Meaning
Supreme God Krishna spoke
For I am the refuge of indestructible Mahad-Brahm, {the Unmanifest Nature imbued with the Mahad Tattva or Great Elements that form the universe}, of Immortality, of eternal religion and unalloyed, absolute bliss. (14:27)
Sanskrit
श्रीभगवान् उवाच
ब्रह्मणो हि प्रतिष्ठाहममृतस्याव्ययस्य च ।
शाश्वतस्य च धर्मस्य सुखस्यैकान्तिकस्य च॥
Word-by-word
ब्रह्मणः हि प्रतिष्ठा अहम्, अ-मृतस्य अ-व्ययस्य च,
शाश्वतस्य च धर्मस्य, सुखस्य ऐकान्तिकस्य च।
Commentary
In this chapter, Nature was earlier called Mahad-Brahm by the Lord (14:3, 4). It is a repetition of the same in this verse. Because of the metric expression limitations, the verse does not use the full expression Mahad-Brahm and uses just “Brahm.”
In the previous verse, the Lord said that by practicing loving devotion (Bhakti Yoga), a person became qualified to become one with Formless God (Brahm). But loving devotion (Bhakti) aims at Personified God, not an impersonal, Formless God. Therefore, in this verse, Bhagawān Krishna uses “I” for Himself—the Personified God. Furthering the context of the prior verse, He indicates that Mahad-Brahm (Unmanifest Nature) rests on {Formless God as well as} Him—the Personified God—the two being not essentially different from each other. That is to say, Personified God Krishna and Formless God (Brahm) are the same, with no fundamental difference in the expressed and unmanifest aspects of the Supreme Being. Even earlier, in verse 9:4, Bhagawān Krishna had indicated that He was also “Avyaktamurti” Formless God. That is why, by practicing loving devotion to Bhagawān Krishna, one gets entitled to becoming one with formless Brahm by penetrating all the three Modes of Nature.
This entire chapter is regarded as dedicated to the Path of Knowledge (Jnāna Yoga), leading to God-realization in God’s impersonal, formless aspect. But, at the end of the chapter, by talking of attaining Brahm through loving devotion to Personified God, God-the-Supreme has once again confirmed the principle that among the ten Mahā Yogas (principal paths), the Integrative Yoga (Samanvaya Yoga) is paramount. In Integrative Yoga, knowledge, meditation, karmas, and loving devotion are all combined into one. In the final section of this book, titled "The Final Revelation," one can get a brief introduction to all the ten royal roads to Nirvāna, including Integrative Yoga.