. It needs everything. All must thrive alike, radiating the sweet, mysterious harmony. During interactions, doubts and enquiries may grip the mind, leading to despair and dejection. Then one can only turn to their sole cause and source to be assuaged and enlightened! If the human heart feels so much distress, how much should the Creator feel! Krishna says that as the originator and sustainer of all, he courts neither grief nor doubt and vacillation, as he remains neutral at heart, fostering no delusional clinging to the whole task - a point he has been stressing all along (5.14-15). For the human too, this is the way for redemption, to be divine and transcendent like the Supreme itself!

O Kaunteya, with My presidency, Nature gives birth to mobile and immobile creation. By this pro-creational process the world goes on cyclically.

Understanding the impersonal, impartial and absolute character of the Supreme is crucial in spirituality (5.14, 15). Right from birth our association with the world, consisting of mobile and immobile entities, is the source for all our knowledge. The mobile is an outcome of impregnation and delivery, a visible, pronounced process. But this is not in the immobile domain, where the inert cause-effect chain prevails. In order to show the tiny star Arundhati to the new bride coming home, she is first shown a big star with the help of a branch of a tree. Then her vision is guided to the next one close to it. The gaze is then taken to still closer and further closer stars, until the targeted one is noticed. Krishna's disclosure is also alike. Mere presence of the Supreme empowers Prakṛti to become the multi-splendoured creation. All changes transpire within Prakṛti alone, and nothing happens to the imperishable Source (9.9).

Seeing Me, the Supreme, as having taken a human form, fools disregard Me, not knowing My superior state as the Great Lord of the entire Creation.

Krishna, like any other person, had a gross body with senses, mind, intelligence, ego and the Soul - the substratum of all. Body is obviously human, which alone the others can readily see. The body is limited like all others' bodies. Any greater potential or character can only be in the inner personality, which too is the same for all. The lordship Krishna speaks about can only be about the all-pervading Soul within, which ordinary people are ignorant about. Knowledge of the Self makes Krishna speak about Its higher spiritual dimensions. As the body bestows human form, the Soul imbues divine dimensions. In fact, whatever character, quality and magnificence one has can only be due to the external and internal personality he has, a fundamental point the seeker should not miss at any time.

With vain desires, activities and knowledge, devoid of discrimination, they resort to a delusive demoniacal and fiendish nature.

Krishna uses very strong words to describe those who given to disregard and doubt, cavil at the spiritual and divine status of human body, a residence for the all-pervading spiritual presence - the Soul. Deluded in every way, they foster wicked and destructive hopes and desires. They have no appeal for discretion or discrimination. Maleficence takes over their thoughts, words and deeds. They will not listen to what others say, holding what they feel and think alone to be correct, thus closing the door for correction or improvement. The tendency to speak ill of others, especially of great and noble souls, is very strong with the deluded. Krishna calls their nature demoniacal and fiendish, caused by excessive predominance of rajo-guṇa and tamo-guṇa. Harshness, anger, hatred and intolerance are the consequence. Krishna describes such nature and tendencies as rākṣasī and āsurī, destructive to the core.

On the other hand, O Partha, the high-souled ones graced with divine nature, worship Me, the Supreme, with exclusive mind, knowing that the imperishable Supreme is the source of all Creation.

While the wicked have their way of ridicule and disregard, the noble, imbued with divine nature, have their exclusive regard, piety and devotion for the Supreme. They worship the Supreme, with all their mind, heart and intelligence. As a result, their worship imbues their mind with superb qualities and powers, which begin to manifest copiously. The character, behaviour and interaction of these exclusive worshippers become singularly enriching to others as to themselves. Rather than being merely devotees, loving and worshipping the Supreme, they imbibe exemplary ways in thought, speech and actions, inspiring and becoming models for others to emulate. They see clearly that the source of Creation is the Supreme, which is but the greater dimension of the body-different soul. Yes, the subtle spiritual presence within every one’s body, the Ātmā, is itself the Supreme.

Singing constantly about Me (the Supreme), striving steadfastly, prostrating regularly with devotion, they worship Me (the Supreme) ever anchored in Yoga.

Krishna describes how the high-souled devotees worship the Supreme and remain constantly united with Its presence. Every day sixteen to seventeen hours, one is awake and active. During this spell, besides attending to the bodily needs like bathing, dressing, eating, etc., domestic, professional and societal activities and interactions take place regularly. All activities are complementary to each other. Everything is within the fold of the Supreme. So in everything is the Supreme present. This thought will vacate all sense of disconnection from the Supreme. Bonded with earth, air, water and food, and surrounded by space, the devotee feels he is floating in the Supreme. Humility and grace filling his heart give rise to exhilaration and enlightenment. He feels united incessantly with the Supreme, which allows no outside or inside.

Others worship Me (the Supreme) through knowledge-sacrifice, jñāna-yajña, contemplating upon Me as all-formed, also as singular, different and universal in expression.

After referring to the devotional ways of worship, Krishna speaks about Jñāna-yajña or knowledge-sacrifice, which is superior to material-sacrifice (4.33). The Supreme is all; everything is the Supreme Itself. The Supreme is universal in Its nature and magnitude, but It manifests in the form of umpteen entities, none of which is different from It. This is more an assessment and finding the mind accepts, letting all its differential notions subside completely. While the worship mentioned earlier is oral and sensory, this is fully inner, based on the mind and intelligence. The worshipper develops the strength and compulsion to drop his delusional clinging and imbibes purity and wholesomeness to accept the new vision, and get settled in it. As the Self is in oneself and all, the mind learns to feel and find Its universality.

I (the Supreme) am the kratu (a Vedic rite), I am the yajña (the smṛtis prescribe). I am the offering to departed souls, and all the herbs and medicinal plants. I am mantra (the invocational word) as well as the ghee offered to sacrificial fire. I am the fire into which oblations are made, as also the materials offered to sacrificial fire.

Krishna shows how the Supreme is manifest as all constituents of the world, all one uses in his life. Yajña denotes Vedic and allied sacrifices. But Krishna covers under yajña the whole variety of religio-devotional pursuits, with or without materials (4.29-33). He also includes all materials offered to departed souls, although they form a different category. All herbs and medicinal plants are also the Supreme's manifestation. Sounds and words uttered in religious performances, including prayers and praises, are invocations. Krishna sums up everything and all - yajñas (sacrifices) including the fire in the ceremonial altar, the ghee (purified butter) and all the items poured as oblation - as the Supreme itself!

I (the Supreme) am the father of the world, the mother, sustainer and the grandfather; and also the one factor to be known, the most purifying, the auspicious monosyllable OM, the Rik, Sāma and Yajur vedas.

Krishna describes the Supreme as the father, mother, protector and grandfather of the world, so as to make one’s relationship with the Supreme closest, natural and wholesome. Self in all beings is the same. One should feel the Supreme is like his father, mother or grandfather. Supreme alone sustains one and all. Be close to the Supreme; feeling no let or hindrance. Intimacy and sincerity should underscore the relationship, and all fear, doubt and distance, if any, should dissolve. Krishna describes the Supreme as the only factor to be sought and known, as Shaunaka submitted before Angiras in Mundakopanishad: “Tell me by knowing which will all this be known”. The Supreme is the subject of search and enquiry, closest to the intelligence. It is the purifying OM. It is the Rik, Yajus and Sāma Vedas. Nothing is besides the Supreme.

The Supreme is the goal, the sustainer, the Lord and the witness. It is the ultimate abode, refuge, benefactor friend, the source, terminus, substratum, the treasure-house, and the imperishable seed of all.

Krishna brings the Supreme closer and closer to the seeker, making him feel all the assurance, relief and promise. He describes the Supreme as the path as well as the goal of life, as the substratum of creation as well as destruction of all. It is the only Lord of the world, and witness of everything. The Supreme is the eternal refuge and abode of all - the one benefactor friend in every plight and mission. The Supreme is the indestructible seed for the mobile and immobile creation. The entire evanescent variety is Its display. None gets disconnected ever from the Supreme, as It is the sole sustenance of all. As to one’s family member, so to the Supreme as well, one can fondly look to. Feel the Supreme’s embrace in calamity and fortune, success and failure, alike. And feel free, easy, relaxed and safe. What a lofty state will it verily be!

I (the Supreme) am the source of heat for the entire Universe. I release rain and also withhold it. I am immortality and death alike, O Arjuna, I am existence as well as non-existence.

The world is a manifestation of the Supreme. All the things, big and small, are a mere display like the dream objects within one’s body. All powers, properties and expressions, subtle or gross, simple or complex, are sourced by the same Supreme. Heat and energy, essential for life and creation, is generated and preserved by the Supreme. The Supreme equally releases and withholds rains. There is nothing in the world the Supreme does not source. Krishna adds that the mortal body and immortal Soul are at once the Supreme’s display. Existence and non-existence too inhere in the Supreme. In short, every entity, expression and function are of the Supreme, confirming in every way our total connection with the Supreme, giving no scope to miss Its presence the least.

Those following the three Vedas, purged of sins by propitiating Me through Yajñas and drinking the sacrificial soma juice, pray for heavenly life. Gaining virtue they reach Indra's holy abode and enjoy the celestial delights.

Krishna delineates how the lovers of Vedic rituals are deluded in their understanding, estimation and hopes. Believing literally in what the Vedas state, they take to rituals and feel they will go to higher regions to enjoy the celestial delights, reserved for the holy and pious. All the rewards rituals promise can be had only after the body falls, when the whole experientiality ends. Any statements made about one’s life thereafter are speculative and imaginary. Krishna, without upsetting such beliefs, discreetly shows how they are hollow, and how those allured by them are utterly deceived.

After enjoying the vast heavenly abode, when the religious merit which took them there gets exhausted, they return to the fleeting human world. Thus, taking to the life envisaged in the three Vedas, those desirous of endless enjoyment, remain subjected to the cycle of life and death, going and coming.

Krishna showed the rewards for rituals, only to reveal how flimsy they are. The foolish and short-sighted alone will woo them. The rewards promised are all posthumous, about which none can be sure. This itself is sufficient to eschew them outright. Dwellers in the higher regions have to fall steeply. This is a cycle. We are already here as part of this cyclic process. Of what greater use are rituals then - an echo of Mundakopanishad (1.2.7). It is like grinding the already ground! The discreet will never be deluded by it.

Those who worship Me (the Supreme) in and through everything, considering Me non-different from themselves, remaining ever connected with Me, for them I ensure total welfare (yoga & kshema).

Here is an assurance Krishna gives for devotees and seekers. It is of immense value, as it takes away the undue concern of seekers and devotees about the undulating course of their life, which generally tends to make them insecure on many accounts. True devotion is a flow of the mind, filled with the thoughts of one's goal, refuge and anchor. Once this is strong, unfaltering, that itself is sufficient to ensure the safety and fulfilment the seekers look for. The Supreme itself will see that such wholesome devotion is led to its own destined completion and fulfilment. One's welfare consists in the safety of whatever he has in the way of external and internal possessions (kshema), and then in getting whatever he needs for his progress and fulfilment (yoga). Krishna says the Supreme will ensure both these, yoga-kshema. All that is needed is to make one's devotion exclusive and unbroken.

O Kaunteya, even those devotees who worship other deities with śraddhā (assiduousness), are also worshipping Me (the Supreme) alone, though improperly.

O Kaunteya, even those devotees who worship other deities with śraddhā (assiduousness), are also worshipping Me (the Supreme) alone, though improperly. Worship is a process to get connected with whoever is worshipped. This linking has to be in one's own inner being, the mind. Any external effort is at best a help to involve the mind. Hence Krishna said that exclusive application of mind and thoughts is the essence of devotion. Why then so many elaborate ways of worship, using flowers, milk, ghee, honey, and so many ceremonial arrangements and symbols? It is only to collect and fix the mind on the act of worship. Devotees find it hard to access and apply the inner mind without these aids. God being omnipresent, none of these is necessary for real worship. For, whatever is done as worship, actually acts on the devotee himself, just as decorations done to the face reflected in the mirror fall on one's own face. Thus a variety of elaborate practices came into vogue. Krishna does not wish to deride them, but wants to point the truth about them.

I (the Supreme) am the only enjoyer and Lord of all sacrifices. But people do not know Me essentially like this, and hence they fall away from Me.

There is no need to conceive many deities and powers. If you pour water at the bottom of a tree, it will reach and serve all its parts, including leaves, buds, flowers and fruits. Propitiating the Supreme is like this, as everything is its manifestation alone. Knowing the Supreme in this light is the right spiritual knowledge. People fail in this, and consequently indulge in multifarious worship practices, thinking that each of them has its special result. As desires are manifold, the worship they trigger also becomes variegated. The outcome is that the devotional effort, instead of being singular, exclusive and non-dual, becomes manifold. Plural involvement contradicts the very concept of the Supreme, and hence the worshippers of plural deities fall away from the true objective of devotion, viz. realization of God, the Self. Lack of right understanding is the sole cause of this plight.

Those given to worship heavenly deities attain to them, those taking to the manes, reach them. Worshippers of the spirits get to their abode. And those worshipping Me (the Supreme), attain Me.

How well Krishna explains the outcomes of different forms of worship! In all worship, worshipper’s mind alone determines the outcome. What one arduously thinks, he verily becomes. Such is the law governing the human mind and its working. This is true of the domain of devotion and worship too. Thus, different kinds of worshippers are led to their respective outcomes. The mind, with its special fascinations and addictions, chooses different forms, seeking imaginary fulfilment here and hereafter. Obviously all these attainments are after one’s body falls, hence not experiential, unverifiable, whereas worshippers of the omnipresent Supreme realize the Self here in this life. All other worship has an imaginary fruition, but that of the Supreme is experiential, doubtless! In grasping this difference well, lies the effectiveness, success and glory of spiritual pursuit!

Whoever offers to Me (the Supreme) a leaf, flower, fruit or even water, devotionally with a pure and disciplined mind, I consume (accept) that devotional offering with great relish.

This is a very revealing statement, wherein Krishna spells out what makes any offer acceptable and gratifying to the Lord. The Supreme does not look for any material from any devotee. For, He is full by Himself. All materials are God’s own creation. Material offers are meant only to generate and intensify devotion, welling forth from the devotee’s heart. None of them is meant for the Supreme’s use, consumption! Use a simple leaf, flower or fruit. If none of these is available, take some water – but smear it with devotion. Krishna adds that you should have a pure mind, given to discipline, restraint and sublimity. God partakes of only the devotion that the devotee besmears the materials with. A point of immense relevance, to revolutionize the entire devotional life!

O Kaunteya, whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever oblation you offer to fire, whatever you give as dāna or gift, whatever austerity you perform, make it all a wholesome offering to Me (the Supreme).

Once the devotee understands the supreme Lord his worship also undergoes a change. Since the Supreme is omnipresent, hence impersonal, he has to think of upgrading his worship accordingly. No time, effort, place or purpose is besides the Supreme’s orbit. God being everywhere, everything belongs to Him. Where, how and on what account can the devotee keep God away or be separate from him even for a moment? Thus, Krishna says, one should stop thinking of giving the Supreme anything special, any time and in any place. Instead, the devotee’s attention must be to make his offer wholesome, unbroken. He should make whatever he does, a direct offering to God without any distinction whatever. Whatever you do, eat, offer into fire, gift, do as austerity, make it all a full offering to the Supreme. Remain interwoven with the Supreme all along!

Thus you will be freed from all bondages caused by the results of good and bad actions, virtue and vice. Anchored to the spirit of renunciation, feeling utterly free, you will attain Me (the Supreme).

How well does Krishna, as a spiritual instructor, lift the seeker from the entire shackles of sin and virtue, good and bad results of whatever he does. He first asked Arjuna to smear all his material offers with the devotion of his heart, emphasizing that devotion alone the Supreme looks for and accepts. Then he asks the seeker to transform all actions as devotional offering by dedicating them uniformly to the Supreme. He now says this wholesome dedication alone will liberate the seeker from all the mento-intellectual shackles arising from the feelings of sin and virtue, good and bad. Krishna adds, as he had propounded right in the beginning: This is the essence of inner renunciation – making all dual notions extinct, imbuing a singular note of spiritual sublimity and wholesomeness – whereby one attains the Supreme.

I, the Supreme, reign equally in all beings. None is especially hatable or lovable for Me. However, those devoted heartily to Me, abide in Me, and I too in them.

As devotion grows, the devotee will feel more and more identity with the object of his devotion, thereby imbibing greater and greater values, virtues and enrichments, which God embodies in Himself. By saying he has no special love or hatred for anyone, Krishna means the devotee too should have the same quality. He should be equally disposed to all, despite their behavioural variances. To meet variety is a great opportunity, nay compulsion, to outlive constrictions and grow harmony. Samatva-buddhi-yoga is the refinement Krishna has been stressing throughout this dialogue. This is best tested and perfected in dealing with people of different dispositions and tendencies (6.9). At the same time, Krishna points that he is close to those who seek him fondly. Be close to those, who are fond of you. That is ample enough for a fulfilling life.

Even if one given to extremely evil conduct, seeks Me (the Supreme) with unflinching devotion, he has to be regarded as noble; for, he is well resolved.

Krishna makes it clear that spirituality and devotion are open to all alike. Sinfulness is no bar to it. Somehow one must take to devotion and cultivate it exclusively. If and when one is able to feel exclusive devotion, then that supersedes all other considerations and demerits. Such a devotee is to be regarded as noble. Because he has taken the right resolve, which even the noble often fail to, with their professed merits. To have exclusive devotion is rare indeed. The very object of being good and noble is actually to be fit for exclusive devotion. Out of great fortune and some deeper qualities, one becomes such a desirable devotee. And on this ground, he admittedly becomes noble. Often the virtuous find it hard to make such a resolve, whereas this person, despite his unfavourable past, stands resolved and committed.

Very soon he becomes a righteous soul, and gets lasting peace. O Arjuna, swear on My behalf that My devotee (one devoted to the Supreme) never perishes.

Krishna adds that such a one, no matter what he has been earlier in his life and ways, soon becomes a righteous soul, deserving permanent peace and quietude. Often the virtuous people become complacent, even conceited, by their virtuous disposition and the few noble deeds they have done. And this hinders their growth. The constriction continues indefinitely. Whereas here is one who yearns for purity and the blessedness of devotion. The thought of the misdeeds done, if at all, now urges him to be totally wedded to righteousness and devotion. It leads him to permanent peace - a reward people everywhere aspire for, but are found rarely to win! Krishna wants Arjuna to swear on his behalf that the devotee of the Supreme never perishes. An assurance many look for and cherish heartily! These assurances and promises make the message dear and valuable!

By taking to the path of one-pointed devotion to Me (the Supreme), O Partha, even those of vicious wombs, women, vaiśyās and śūdras attain the Supreme.

Krishna points with special emphasis how all-embracing the path of devotion to the Supreme is. Even those held as sinful have full place in the lap of the Supreme. By embracing the all-pure Supreme, all the sins are transformed into wholesome purity and blessedness, as firewood embraced by blazing fire turns into ash. Those were the days when the trading, farming and working communities generally stayed away from religious and ritualistic pursuits, as their minds and hearts were overwhelmed with secular ambitions and tasks. Women busy with the household work were also distanced from religious ceremonies. If those, keeping away from the path of piety, take to intense devotion to the Supreme, they all will succeed in attaining their goal. Everyone of them attains the Supreme, even while living in this world. The reward they win is unlike what Vedas promise to grace one with, after the body falls. It is instantaneous and experiential.

What to speak then of holy brāhmaṇas, pious devotees and royal saints? Having come to this fleeting world, devoid of happiness, worship Me, the Supreme.

Krishna, as a true instructor, exhorts Arjuna, and all like him, in very clear terms what they should do having been born here in this world. If even vicious people find it safe to foster exclusive devotion to the Supreme, why should there be any second thought for celebrated brāhmaṇas and the warrior community like Arjuna's to take to such worship, asks Krishna pertinently to inspire Arjuna. Exclusive devotion has the power to enrich and empower the mind so greatly, that everyone will feel drawn to it without any resistance. The effect will be more when one ponders how fleeting and devoid of true happiness the world is. How well does Krishna instil discrimination and dispassion in Arjuna and similar seekers! Sādhanā advances and fruitions much faster with dispassion. Comparisons and contrasts like this provide an additional inspiration.

Fix the mind in Me (the Supreme), be My devotee, offer everything to Me, pay obeisance to Me. By dint of the resultant integration, making Me as the sole refuge, you will attain Me.

Krishna has explained conclusively how the Supreme is the sole source, sustenance and refuge of the whole world, and all that it has evolved and is preserving. He also showed how Vedic injunctions only bring a fate of going up and coming down repeatedly. Manifold ritualistic means are short-sighted, and bring downfall. The right course is to turn away from everything else, and fix the mind fully on the Supreme. Such exclusiveness alone will lift the devotee safely to be one with the Supreme. In thoughts, words, deeds, dedication and goal, one should have only the Supreme - Its "supreme-ness". Then that will make him one with the Supreme, not to be separated any more. This is the last note of fullness, abundance, the ecstasy of freedom and oneness! The last note of genuine human fulfilment!