A devotee once complained to Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi that
it was hard to keep all 700 verses of the Bhagavad Gita in one's memory and
asked whether it would not be possible to pick out the most important verses
for remembrance. Bhagavan accordingly selected 42 verses which he arranged in
an appropriate order.
Further asked if any of these could be regarded as the most
essential, he mentioned Book X, v. 20, that is the verse which comes fourth in
his enumeration : "I am the Self, Oh Gudakesa, dwelling in the heart of
every being; I am the beginning and the middle and also the end of all
beings."
Essence Of Bhagavad Gita
This body, Oh son of Kunti, is called the kshetra (field);
Him who knows it, the Sages call, the kshetrajna (Knower of the field). (Bhagavad
Gita xiii. 1.)
Know Me also as the Knower of the field in all the fields,
Oh Bharata: knowledge of the field and of the Knower of the field I deem to be
true Knowledge. xiii. 2.
I am the Self, Oh Gudakesa, dwelling in the Heart of every
being; I am the beginning and the middle and also the end of all beings. x. 20.
Of those born the death is certain, and certain the birth of
those dead: therefore for what none can prevent thou should not grieve. ii. 27.
Never is He born nor does He die; nor, having been, ceases
He any more to be: unborn, abiding, eternal, ancient, He is not slain when the
body is slain. ii. 20.
Not to be cleft is He, not to be burnt is He, not even to be
wetted nor yet to be dried is He: abiding He is and all-pervading, stable,
immovable, and from everlasting, ii. 24.
Know That to be indestructible whereby all this is pervaded;
of this Immutable none can work destruction. ii. 17.
Of the non-existent there is no being, and of what exists
there is no not-being; the definite ascertainment of both is seen by the Seers
of the Essence of Truth. ii. 16.
As ether everywhere present is not polluted by virtue of its
subtlety, even so the Self abiding everywhere is not polluted in the body.
xiii. 32.
Nor sun nor moon nor
fire illumines It: and whither having gone men return not, That is My Supreme
Abode. xv. 6.
Unmanifested, Imperishable is this called; and this they
proclaim the Supreme State, from which when once attained they return not, That
is My Supreme Abode, viii. 21.
Without pride, without delusion, victorious over the blemish
of attachment, ever abiding in the Self, their desires abandoned, released from
the pairs called pleasure and pain, they go undeluded to that Immutable Abode.
xv. 5.
He who forsakes the ordinances of the Scriptures, and acts
under the influence of desire, attains not perfection, nor happiness, nor the
Supreme State. xvi. 23.
He who sees the Supreme Lord dwelling alike in all beings,
perishing not as they perish, he it is who sees correctly. xiii. 27.
By devotion alone,
without ‘otherness’, Oh Arjuna, can I be known, seen and in essence entered, Oh
Parantapa. xi. 54.
The faith of every man, Oh Bharata, accords with his
essential character; man is instinct with faith: as that wherein a man has
faith, so is he. xvii. 3.
He that has intense faith, and to that faith being devoted
has the senses controlled, gains Knowledge; and having gained Knowledge he
swiftly attains Supreme Peace, iv. 39.
To those who are self-attuned and who worship Me with loving
devotion I give that union with understanding whereby they come to Me. x. 10.
Out of compassion for them and abiding in their Self I
destroy with the resplendent Light of Knowledge their darkness born of ignorance.
x. 11.
In those in whom
ignorance is destroyed by Knowledge of the Self, Knowledge like the sun
illumines That Supreme. v. 16.
High, they say, are the senses; higher than the senses is
the mind; and higher than the mind is the understanding; but one who is higher
than understanding is He. iii. 42.
Thus knowing Him to be higher than the understanding,
steadying the self by the Self, Oh thou strong of arm, slay the enemy in the
form of desire, so hard to overcome, iii. 43.
Just as a burning fire makes ashes of its fuel, Oh Arjuna,
even so does the Fire of Knowledge make ashes of all works, iv. 37.
Him whose every enterprise is without desire or motive,
whose actions are burnt up in the Fire of Knowledge, the wise call a Sage. iv.
19.
All around the austere Sages, free from desire and wrath,
who have subdued their mind and have realised the Self, radiates the beatific
Peace of Brahman. v. 26.
Little by little one should realise tranquillity, by
judgment with a steadfast purpose; making the mind abide in the Self, one
should think of nothing at all. vi. 25.
Towards whatsoever the mind wanders, being fickle and
unsteady, there from it should be withdrawn and brought under the sway of the
Self alone. vi. 26.
The saint who devoutly seeks Liberation, with the senses,
mind, and intellect subdued, without desire, fear, or wrath, is indeed ever
Liberated. v. 28.
He who is steadfast in yoga and looks on everything
impartially, sees the Self dwelling in all beings, and all beings in the Self.
vi. 29.
I undertake to secure and protect the welfare of those who
without ' otherness' meditate on Me and worship Me, and who ever abide thus
attuned. ix. 22.
Of these the Jnani, who is ever attuned, whose devotion is
centred in Me, is the most excellent; because to the Jnani I am exceedingly
dear and he is dear to Me. vii. 17.
At the end of many births the Jnani finds refuge in Me,
recognizing that Vasudeva is all. Such a high Soul is very hard to find. vii.
19.
When one puts away, Oh Partha, all the desires that are in
the mind, and in the Self alone, by the Self, is well satisfied, then is one
called a man of steadfast wisdom, ii. 55.
That man attains Peace who, having cast away all desires,
remains without longing, devoid of 'I' and ‘mine’ ii. 71.
He by whom the world is not disturbed, and who is not
disturbed by the world, free from exultation, impatience, fright, and agitation
— he is dear to me. xii. 15.
He who holds honour and dishonor equal, equal the friendly
party and the foe, who has renounced all enterprise — he is said to have
transcended the gunas. xiv. 25.
The man who revels here and now in the Self alone, with the
Self is satisfied, and in the Self alone is content — for him there is no work
to do. iii. 17.
For him there is no purpose either in doing work or in
leaving it undone ; nor is there in all beings anything which serves him as a
purpose. iii. 18.
Content to take what chance may bring, having transcended
the pairs of opposites, "free from ill-will and even-minded in success or
failure, though he works he is not bound. iv. 22.
The Lord, Oh Arjuna, dwells in the Heart of every being and
His mysterious power spins round all beings as if set on the wheel. xviii. 61.
To Him alone surrender, Oh Bharata, with all thy being; by
His Grace shalt thou obtain Peace Supreme, the Abode Eternal. xviii. 62.