Bhagavad Gita 18.63 is Chapter 18, Verse 63, in Moksha Sanyasa Yoga (Liberation). Below are the Sanskrit text, a transliteration, a plain-English translation and an explanation.
iti te jñānam ākhyātaṁ guhyād guhyataraṁ mayā vimṛśyaitad aśeṣeṇa yathecchasi tathā kuru
"Thus, I have imparted to you knowledge more secret than all secrets. Reflect on this fully, and then do as you wish."
What This Means:
Krishna has now shared the most secret knowledge. He tells Arjuna to think about it completely, and then choose freely what to do.
Going Deeper:
'Guhyat guhyataram' - more secret than the secret - indicates the profound depth of this teaching. 'Vimrishya asheshena' - reflecting fully, completely. 'Yatha icchasi tatha kuru' - do as you wish - is remarkable. Krishna gives ultimate freedom. No coercion. True spiritual teaching respects human freedom to choose.
How To Apply This:
Real wisdom doesn't force. After understanding deeply, you are free to choose. But make sure you reflect completely before deciding - don't react superficially.
Where this verse sits
This is the sentence with which Krishna ends his teaching proper. Eighteen chapters have led here; the three verses that follow, 18.64 to 18.66, are an addition offered out of affection, the 'most secret word of all', and then the dialogue turns to Arjuna's answer in 18.73. Verse 63 marks the handover: the knowledge has been given in full, and what is done with it is now the listener's business.
What the words say
Guhyad guhyataram, 'more secret than the secret', is Krishna's own estimate of what he has taught; the comparative becomes a superlative in 18.64, sarva-guhyatamam, for the closing verses. Vimrishya etad asheshena asks for reflection that leaves nothing out; the instruction is to weigh the whole, not to seize on a favourite line. Yathecchasi tatha kuru, 'do as you wish', is the phrase people remember. Shankara takes it plainly: the teacher has finished, and the pupil is free. The tradition reads the sentence as the Gita's respect for the listener's will; a teaching about acting without compulsion could hardly end by compelling.
A common misreading
'Do as you wish' is not indifference to what Arjuna chooses. Krishna has spent the dialogue showing why one course is right, and in the very next verses he asks Arjuna to fix his mind on him and take refuge in him. The freedom offered is the freedom of someone who has understood, not a shrug. Arjuna's reply in 18.73, 'my delusion is gone, I will do your word', shows what the verse expects understanding to produce: a decision, made freely, that matches the teaching.
Key Sanskrit Terms: