The Utmost Secret and Supreme Knowledge of the Bhagavadgita

by Jayaram V

Notes: I have translated the Bhagavadgita twice. The first one was a loose translation. The second one was a word to word translation with a detailed commentary. The commentary is however different from what you will find here. In this section I will share with you my thoughts about the knowledge, philosophy and wisdom of the Bhagavadgita as I understand it from my perspective. Jayaram V

In the ninth chapter (9.1-3) of the Bhagavadgita, Lord Krishna reveals the utmost secret (guhya-tamam), or the supreme secret (raja-guhyam), which he calls supreme knowledge (raja-vidya), and describes it as sacred, supreme, directly knowable, righteous, blissful, and inexhaustible. What is this great secret? It is the knowledge of liberation or the knowledge that leads an individual soul directly to the highest Supreme Brahman. Krishna divides knowledge into higher and lower.

The lower knowledge is about rituals and worship of lower gods and demigods. He considers it vain knowledge, purposeless, senseless, demonic, evil and deluding. Hence, he says it leads to ignorance, delusion, and rebirth. The higher knowledge is the knowledge of Brahman as the inexhaustible source of all creation. The whole creation rests in Him. All beings reside in Him. He is their cause, sustainer, deluder, liberator, and destroyer.

The great souls (mahatmas) who know it worship only Brahman, renouncing the world. They take firms vows, practice austerities, offer obeisance with devotion and constantly meditate upon Him. Some of them worship Him by the sacrifice of knowledge (jnana-yajna), meditating upon Him as both One and many. Eventually, they become liberated from both good and bad karmas and go to Brahman only.

If you observe today's Hindu society, you will notice that most people, almost 98% of them fall in the first category. They go to temples, practice empty rituals, seek amulets and tantric charms, worship all types of divinities, gurus, guru-chelas, demi-gods, and even spirits. Often they become victims of false gurus and religious scams.

Since they keep pursuing egoistic desires and accumulate karmas they remian deluded and ignorant and do not attain liberation. Of course, they are better than atheists and irreligious people, but they need to advance into spirituality and worship the Supreme Being internally by meditating upon Him. They should work on their inner transformation, instead of running after worldly pleasures and vain desires.

<<Previous Next>>