Raja Vidya Raja Guhya Yoga

The Blessed Lord (Śrī Bhagavān) said: But this most secret thing I will declare to you, to the uncomplaining one: knowledge (jñāna) together with realization (vijñāna), having known which you will be freed from evil.

This is the royal knowledge (rājavidyā), the royal secret (rājaguhya), the supreme purifier. Understood by direct perception, endowed with duty (dharma), very easy to perform, and imperishable.

Men who are without faith (aśraddadhānāḥ) in this duty (dharma), O Scorcher of foes (Parantapa), Do not attain Me, and they return to the path of the cycle of death and rebirth (saṃsāra).

By Me all this world is pervaded, in My unmanifest form (avyaktamūrtinā). All beings abide in Me, but I do not abide in them.

And yet beings do not abide in Me; behold My lordly discipline (yogamaiśvaram)! Bearing beings but not abiding in beings, My self (ātman) is the cause of beings.

Just as the great wind constantly moving everywhere abides in space (ākāśa), So all beings abide in Me; understand this!

All beings, O son of Kunti (Kaunteya), go into My own nature (prakṛti), At the end of a cosmic cycle (kalpa); and them again I send forth at the beginning of a cycle.

Taking hold of My own nature (prakṛti), I send forth again and again, This entire multitude of beings, helplessly, by the force of nature (prakṛti).

And these actions (karmāṇi) do not bind Me, O Winner of wealth (Dhanañjaya), Sitting as one indifferent, unattached to those actions.

With Me as the overseer, nature (prakṛti) brings forth the moving and the unmoving. By this cause, O son of Kunti (Kaunteya), the world revolves.

The deluded (mūḍhāḥ) despise Me, when I have taken on a human body, Not knowing My higher state of being, as the great Lord of beings (bhūtamaheśvaram).

Of vain hopes, of vain actions (karmāṇi), of vain knowledge (jñāna), devoid of understanding, They resort to a demonic (āsurī) and fiendish (rākṣasī) deceitful nature (prakṛti).

But the great souls (mahātmānaḥ), O son of Pritha (Pārtha), having resorted to the divine nature (daivī prakṛti), Worship Me with minds on no other, having known Me as the imperishable origin of beings.

Constantly glorifying Me, and striving with firm vows, And bowing down to Me with devotion (bhakti), constantly disciplined (nityayuktāḥ), they worship Me.

And others, sacrificing with the sacrifice of knowledge (jñānayajña), worship Me, As one, as distinct, and in many ways, facing in all directions.

I am the ritual, I am the sacrifice (yajña), I am the ancestral offering, I am the healing herb; I am the mantra, I am indeed the clarified butter, I am the fire, I am the offering.

I am the father of this world, the mother, the supporter, the grandfather (pitāmaha), The object of knowledge, the purifier, the syllable Om, the Rig, the Sama, and the Yajur Vedas as well.

The goal, the supporter, the Lord (prabhu), the witness, the abode, the refuge, the friend, The origin, the dissolution, the resting place, the receptacle, and the imperishable seed.

I give heat, I hold back the rain and send it forth; I am immortality and also death, both being (sat) and non-being (asat), O Arjuna.

The knowers of the three Vedas, drinking the soma, purified of sin, worshipping Me with sacrifices (yajñaiḥ), pray for the way to heaven. Having reached the pure world of the lord of the gods, they enjoy the divine enjoyments of the gods in heaven.

Having enjoyed that vast world of heaven, their merit exhausted, they enter the mortal world. Thus following the duty (dharma) of the three Vedas, desiring desires (kāmān), they obtain the cycle of going and returning.

Those men who, thinking of no other, worship Me, For those constantly disciplined ones (nityābhiyuktānām), I secure their acquisition and preservation (yogakṣema).

Even those who are devotees (bhaktāḥ) of other deities, and sacrifice endowed with faith (śraddhā), They too sacrifice to Me alone, O son of Kunti (Kaunteya), though not according to the rule.

For I alone am the enjoyer and the Lord (prabhu) of all sacrifices (yajñānām). But they do not recognize Me in truth (tattvena), and therefore they fall.

The worshippers of the gods go to the gods; the worshippers of the ancestors (pitṛn) go to the ancestors; The sacrificers to the spirits (bhūtāni) go to the spirits; and My worshippers go to Me.

A leaf, a flower, a fruit, or water, whoever offers to Me with devotion (bhakti), That offering of devotion I accept from the pure-minded one.

Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer in sacrifice (yajuhosi), whatever you give, Whatever austerity (tapas) you perform, O son of Kunti (Kaunteya), do that as an offering to Me.

From the bondage of action (karmabandhana), producing good and evil fruits, thus you will be freed; With a self disciplined in the yoga of renunciation (sannyāsayogayuktātmā), liberated, you will come to Me.

I am equal in all beings; to Me there is none hateful, nor dear. But those who worship Me with devotion (bhakti), they are in Me, and I am also in them.

Even if a man of very evil conduct worships Me with undivided devotion, He is to be thought of as righteous (sādhu) indeed, for he is rightly resolved.

Quickly he becomes a man of righteous self (dharmātmā), and he goes to eternal peace (śānti). O son of Kunti (Kaunteya), declare with certainty, that My devotee (bhakta) never perishes.

For having taken refuge in Me, O son of Pritha (Pārtha), even those who might be of evil birth, Women, merchants (vaiśyāḥ), and laborers (śūdrāḥ), they too go to the supreme goal.

How much more the pure brahmins (brāhmaṇāḥ), and the devoted royal sages (rājarṣayaḥ)! Having attained this impermanent and joyless world, worship Me!

Let your mind be on Me, be My devotee (bhakta), sacrifice to Me, bow down to Me. You shall come to Me alone, having disciplined your self (ātman) thus, holding Me as the supreme goal.