Sanskrit
इदं तु ते गुह्यतमं प्रवक्ष्याम्यनसूयवे । ज्ञानं विज्ञानसहितं यज्ज्ञात्वा मोक्ष्यसेऽशुभात् ॥
idaṃ tu te guhyatamaṃ pravakṣyāmy anasūyave jñānaṃ vijñānasahitaṃ yaj jñātvā mokṣyase'śubhāt
Translation
To thee, the uncarping, verily shall I declare this profoundest Secret, wisdom with knowledge combined, which, having known, thou shalt be freed from evil.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Krishna opens a new movement in the teaching by promising “the profoundest secret” (guhyatamam) combined with direct realization (vijnana) rather than theoretical knowledge (jnana) alone — a step beyond the metaphysics laid out in earlier chapters. The chapter’s own title, “kingly knowledge, kingly secret,” is effectively previewed here in the verse’s own vocabulary before verse 2 states it outright. Addressing Arjuna as “the uncarping” (anasūyave, free of fault-finding) sets receptivity as a precondition for what follows. Guhyatama — “the most hidden” — begins a thread of escalating disclosure that runs to BG 15.20 and BG 18.64. Each “most secret” teaching is more devotional than the last.
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Word by word
- idaṃ tu te guhyatamaṃइदं तु ते गुह्यतमं
- but this most secret [truth] to you (idam + tu + te + guhya-tamam)
- pravakṣyāmy anasūyaveप्रवक्ष्यांय् अनसूयवे
- I shall declare, to you who do not carp (pravakṣyāmi + anasūyave)
- jñānaṃ vijñānasahitaṃज्ञानं विज्ञानसहितं
- knowledge together with realization (jñānam + vijñāna-sahitam)
- yaj jñātvā mokṣyase'śubhātयज् ज्ञात्वा मोक्ष्यसेऽशुभात्
- knowing which you will be freed from ill (yat + jñātvā + mokṣyase + aśubhāt)
Commentary
Site Commentary
Krishna doesn’t gate this teaching on Arjuna’s intelligence or spiritual attainment — he gates it on a disposition: anasūyave, free of fault-finding. The precondition for receiving the deepest teaching turns out to be temperamental, not intellectual — a listener who won’t pick the argument apart before hearing it through gets access that a sharper but more contrarian listener would not.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
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Lessons
Personal
- Before you dismiss counsel from someone you trust, notice whether you're evaluating it or already looking for the flaw — the same information lands differently depending on which posture you bring, and the first one you can control.
Professional
- When a mentor or senior colleague offers unsolicited feedback, resist the reflex to rebut before you've actually absorbed it — the guidance you receive depends partly on the openness you bring to hearing it, not just on its own merit.
Family & Social
- When someone close brings you something vulnerable to share, listen without immediately hunting for the counterargument — being heard without contest is often the actual precondition for someone opening up further.
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