Vyasa · a new plain-English translation from the Sanskrit
9.1 The Blessed Lord said: To you, who do not envy, I will now declare this most secret knowledge together with realization, knowing which you will be released from evil.
9.2 This is the royal knowledge, the royal secret, the purest and highest; it is directly realizable, in accord with dharma, easy to practice, and imperishable.
9.3 Men without faith in this dharma fail to reach me, Parantapa, and return to the path of death and samsara.
9.4 All this world is pervaded by me in my unmanifest form; all beings dwell in me, but I do not dwell in them.
9.5 And yet beings do not dwell in me — behold my sovereign power! My self sustains beings and brings them into being, yet does not dwell in them.
9.6 Just as the great wind, moving everywhere, always rests in space, know that in the same way all beings rest in me.
9.7 All beings, Kaunteya, pass into my nature at the end of a cosmic cycle; at the beginning of the next cycle, I send them forth again.
9.8 Presiding over my own nature, I send forth again and again this whole multitude of beings, powerless, under the control of nature.
9.9 Nor do these actions bind me, Dhananjaya, for I remain as if indifferent, unattached to those actions.
9.10 Under my supervision, nature brings forth all things, moving and unmoving; by this cause, Kaunteya, the world turns round.
9.11 Fools disregard me when I take on a human form, not knowing my higher state as the great lord of beings.
9.12 Their hopes vain, their actions vain, their knowledge vain, senseless, they take refuge in a deluding nature that is demonic and fiendish.
9.13 But great souls, Partha, taking refuge in the divine nature, worship me with minds fixed on nothing else, knowing me as the imperishable source of beings.
9.14 Constantly glorifying me, striving with firm vows, bowing to me with devotion, ever disciplined, they revere me.
9.15 Others, too, worship me through the sacrifice of knowledge, as one, as many, and in many forms, facing every direction.
9.16 I am the ritual, I am the sacrifice, I am the offering to ancestors, I am the healing herb; I am the sacred formula, I am the clarified butter, I am the fire, I am the oblation.
9.17 I am the father of this world, the mother, the sustainer, the grandfather; I am that which is to be known, the sacred syllable Om, the Rig, the Sama, and the Yajur.
9.18 I am the goal, the sustainer, the lord, the witness, the abode, the refuge, the friend; I am the origin, the dissolution, the foundation, the treasure-house, the imperishable seed.
9.19 I give heat; I withhold and send forth the rain; I am immortality and also death; I am being and non-being, Arjuna.
9.20 Knowers of the three Vedas, drinkers of soma, purified of sin, worship me with sacrifices and pray for the way to heaven; having attained the meritorious world of Indra, they enjoy in heaven the divine pleasures of the gods.
9.21 Having enjoyed that vast heavenly world, when their merit is exhausted, they enter the world of mortals; thus following the dharma of the three Vedas, desiring desires, they obtain only coming and going.
9.22 For those who worship me alone, thinking of nothing else, ever disciplined, I secure what they lack and preserve what they have.
9.23 Even those devoted to other deities who worship them with faith, worship me alone, Kaunteya, though not according to the right way.
9.24 For I am the enjoyer and also the lord of all sacrifices; but they do not know me in truth, and so they fall.
9.25 Those who vow to the gods go to the gods; those who vow to the ancestors go to the ancestors; those who worship spirits go to the spirits; but those who worship me come to me.
9.26 Whoever offers me with devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or water, that offering of devotion from a pure-souled one I accept.
9.27 Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer in sacrifice, whatever you give, whatever austerity you practice, Kaunteya, do it as an offering to me.
9.28 Thus you will be released from the bonds of action, whether their fruits are good or evil; with your self disciplined in the yoga of renunciation, freed, you will come to me.
9.29 I am the same toward all beings; none is hateful or dear to me. But those who worship me with devotion are in me, and I am also in them.
9.30 Even if one of very evil conduct worships me, devoted to me alone, he must be regarded as righteous, for he has rightly resolved.
9.31 Quickly he becomes righteous of soul and attains lasting peace; know for certain, Kaunteya, that my devotee never perishes.
9.32 For those who take refuge in me, Partha, even those born of the womb of sin — women, merchants, and laborers — they too attain the highest goal.
9.33 How much more, then, virtuous brahmins and devoted royal seers! Having come to this fleeting and joyless world, worship me.
9.34 Fix your mind on me, be devoted to me, sacrifice to me, bow to me; having thus disciplined yourself, with me as your supreme goal, you will come to me.