Arjuna has taken a liberty. Bhagavan Shri Krishna had already made it clear that to know what is Brahma, what is Adhyatma and what is Karma (action), one must strive for liberation from decay and death taking refuge in Him. The revelation about these three comes gradually in its own time as one advances further on the path prescribed by Bhagavan. Yet Arjuna wants to know them beforehand. This, on one hand shows Arjuna's irresistible keenness to achieve the knowledge; on the other hand at is a request to the lord of lords to shower His grace and shorten a journey which would otherwise be much longer. Arjuna has taken full advantage of the fact that he is face to face with Bhagavan, the all-powerful, merciful and eternal fountain of grace.

Also, Arjuna wants to know what are Adhibhuta, Adhideva and Adhiyajyna -the three aspects of Him and what is the significance of knowing Him at the time of death which is possible at that high stage of evolution when one knows fully the three aspects of Bhagavan - Adhibhuta, Adhideva and Adhiyajyna.

Shri Krishna starts answering Arjuna's multiple questions. The answers are brief, extremely significant and mysterious to one who has not yet reached the proper stage of evolution. He has answered the questions categorically and yet the answers are such that the full meaning of the answers would reveal as a gradual process as one proceeds on the path of Brahma.

The supreme imperishable principle is Brahma. Brahma alone is imperishable, as is going to be elaborated later in the chapter. Akshara also means `the letter' - (OM). The `Sat' is Brahma. His own disposition is called Adhyatma. `Swabhava’ means one's own disposition or nature. In verse 14, of chapter V, Bhagavan Shri Krishna said that the authorship of actions, the actions and the combinations of actions and their fruits are not created by the Lord: these are taken care of by `Swabhava'. Now He says that Swabhava is Adhyatma. Adhyatma, the behaviour of individual beings perplexes us because we do not know the Swabhava. Once we know it, by His grace, we are no longer bewildered by Adhyatma.

The creation which gives rise to the disposition of the beings is called `Karma' or action. In verses 14 and 15 of chapter III, Bhagavan explained how Brahma or Veda, arising from the Akshara Brahma, gives rise to the cosmic Karma; which, through Yajyna Parjanya and Anna, culminates in individual beings. By his grace, when one knows the entire Karma, one is not bewildered by the limited action, which is encountered by the senses, mind and intellect.

Whatever appears to be perishing is Adhibhuta. Whatever is limited in space and time, whatever has a form is subject to destruction and is Adhibhuta. Purusha is the cosmic being, the first manifestation, and the first cause of beings who existed even Purusha before Brahma. He is the Lord of all deities. He is the Virata Purusha. He is the overlord of all manifestations. All that is or can be manifest has origin in Him.

Bhagavan Shri Krishna says that He himself resides in this body (all bodies) as AdhiYajyna. He is the unmanifest aspect of divinity, the witness of all that happens with the body. He is the counterpart of Purusha who eludes all manifestations. When one becomes aware of Him, by His divine grace, one is guided by Him. He becomes our Guru.

I know You have answered all the questions. But can one get the import of these answers without your further grace? All right, we are ever beggars. We must and will keep praying to You for your grace at every step. But tell me: is it all so simple as you have put in this verse? Can one remember You at the time of death unless You choose to remember him? And would You enter the thoughts of ordinary beings like me (whom you have described very aptly in verse 15 of the last Chapter) at the time of death when the body is in intense agony, the mind is in a storm and the intellect is all bewildered? Is it possible without Your unconditional and unreserved grace? Why don't you bless me with that grace which would remove all obstacles instead of confronting this dull-witted one with knowledge - rather theoretical? I know Your answers " You are not worthy of it yet". Does not matter. One must keep praying. Sometimes, out of sheer compassion (of which You are known to be a never-depleting reservoir), Your grace would descend even on the undeserving and unworthy or You would make me worthy of Your grace. The choice is Yours.

The last verse of the last chapter itself makes it clear how difficult it is to know Him and remember Him at the moment of death.

Proverbially, one’s last desire is fulfilled. The last thought of a person at the time of death decides what happens to him after death. This is the rule. The famous instance quoted in the scriptures is that of Jadabharat. In spite of being a great saint, fully enlightened, he had to take his next birth as a deer since he was worried about his pet deer at the time of death.

What one remembers at the time of death is not within the control of conscious mind or free will. It depends upon one's state of evolution, and above all, on His grace. What resides in the mind deep inside only remains at the time of death, everything else just evaporates away during the great turmoil, which ensues when one leaves the body. Hence, to know Him or remember Him at the time of death, one must develop a close intimacy with Him by listening to Him, doing as He says and praying at His feet. A casual acquaintance will not do.

The supreme, teaching! Remember Him all the time and fulfil the worldly obligations (fight) also at the same time, dedicating the mind and intellect to Him. We also remember Him very often, but we seldom dedicate our mind and intellect to Him. We approach Him as a subject would approach the emperor, asking for worldly favours all the time, even making our fight (carrying on of the worldly duties) conditional on his granting those favours and making a nice distinction of what is already ours and what more He is supposed to give us.

We would not even reveal our mind and intellect to Him, let alone dedicating them. This is not the way to remember Him and this is not the way to fight. One must recognise that all that is attained and unattained is His and must be dedicated to Him- including the mind and intellect. Having done this, one must attend to the worldly duties utilising the mind and the intellect to the best of one's ability and remembering Him and leaving the outcome of worldly actions to Him. In the beginning, His remembrance may be a mental activity of thinking, but gradually, His grace will transform it to a spontaneous and unconscious activity underneath all the voluntary and involuntary activity of the body, mind, intellect and vital form (Prana). Unless this happens, one cannot continue to remember Him at all time and attend to the worldly duties also at the same time. Bhagavan Shri Krishna has not guaranteed that one would fulfil all his worldly actions if one remembers Him in this way. He has guaranteed something infinitely more valuable; one would attain Him. When, out of constant remembrance taught in this verse, one is blessed with devotion, one knows Him intimately as residing in his heart deep down. Then He would remember us at the time of death and we would attain Him. Unless He remembers us at the time of death, we cannot remember Him.

Bhagavan Shri Krishna begins to describe the way to attain the supreme, conceived as Purusha, mentioned as Adhideva in verse 4, the Lord of all manifestations and the creator, sustainer of all the beings. Constant practice and constant remembrance have been enumerated as the two essential ingredients of the way to achieve Him. The Purusha with His divine glories has been described in the next verse.

The description of the divine supreme Purusha in versa 9 is majestic dazzling and blissful. He is omniscient, ruler and sustainer of all and yet smaller than the smallest (or subtler than the subtlest). This is because He pervades all that is manifest. Being the Overlord of all the forms, He cannot be identical with any of the conceivable forms. Hence, He is said to be of an inconceivable form. His colour is like sun's. All that can be said about the colour of the sun is that it is beyond the comprehension of the eyes - it is dazzling. Beyond darkness can mean even darker than pitch dark. Thus He is brighter than the brightest and darker than the darkest. Beyond darkness also means beyond ignorance.

The way to attain the supreme Purusha has been described in verse 10. Devotion is an essential ingredient to please Him. Fixing Prana at Ajynachakra in between the eyebrows is possible by the power of Yoga as a result of sustained practice.

Now Bhagavan Shri Krishna proceeds to talk about Absolute Brahma beyond all appearance and qualifications. In contrast to the description of His Purusha aspect in which a number of intriguing and majestic qualities were enunciated, Brahma, the imperishable is not described by any qualities whatsoever. It is described only by indirect references - spoken by the knowers of Vedas, entered into by those bereft of desires, the cherished goal of the followers of the discipline of Brahmacharya. Not a word about its description really.

The Brahma spoken of in the last verse is the highest goal. It is His unmanifest aspect, the counterpart of Purusha. For attaining it, no personal devotion has been spoken of, for it has no personality like Purusha's. Controlling all the doors means disciplining all the senses which establish contact with the external world. If the senses are unrestrained, the experiences of the external world (contacts of the senses with their objects) take one way from Brahma. Hence the senses have to be restrained and disciplined (though not suppressed unduly). Confining the Manas to the heart is a very significant expression. Manas is the reflective aspect of the mind and its nature is to wander here and there. Heart, meaning the Anahata Chakra, is the final destination of Manas when it is regulated by the practice of Yoga. When the Manas resides in the heart one wakes up to the universal love and compassion which lies beyond the sense experiences. The Manas then does not wander among the sense objects but remains firmly established in the heart.

Bhagavan says that with the preparation mentioned in verse 12 he, who leaves the body pronouncing the one letter OM (it must be pronounced like one letter and one syllable) and remembering Him, attains the supreme goal. Here, pronouncing OM and thinking of Him may not be a physical or mental process. At the time of death, it may not be possible for the speech to say anything or for the mind to think anything (one may be unconscious just before death). There may be internal processes below the activity of conscious of subconscious mind.

Picking up the thread again from verse 7, Bhagavan now says that who having exclusive devotion for Him remembers Him constantly and regularly, attains Him easily. Constant remembrance is a very subtle activity, which goes on, uninterrupted by any physical or mental activity. Regular remembrance means practice of Atmasanyama Yoga taught by Shri Krishna in chapter VI, on a regular basis. Exclusive devotion is possible only when one knows Bhagavan as the best and most loveable of all. When the mind is fixed something, which is the best, and most beloved, there is no possibility of any diversion or temptation. Exclusive devotion (Ananya Bhakti) is a gift of Bhagavan. It cannot be acquired without His grace.

Your words are always mysterious. How is one to understand them without Your help? You have said it time and again that there is no rebirth after attaining You. In verse 51 of chapter II, you can say that the liberation from the bondage of birth was meant rather `liberation from birth' itself. But, verse 9 of chapter IV as well as this verse and the following verses (the next one and verse 21 for example) are quite categorical that there is no rebirth after attaining You.

But, does one not become you after attaining You? Does any distinction still remain between you and the one who has attained you? If not, what about Your supreme and blissful words contained in verses 5 to 9 of chapter iv: so soothing and reassuring to Your devotees? You have said very categorically that there have been many births of You and that You will keep on taking births from time to time to re-establish Dharma on the earth and to bless your devotees. Verse 9 of Chapter IV is the most mysterious of all in which you say `He who thus truly knows My divine birth and action, is no more born after death; he attains Me, O Arjuna'. You say that the one who attains You is not reborn. At the same time You talk of Your birth and rebirth.

The one who has attained You becomes one with you. He has no individual consciousness left. Hence, from one point of view there is no rebirth for him, for all his Karmas have dissolved. He is not governed by any desires and he has no ego. Hence, it is not possible to identify any particular birth of an individual as his birth, there being no individual qualities or characteristics to distinguish him.

On the other hand, having merged in You and having become one with you, every birth can be said to be his birth and every action of the universe is his action. Your magnificent words in verse 6 of chapter IV are equally applicable to him also. His actions and birth are also divine (verse 9 of chapter IV) and your births mentioned in verses 7 and 8 of chapter IV are equally his. Would You deny that?

From one point of view there is no birth of the one who has attained You and he has been liberated from all actions. From another point of view, all the births in the universe are his and all the action of the universe is his action, although of course, he does not cling to any of those actions or births and has no ego.

Up to and including Brahmaloka, the abode of Brahma, the creator, are subject to recurrence and destruction. The only way to avoid recurrence and destruction is to attain Him. He is the only one out of the purview of destruction and rebirth. Up to Brahmaloka, the personality, the individuality clings. Hence, one is subject to the cycle of birth and destruction. After attaining Him, the Supreme, there is no personality or individuality. Hence, even though pervading all the worlds up to Brahmaloka, one is beyond destruction and recurrence. As long as the consciousness is finite, one clings to individuality and to the cycle of birth and death.

The Mahatloka, Brahmaloka or the abode of Brahma lasts for the longest duration among all the worlds. One day of Brahma lasts for one thousand years and the night also is of the same duration. Here one Yuga means a set of four Yugas or Chaturyugi consisting of Satyuga, Dwaparayuga, Tretayuga and Kaliyuga. The measure of these Yugas in the terms of ordinary years is as follows.

Satyuga = 17,28,000 years

Tretayuga = 12,96,000 years

Dwaparayuga = 8,64,000 years

Kaliyuga = 4,32,000 years

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One Chaturyugi or

Yuga referred to in

this verse = 43,20,000 years

1000 such Chaturyugis equal one day of Brahma which comes to 43,20,000,000 years. This is called a Kalpa. The night of Brahma, called Pralaya, is of the same duration. On this scale, Brahma's total span of life is 100 years (one year being equal to 360 Kalpas and 360 Pralayas). According to the testimony of scriptures (particularly the Sankalpa Mantra handed down to us from generation to generation) at present 51 years of Brahma's life have passed and the first day (Kalpa) of the 52nd year is running. The name of this Kalpa is Shveta Varaha Kalpa. A Kalpa is often divided into 14 Manvantaras., so that each Manvantara consists of about 72 Chaturyugis. In this classification, six Manvantaras of the current Shveta Varaha Kalpa are over and the seventh Manvantara named Vevasvat is continuing. Out of 72 Chaturyugis of this Manvantara 27 are over and the 28th Chaturyugi is running in which Satyuga, Treta and Dwapara Yugas are over and Kaliyuga commenced on the moment when Shri Krishna discarded His body. Thus, the Kaliyuga can be said to have just started (only 5000 and odd years old.)

It is very difficult to fit in the above mentioned time scale with the modern evidence of the age of human beings on the earth, according to which human beings have existed on the earth for not more than a million years or so. However, a few interesting coincidences are worth mentioning.

The duration of a Kalpa is of the same order as the age of the earth, age of the sun and the age of the Galaxy to which we belong (the earth is almost as old as the sun and the Galaxy is not very much older than twice the age of the sun). It is very difficult, with the present knowledge of cosmology, to compute the age of the universe (including all the galaxies, stars, space and time) which is believed to have begun with a ‘big bang’. It is not even known whether the entire creation is ever going to end into an implosion again (the converse of the big bang, which created the universe) or it is going to expand forever. In the former case, the universe would have a definite life and an assumption that this lifetime is given by the lifetime of Brahma is not implausible. However according to the modern cosmological estimates, our universe might have lived only for three or four Kalpas yet. This is inconsistent with the evidence of our scriptures that 51 years of Brahma have passed so far.

As far as the significance of a Kalpa and Pralaya, within the framework of modern knowledge of cosmology is concerned; it may be remarked that within each galaxy, there are regions in which phases of creation and destruction of stars occur alternately. The duration of these phases can be said to be of the same order of Kalpa and Pralaya.

It can hardly be claimed that the time scale mentioned in our scriptures and the modern concepts of cosmology have been reconciled; but the intention was to point out some coincidences and plausible connections.

What Bhagavan Shri Krishna wants to emphasise is that however long may be the duration of the day and night of Brahma, it is finite and therefore it comes to an end. Similarly, Brahma's entire life of 100 years also comes to an end one day. The distinction between long and short duration is not the real distinction because the concept of time is relative. If our body were to age ten times slower that the normal rate of ageing, and if all the other activities of the body such as the rate of breathing were to be regulated accordingly; our life span would be ten times of what it is now. However, to us the increase of life time would not be apparent. The real distinction, therefore, is between finite and infinite. That is the basis on which Bhagavan distinguishes all the worlds up to Brahmaloka which are all subject to creation and destruction, from His supreme abode which exists for ever, being beyond creation and destruction.

The unmanifest is the subtle body of Brahma or the Brahmaloka, which is the cause, and effect of all that is manifest. The manifestations include not only physical entities such as living and non-living of this physical universe, but also all other worlds or Lokas subtler than the physical universe (like Pitraloka, Devaloka etc.) but lower or grosser than Brahmaloka. At the dawn of Brahma's day the process of creation starts and all the manifestations emerge out of the unmanifest gradually. At the beginning of the night, they return to the Unmanifest and merge with it. All the night they remain dormant in their subtlest form to be recreated in the next Kalpa.

Bhagavan Krishna has clarified that the individuality of beings remains intact during the Pralaya or the night of Brahma, because it is being said that the same multitude of beings are reborn again and again at the approach of Kalpa and they return to the Unmanifest at the approach of Pralaya. The beings are helpless against this cycle of creation and destruction.

This eternal unmanifest Being never perishes even when the unmanifest spoken of in verse 18 perishes at the end of Brahma's life span of 100 years.

Bhava can be translated as `Being' disposition or `aspect' or existence whichever way it is translated, the sense is clear.

Here perishing of all beings (Nashyatsu) does not refer to their dissolution into the body of Brahma at the approach of Pralaya. This dissolution is not destruction because the same collection of beings gets recreated at the onset of Kalpa day. The destruction takes place at the end of the life span of Brahma when the Brahma alongwith all the collection of beings ceases to exist. The destruction of beings referred to in this verse means this event known as Mahapralaya or Final Dissolution. The eternal unmanifest Being outlives this destruction also.

The imperishable and supreme goal spoken in this verse is the same as Brahma spoken in verse 3 and 11. Bhagavan calls it His supreme abode. But, Bhagavan and the supreme abode are not two different things. Bhagavan Shri Krishna is the unmanifest spoken of in this verse (although He is appearing as a manifest personality on account of His Maya), the impeccable, the supreme goal and His supreme abode. He is the supreme teacher as well as the supreme knowledge, which can only be imparted by Him. And He does not have to exert much in imparting the supreme knowledge: one tiny grain of His grace is sufficient.

Referring to the Unmanifest spoken of in the last verse, as pursued in this verse, Bhagavan Krishna now establishes the identity of Brahma (spoken of in verses 3 and 11) and Purusha (spoken of in verse 4, 8, 9, and 10). When one tries to seek Him as a Purusha, one has to resort to exclusive devotion. When one wants to attain Him as Unmanifest Imperishable, one has to fellow the method prescribed in verses 12 and 13 (verse 13 speaks of remembrance rather than devotion). This is only a difference of approach.

For the first time Bhagavan Shri Krishna introduces the time factor in spiritual progress. So far He had shown little concern for it. (The last verse of chapter II, verse 6 of chapter V, verse 39 of chapter IV, verse 23 of chapter VI, verse 45 of chapter VI and verse 19 of chapter VII, for example).

Bhagavan Shri Krishna has very categorically stated at a number of places the conditions under which one attains Him. Hence this verse and the following verses should not be interpreted inconsistently with Bhagavan's earlier assurances. Kala here means path by which the departing soul goes to Brahma (not to return again) or to one of the worlds up to Brahmaloka to return after exhausting the stock of good actions. It is rather the modality of attaining Brahma or one of the lower worlds, which is spoken in the following verses. Kala is thus the time factor, modality or path in this sense.

The bright half of the month means the fortnight from the new moon to the full moon during which the phase of the moon advances. The dark half of the month denotes the fortnight from the day after the full moon to the day when there is no moon. The six months of Uttarayana are from the winter solstice (22nd December) to summer solstice (23rd June) when, on successive days, the point at which the sun emerges from the eastern horizon keeps moving northwards. The remaining months are called Dakshinayana when the point of emergence of the sun keeps moving southwards every day.

These verse certainly do not mean that one who dies during day time, during Shukla fortnight and during Uttarayana, irrespective of his deeds or spiritual evolution attains Brahma; otherwise one has to return to the earth. If this were so, all that a spiritual teacher would do to his disciple is to slay him at the appropriate time. Bhagavan has qualified that following this Kala, the knowers of Brahma attains Brahma. If one is not a knower of Brahma, this Kala is not available to him whenever he might have died.

The classical interpretation of these verse is that whether one attains Brahma according to the verse 24 or one returns after residing in one of the lower worlds according to verse 25 is determined by his actions and his state of enlightenment. The one who has attained perfection in Yoga goes to Brahma via the path described in verse 24 and the one who has not yet reached the perfection of Yoga goes to one the lower worlds via the path described in verse 25 and than returns to the earth.

As far as the paths are concerned, the first path (called the bright path) is via the deities of luminous fire, day, Shukla fortnight, and six months of Uttarayana respectively. Similarly the second path (called the dark path) is via the deities of smoke, night, dark fortnight, and the six months of Dakshinayana respectively. The soul of the knower of Brahma has to be carried further, at the first stage, by the deity of luminous fire.

At the next stage, the deity of day has to take charge of this soul. If the person dies in daytime, the deity of day takes charge of the soul and passes it on to the next deity. If, however, the person dies in night-time, the deity of night keeps the soul overnight and then hands it over to the deity of the day, the next morning. Similarly, if the time of death falls during the bright fortnight, the soul is handed over to the deity of bright fortnight straightway, otherwise it is kept with the deity of dark fortnight till the advent of bright fortnight when the proper deity takes charge of it. Similarly, the deity of Dakshinayana keeps the soul, in case the person dies during Dakshinayana months and at the advent of Uttarayana hands it over to the proper deity.

In the same way the soul of a person who has to return to the earth eventually is carried forward by the deities of smoke, night, dark fortnight and Dakshinayana, if necessary, after waiting for the relevant duration at every stage.

Thus the fate of person is not materially affected by when he dies. The verses just describe the route and the mechanism by which the soul takes its own course.

Another interpretation of these verses once occurred to me and I venture to share it with the learned and enlightened for what it is worth.

The one who takes the bright course has been described as the knower of Brahma. The one who is governed by the dark course has also been called Yogi. He is not a Yagabhrasta. Thus both, the verses talk about those who have attained perfection in Yoga. Just as in a burning fire, the phases of flame and smoke occur alternately but irregularity; in the internal system of a person there is a cycle of brightness and darkness alternating with irregular period corresponding to the phases of flame and smoke. Similarly, there are regular cycles of varying time periods in the internal body corresponding to the cycles of day and night, bright fortnight and dark fortnight, Uttarayana six months and six months of Dakshinayana. The important thing is that these cycles are beyond the control of the body or mind and even an accomplished Yogi has no means of controlling it. Thus, an accomplished Yogi who has attained enlightenment also reaches Brahma only if the time of his death synchronises with the right state of internal cycle of his body, otherwise he goes up to a contain world and returns after the specified period is over. But this does not bother the enlightened Yogi because he attaches no importance to time. He knows that the uncertainty factor of the internal cycle is operative only in the domain of time and, therefore, he is not bothered by it. Since, he knows time itself to be perishable, he never bothers about what happens in its domain.

By calling these two paths as eternal, Bhagavan Krishna makes it clear that they exist with respect to any creation. Whenever a new Brahma takes birth and the creation starts, these two paths come into being. Being a link between the supreme cause of creation (Bhagavan) and the creation, these paths are more fundamental than Brahma also.

A mysterious and meaningful verse! Why and how a Yogi knowing these two paths is not deluded is not immediately clear. If the classical interpretation of the verse 24 and 25 in accepted, an enlightened Yogi can be detained from his final abode at the most by six months and sixteen days (this can happen if he dies just at the onset of night and from the next day a dark fortnight is about to start and immediately after that the southerly six months are going to start). No Yogi would bother about such insignificant a delay. In fact, from the viewpoint of an enlightened Yogi there is little to choose between dying at the right time and reaching the supreme abode and dying at another time and having to be detained with one of the deities of the dark path. In the former event, one may spend more time in this world and in the latter, that extra time may be spent with one of the deities of the dark path. A Yogi would not draw any distinction there.

If the classical interpretation is accepted but it is assumed that the time periods of day, fortnight and half year, pertain to the time scale of some other world - even Brahmaloka, the delay spoken of earlier may not be negligible and a Yogi who feels subject to time may still feel concerned about it. Similarly if the second interpretation of verses 24 and 25 (given after the classical interpretation) is accepted, there is an outright uncertainty factor over and above what the Yogi has achieved by means of the enlightenment he has gained. It is difficult not to be deluded by this uncertainty factor (or delay factor) as long as one feels subject to the Time. Time (Or Kala) is the primordial energy of creation by the successive operations of which unmanifest Maya was transformed into Mahattatva which was again transformed into Ahankara from which further creation ensued.

Hence, probably the delusion with respect to time (Kala) is the last to go. When one is not deluded by what happens inside the domain of Time, one does not bother about the time of death or the state of internal cycle. One does not even bother whether, after death, one is going to the supreme abode or returning again to this world after some time. Then the Yogi truly knows these two paths.

In fact the root of all delusions is the presumption that one has an entity separate from Bhagavan and then the presumption that one can achieve enlightenment or knowledge by `one's own efforts'. On the basis of these presumptions, one says 'I have achieved all the knowledge and enlightenment, hence now I deserve to go to the supreme abode. Why should I now be subject to uncertainties and delays?' The duality and ego inherent in this query are the cause of delusion. In reality, nobody is reaching the supreme abode of no return and nobody is returning back to this world. The one who travels by the bright path is not different from the one who travels by the dark path. It is one single game being played by the Self of all. Whatever happens, by way of one's evolution on the path of enlightenment, or by way of internal cycles or travelling by bright or dark path, is nothing apart from Bhagavadkripa (the divine grace) and must be accepted as it comes. Knowing this at all times is being established in Yoga at all times of which Bhagavan Shri Krishna speaks in this verse.

Shri Krishna first introduced the possibility of delay and uncertainty factor in verses 24 and 25 and then He says that knowing these paths, a Yogi is not deluded. This is because a person ignorant of the mechanism of the two paths cannot be said to be free from delusion. To be free from delusion, one must know the facts and then know them to be inconsequential with respect to the infinite ultimate reality. Within the domain of time, the operation of the two paths is a fact, which cannot be ignored; but knowing the Time itself to be inconsequential as compared to the supreme glory of Bhagavan is the real knowledge which delivers one from delusion. It does not matter which one of the interpretations of verses 24-25 is true. It is not necessary to be preoccupied with the calculation of maximum and minimum delays involved. It may be indeterminate also. The important thing to know is that within the domain of time, some uncertainty always remains and the delusion with respect of it can go only if one crosses the delusion of Time.

Having cleared the last hitch in his supreme enlightenment, the delusion of time - the Yogi now reaches the highest point, having surpassed all that is said in respect of Vedas, Yajynas, austerities, and donations etc. When he is not deluded by the barrier of time with all its uncertainties and delays, he is face to face with the supreme abode.