Bhagavad Gita
Right in the very first verse of this chapter, Krishna says—“Arjuna, I am going to tell you the most secret knowledge, the deepest knowledge. By knowing this, you will be freed from the suffering of this world.”
Now the question is—what exactly is this “most secret knowledge”?
In this chapter, there are about eight key points of this deepest knowledge. Let’s go through them one by one.
First point.
From chapter 2 to chapter 8, Krishna described the nature of the Divine in many ways—he said, “I am unborn, eternal, indestructible, beginningless, endless, invisible, unmanifest, limitless, formless, eternal, the support of everything, the source of everything.”
All these descriptions were given earlier.
But now, in this chapter, Krishna talks about something even deeper—he talks about his beyond nature, his transcendent form.
He says—this transcendent nature is the most secret.
And only a person whose mind is free from doubt and filled with faith can understand it.
A person without faith cannot grasp this and remains stuck in the cycle of life and death.
Now what does “transcendent” mean?
It means—whatever we think we know about the Divine, the reality is far beyond that.
Way beyond our understanding.
Then Krishna explains this through some very interesting statements.
He says—this whole universe is pervaded by me, everything exists in me, but I am not in them.
Then immediately he says—beings are not in me, and I am also not in them.
And then again he says—everything exists in me.
So these statements sound contradictory.
To understand this, we need to look at a teaching from the Upanishads.
It says—the Divine is smaller than the smallest, and greater than the greatest.
Now think about it.
If something is smaller than the smallest, then nothing can exist inside it.
And if something is greater than the greatest, then everything can exist inside it.
So both statements are true, depending on how you look at it.
You can understand it like this.
If you draw a big circle, many things can fit inside it.
But if you draw just a tiny dot, nothing can fit inside it.
Now let’s understand the third statement—“I am not in them.”
This sounds strange, because everything exists because of the Divine.
So what does Krishna mean?
Let’s take some examples.
Imagine a small circle inside a bigger circle.
The small circle fits inside the big one.
But the big circle cannot fully fit inside the small one—it always goes beyond it.
That “going beyond” is what is meant here.
Another example.
An old man contains the child he once was.
But the child cannot contain the full old man.
The old man is beyond the child.
Or think about rivers and the ocean.
Rivers fully merge into the ocean.
But the ocean cannot fully fit into the rivers—it always remains beyond them.
Or even the body.
The body is made of parts, but it is more than just the sum of those parts.
So Krishna is saying—I am not limited to beings, I go beyond them.
So the conclusion is—these verses are explaining the beyond nature of the Divine.
No one can fully capture it or define it.
It is beyond logic, beyond intellect—only a heart filled with faith can experience it.
Now the second point.
Krishna talks about creation in verses 7 to 10.
He says—at the end of a cycle, all beings merge into my nature.
And at the beginning, I create them again.
This shows that the world moves in cycles, like a circle.
In a circle, the starting point and ending point are the same.
So creation and dissolution are not two separate points—they are one.
At the end of the cycle, everything returns to the Divine state.
And from that same point, creation begins again.
Another important point—Krishna says that he does not directly create the world.
His prakriti, his nature, creates it.
He is just present, like a catalyst.
For example, hydrogen and oxygen combine to form water only in the presence of electricity.
Electricity does not create the water directly, but without it, the reaction doesn’t happen.
In the same way, the Divine presence allows nature to create the world.
And because nature has three qualities—sattva, rajas, and tamas—the whole world functions through these three.
Everything we do, every action, every birth, is influenced by these qualities.
Then comes another important point.
If a person lives in this world but does not get attached, then their actions do not bind them.
It is attachment that creates bondage and suffering.
Now the third point.
Krishna talks about two types of people.
Those who do not understand the Divine, and those who do.
He says—foolish people think that the Divine is just a human being in a body.
They do not understand its true nature.
Such people have certain characteristics.
They have useless desires—they expect happiness from others or from material things.
They perform useless actions—like anger, which only harms them.
They have useless knowledge—knowledge that does not transform their life.
And their mind is restless and confused.
On the other hand, wise people—those with a higher nature—understand that the Divine is the source of everything.
And they remain devoted to it with a steady mind.
Then Krishna makes a very important point.
Great souls may take human form, but they are not the Divine itself.
They are elevated beings, guiding others.
But the Divine itself is not a physical form—it is energy, existence itself.
If we say the Divine has a body, then we create contradictions.
Because we also say the Divine is eternal, unborn, invisible.
A body is born, ages, and dies.
So both cannot be true at the same time.
This confusion comes from mixing two things.
Names like Ram and Krishna are used both for the Divine and for great beings.
When we use them for the Divine, we should not attach their historical stories.
And when we talk about them as great beings, we should not call them the Absolute.
The Divine is not a person.
It is existence itself—pure being, consciousness, bliss.
All great beings have reached that state by connecting with it.
At some point in history, people found it difficult to focus on the formless.
So they created forms to help concentrate the mind.
This was useful.
But over time, confusion arose between the form and the formless.
So Krishna is clarifying here—
The Divine is beyond form.
And only those who understand this can truly know it.