Shri bhagavan uvaca: Mayy asakta-manah partha yogam yunjan mad-ashrayah, asamsayam samagram mam yatha jnasyasi tac chrinu
The Supreme Lord said: O son of Partha, hear how you shall know Me fully and without doubt, with your mind fixed on Me, taking refuge in Me, and practicing yoga with devotion. This verse opens the chapter by promising complete knowledge of the Divine through devoted practice and surrender.
- •Fixing the mind on God is the foundation of spiritual knowledge
- •Taking refuge in the Divine removes all doubt
- •Complete knowledge of God is attainable through devoted yoga
Vedaham samatitani vartamanani carjuna, bhavishyani ca bhutani mam tu veda na kashcana
O Arjuna, I know all beings of the past, present, and future, but no one knows Me. God's omniscience encompasses all of time, yet His own essential nature remains unknown to those not devoted to Him — this verse highlights the asymmetry between divine and human knowledge.
- •God is omniscient, knowing past, present, and future
- •The Divine knows all beings but remains unknown to most
- •True knowledge of God requires divine grace and devotion
Pitaham asya jagato mata dhata pitamahah, vedyam pavitram omkar riksama yajur eva ca
I am the father, mother, sustainer and grandfather of this universe, the object of knowledge, the purifier, the syllable Om, and the Rig, Sama and Yajur Vedas. The Lord reveals Himself as the cosmic parent and the very foundation of all scriptural knowledge.
- •God is the cosmic parent — father, mother, and grandfather of creation
- •The sacred syllable Om is a direct expression of the Divine
- •All Vedic wisdom ultimately points to and originates from the Lord
Yo mam ajam anadim ca vetti loka-maheshvaram, asammudho sa martyeshu sarva-papaih pramucyate
One who knows Me as unborn, without beginning, the Supreme Lord of all worlds — that person among mortals is undeluded and freed from all sins. Recognising the eternal and beginningless nature of God purifies the soul and removes the ignorance that is the root of all bondage.
- •Knowing God as unborn and beginningless leads to liberation from sin
- •True knowledge of God dispels all delusion
- •The Lord's eternal nature is the foundation of all authentic spiritual understanding