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GĪTĀ, TRANSLATION & COMMENTARY, CH. IX 1045
राजविद्या राजगुह्यं पवित्रमिदमुत्तमम् । प्रत्यक्षावगमं धर्म्य सुसुखं कर्तुमव्ययम् ॥२॥ अश्रद्दधानाः पुरुषा धर्मस्यास्य परन्तप।।
अप्राप्य मां निवर्तन्ते मृत्युसंसारवमनि ॥३॥ fault-finder, I will expound to you the most mysterious Spiritual Knowledge, coupled with empirical Knowledge, by knowing which, you will become free from sin (to which, listen). (2) This (Knowledge) is the king, (that is, the most superior ) of all mysteries, it is a rajavidyā (that is, the most superior science (vidyā) of all ], it is holy, excellent, actually realisable, easy to observe, consistent with religion, and inexhaustible. (3) Those persons, O Parantapa! who do not put faith in this religion, return to the path of worldly life, circumscribed by death, instead of coming to Me (that is, they do not attain Release).
[The meanings of the words 'rājavidyā', 'rājaguhya' and * pratyakşāvagama' in the second stanza, have been fully considered in Chapter XIII of the Gītā-Rahasya, at pp. 574 to 582, to which the reader is referred. The means of attaining to the Parameśvara are referred to as 'vidyā' in the Upanisads; and it was usual to keep these Vidyās clothed in mystery. It is said here that the bhaktimārga (that is, the Path of Devotion, or the worship of the Perceptible) is a Vidyā, which is the king or the most superior of these mysterious Vidyas, and also that this religion, being something which is actually visible to the eyes, is easy to follow. Nevertheless, as this Yoga has come into vogue by the tradition of Iksvāku and the other kings (Gi. 4. 2), it may also be said to be the path followed by Rajas or eminent persons, and to be a 'rājavidyā' also in that sense. Whichever meaning is taken, it is quite clear that this stanza does not refer to the Knowledge of the immutable or the imperceptible Brahman; and that the word 'rūjavidyā' indicates in this place the Path of Devotion. Having in this way praised this path of life, to start with, the Blessed Lord now describes it at length-1
