V: 29

Chapter 5, Verse 29

"When thus they know me
As the end and the author
Of every offering,
The Lord of the world
And the dearest Friend of all beings,
Shall they not enter
The Peace of my presence?"

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi:

Friends are sources of joy for each of us. They bring life-supporting happiness. We thrive on this love expressed in creation, each of us in our own measure at our own level of consciousness. This helps to explain how 'the Lord of the world' is also the life-supporting Friend, the bestower of happiness on all beings. Those who know him thus and find themselves close to him gain fulfillment. They 'enter the Peace of my presence.'

So that Arjuna's mind may not stray from the present realities of life to an abstract conception of a far-distant Friend of all beings, so that he can see the Lord of the world up close and personal, Krishna reveals that he himself is that Lord. It is because of the strength of Arjuna's faith and devotion that Krishna reveals himself to his devotee.

Sri Eknath Easwaran:

With body, mind and intellect mastered, with selfish desire, anger and fear transmuted into presence, the human being attains the supreme goal of life, which is to become established in God, from whom we came, in whom we subsist, and to whom we return. In this supreme state, we experience in our heart of hearts the God/Goddess of Love, whether we call him/her Christ, Krishna, Buddha, Durga or Whomever; and we become united with him/her here and now in this very life.

Sri Aurobindo:

The power of the Karma Yoga comes in again, here at the conclusion of Chapter Five. It brings us back to the great idea of the Gita, the idea of the Purushottam, the Supreme Self, though this name is not given until the entire discourse nears its end. It is always That which Krishna means by "I", "me" and "mine", the divine who is here as the one Self in our timeless, immutable being, who is present, too, in the world, in all existences, in all activities, the Master of the silence and the peace, the Master of the power and the action, who is here incarnate as the divine charioteer, the Self, the All, the Master within every individual being.

He is the end and author of all worship; therefore shall the seeker of freedom do works as worship. He is the Lord of the world, manifested in Nature and in these beings; therefore shall the liberated one do works as an example for the peoples in the world. He is the Friend of all existences; therefore is the sage, who has found Nirvana within and all around, still and always occupied with the good of all creatures.