इति गुह्यतमं शास्त्रम् इदम् उक्तं मयानघ । एतद् बुद्ध्वा बुद्धिमान् स्यात् कृतकृत्यश् च भारत ॥
iti guhyatamaṃ śāstram idam uktaṃ mayānagha | etad buddhvā buddhimān syāt kṛta-kṛtyaś ca bhārata ||
This most secret śāstra spoken — knowing it, one becomes truly wise and kṛta-kṛtya: all duties fulfilled.
Word by word (3)
- iti guhyatamaṃ śāstram idam uktaṃ mayānagha
- — thus (iti), this (idam) most secret/most intimate (guhyatamam) teaching/śāstra (śāstram) has been spoken (uktam) by Me (mayā), O sinless one (anagha = Arjuna)
- etad buddhvā buddhimān syāt
- — having known (buddhvā) this (etat — the Puruṣottama-jñāna), one becomes truly wise (buddhimān syāt) — not informed but transformed in understanding
- kṛta-kṛtyaś ca bhārata
- — and (ca) becomes kṛta-kṛtya (O Arjuna) — kṛta-kṛtya = all-duty-accomplished; the one whose life-purpose is fulfilled; nothing left to do or earn
Thus this most secret teaching has been imparted by Me, O sinless one. Knowing this, one becomes truly wise, O Arjuna, and all duties are accomplished.
A modern analogy
A map is useful only until you reach the destination. Once there, the map is done — it has fulfilled its purpose. All Vedic rites, all karma, all dharma are maps pointing to Puruṣottama. The one who KNOWS the destination (kṛta-kṛtya) has used every map to its completion. Nothing remains to do, because the doer has found the one for whom all doing was ultimately meant.
V20 is the chapter seal — the guhyatama (most secret) declaration and the phalashruti (fruit statement). The chapter began with the aśvattha tree (the most visible symbol of saṃsāra) and ends with the declaration that knowing the Puruṣottama makes one kṛta-kṛtya — all duties accomplished. The full arc: recognize saṃsāra (V1-5) → see the supreme (V6) → understand the jīva's mechanism (V7-11) → recognize Krishna's cosmic presence (V12-15) → locate the Puruṣottama in the ontological map (V16-18) → the result is complete wisdom and fulfilled duty.
Guhyatamam (most secret) is the highest degree on the Gita's secrecy scale: guhya (secret, Ch.9 V2), guhyatara (more secret), guhyatamam (most secret). Ch.15 claims the supreme position. Kṛta-kṛtya (all-duty-accomplished) is the soteriological endpoint — it is not a reward received later but a recognition of completion. The knowledge itself is the accomplishment. Cf. Muṇḍaka Up. 1.1.3: kasmin nu bhagavo vijñāte sarvam idaṃ vijñātam — 'knowing which, all this is known.'
Advaita lens
Kṛta-kṛtya — 'one who has done all that is to be done' — is Advaita's definition of jīvanmukti compressed into one word. The guhyatama śāstra (most secret teaching) is the Puruṣottama-vidyā just taught, and its fruit is completeness: nothing remains to be done because the doer-illusion itself has been seen through. Buddhvā → buddhimān: only after knowing THIS does intelligence become true intelligence — all other knowing rearranges objects; this knowing reveals the knower.
Bhakti lens
Secrets are told to beloveds — the Lord calls this teaching guhyatamam (most secret of all) and shares it freely with Arjuna, addressed tenderly as anagha (sinless one). For the bhakta, V20 is a love-seal: the measure of divine intimacy is what the Beloved is willing to disclose. Knowing Puruṣottama makes one kṛta-kṛtya because the heart's lifelong search terminates in the One it was always seeking.
Karma-Yoga lens
The promise that wisdom COMPLETES action rather than abandoning it: kṛta-kṛtya does not mean 'one who stopped working' but 'one whose work is fulfilled.' For the karma-yogi buried under endless obligations, V20 reframes the mountain: when the Puruṣottama-vision matures, every act is already complete in Him, and duty transforms from debt into expression. Action continues; the anxiety of incompleteness ends.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Thus, this most Secret Science has been taught by Me, O sinless one; on knowing this, a man becomes wise, O Bharata, and all his duties are accomplished. [1]
Thus, O sinless one, has this most profound teaching been imparted by Me. On knowing this, a man becomes wise, and all his duties are accomplished, O descendant of Bharata. [4]
This most secret doctrine has been delivered by me. Knowing this, a man becomes enlightened, O descendant of Bharata, and all his duties are accomplished. [9]
This secret doctrine has been taught by me. Knowing it, a man becomes truly wise, and all his duties would be accomplished, O Bharata. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
A blind king asks what happened on the battlefield — and the Gita begins.
Among priests know Me as Bṛhaspati; among generals I am Skanda — and among waters, the ocean.
Those who resort to this knowledge attain My own nature — neither reborn at creation nor disturbed at dissolution.
Five causes of action: body-locus, agent, various instruments, diverse efforts, and — fifth — the Divine/Fate.
Whoever does not turn the cosmic wheel of giving — living only for sense-pleasure — lives in vain.
Therefore: do your required action without attachment — this is the path that leads to the Supreme.