Bhagavad Gita 18.63
Spoken by Krishna ★ Essential verse · Verse 63 of 78
इति ते ज्ञानम् आख्यातं गुह्याद् गुह्यतरं मया । विमृश्यैतद् अशेषेण यथेच्छसि तथा कुरु ॥
iti te jñānam ākhyātaṃ guhyād guhya-taraṃ mayā | vimṛśyaitad aśeṣeṇa yathecchasi tathā kuru ||
This knowledge, more secret than all secrets, has been declared to you — reflect on it fully and act as you wish.
Word by word (3)
- iti te jñānam ākhyātaṃ guhyād guhya-taraṃ mayā
- — thus (iti = end-marker/thus) this knowledge (jñānam = this knowledge, the entire Gita's teaching) has been declared/explained (ākhyātam = from ā + khyā = fully-proclaimed) by Me (mayā) to you (te), more secret than all that is secret (guhyād guhya-taram = more-secret than-secret; guhya = secret/hidden; comparative) — the Gita's self-description as the most profound teaching
- vimṛśyaitad aśeṣeṇa yathecchasi tathā kuru
- — having fully/deeply reflected on (vimṛśya = having-thoroughly-pondered, from vi + mṛś = to deeply examine) this completely/exhaustively (etad aśeṣeṇa = this-totally, aśeṣa = without-remainder), as you wish (yathā icchasi = however you wish), do (tathā kuru = in that way act) — the greatest gift: after proclaiming the most profound teaching, Krishna gives total freedom to act according to one's own free will
- yathecchasi tathā kuru
- — as you wish, so act; the Gita's final freedom-declaration at this juncture. Having proclaimed guhyād guhya-taram (the most secret of all secrets), Krishna does not command but invites free reflection and free choice (yathā icchasi). This is not indifference but the highest respect for human agency: the teaching has been given in its fullness; now the student must choose freely. The 'icchā' (wish) here is not ego-wish but the illuminated will of the student who has received the teaching.
Thus this knowledge, more secret than all that is secret, has been declared to you by Me. Reflecting on it fully and completely, act as you wish.
A modern analogy
This verse is the Gita's moment of complete transmission — the Lord, having taught all, now entrusts the teaching fully to Arjuna. Krishna has taught everything (guhyād guhya-taram = the most profound teaching). Now: vimṛśya aśeṣeṇa (reflect on it completely) — don't act impulsively, but genuinely process it. Then: yathecchasi tathā kuru (act as you wish) — act from your own free reflection, not from external compulsion. This is the Gita's pedagogy at its best: complete transmission + invitation to free reflection + freedom to choose.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Thus has wisdom, more secret than all that is secret, been declared to thee by Me; reflect thou over it all and act as thou pleasest. [1]
Thus has wisdom, more profound than all profundities, been declared to thee by Me; reflecting over it fully, act as thou likest. [4]
MISSING from index. [9]
Thus has been declared to thee by Me the knowledge that is more mysterious than any other matter. Reflecting on it fully, act as thou likest. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Abandon all dharmas, take refuge in Me alone — I will liberate you from all sins; do not grieve.
Learn briefly from Me how one who has attained siddhi attains Brahman — the supreme culmination of knowledge.
By bhakti one truly knows what and who I am; then knowing Me truly, one enters into Me immediately.
Those whose sin has ended — virtuous in deed, freed from dvandva-delusion — worship Me with firm resolve.
Even yajña-dāna-tapas must be performed having abandoned attachment and fruits — My settled, highest opinion.
The duties of Brāhmaṇas, Kṣatriyas, Vaiśyas, and Śūdras are distributed by the guṇas born of their own nature.
Verse 63 of 78 · back to Chapter 18