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Chapter 7

ज्ञानविज्ञानयोग

Knowledge and Realisation (Jñānavijñānayoga)

Krishna describes his lower nature as the elements and the mind, and his higher nature as the life that sustains all beings. He is the taste in water and the light in the sun and moon, and those who turn to him sincerely can cross the illusion woven by the three qualities.

See the sacred in ordinary things, and life itself becomes a teacher.

  1. 7.1मय्यासक्तमनाः पार्थ योगं युञ्जन्मदाश्रयः।Krishna tells Arjuna: keep your mind fixed on me, practise yoga (disciplined inner union) and rely on me as your refuge. Now listen to how you will come to know me completely, free of any doubt.
  2. 7.2ज्ञानं तेऽहं सविज्ञानमिदं वक्ष्याम्यशेषतः।Krishna says he will explain this knowledge in full, together with its lived, practical realisation. Once you know it, nothing further remains to be known in this world.
  3. 7.3मनुष्याणां सहस्रेषु कश्चिद्यतति सिद्धये।Among thousands of people, hardly one strives for spiritual perfection. And even among those who strive and succeed, hardly one knows Krishna as he truly is.
  4. 7.4भूमिरापोऽनलो वायुः खं मनो बुद्धिरेव च।Krishna names the eight parts of his material nature (prakriti): earth, water, fire, air, space, mind, intellect and the sense of 'I' (ego).
  5. 7.5अपरेयमितस्त्वन्यां प्रकृतिं विद्धि मे पराम्।That eightfold nature is the lower one. Krishna says he has another, higher nature: the living conscious principle (jiva) that holds up and sustains this whole world.
  6. 7.6एतद्योनीनि भूतानि सर्वाणीत्युपधारय।Krishna asks Arjuna to understand that all beings arise from these two natures, and that he himself is the source from which the entire world comes and into which it dissolves.
  7. 7.7मत्तः परतरं नान्यत्किञ्चिदस्ति धनञ्जय।Krishna says nothing exists higher than him. Everything in this world is strung on him, like pearls held together on a single thread.
  8. 7.8रसोऽहमप्सु कौन्तेय प्रभास्मि शशिसूर्ययोः।Krishna says: I am the taste in water, the light of the moon and sun, the sacred syllable Om in all the Vedas, the sound in space, and the human ability in people.
  9. 7.9पुण्यो गन्धः पृथिव्यां च तेजश्चास्मि विभावसौ।Krishna continues: I am the pure fragrance of the earth and the brilliance in fire. I am the life in all beings and the self-discipline in those who practise austerity.
  10. 7.10बीजं मां सर्वभूतानां विद्धि पार्थ सनातनम्।Krishna tells Arjuna to know him as the eternal seed of all beings. He is the intelligence of the intelligent and the radiance of those who shine.
  11. 7.11बलं बलवतां चाहं कामरागविवर्जितम्।Krishna says: in the strong, I am strength that is free of craving and attachment. In all beings, I am desire that does not go against dharma (what is right).
  12. 7.12ये चैव सात्त्विका भावा राजसास्तामसाश्च ये।Krishna says all states of being, whether calm and clear (sattva), restless and driven (rajas), or dull and heavy (tamas), come from him. Yet he is not in them; they are in him.
  13. 7.13त्रिभिर्गुणमयैर्भावैरेभिः सर्वमिदं जगत्।Deluded by states made of these three qualities (gunas), the whole world fails to recognise Krishna, who stands beyond them and never changes.
  14. 7.14दैवी ह्येषा गुणमयी मम माया दुरत्यया।Krishna says this divine power of illusion (maya), woven of the three qualities, is very hard to cross. But those who take refuge in him alone pass beyond it.
  15. 7.15न मां दुष्कृतिनो मूढाः प्रपद्यन्ते नराधमाः।Krishna says those who do wrong, the deluded and the lowest of people do not turn to him. Their understanding has been stolen by illusion, and they cling to a harmful, demonic nature.
  16. 7.16चतुर्विधा भजन्ते मां जनाः सुकृतिनोऽर्जुन।Krishna tells Arjuna that four kinds of good people worship him: the one in distress, the one seeking knowledge, the one seeking some gain, and the one who is wise.
  17. 7.17तेषां ज्ञानी नित्ययुक्त एकभक्तिर्विशिष्यते।Of these four, the wise one stands out: always united with Krishna and devoted to him alone. Krishna is deeply dear to the wise, and the wise are dear to him.
  18. 7.18उदाराः सर्व एवैते ज्ञानी त्वात्मैव मे मतम्।Krishna says all these devotees are noble, but he regards the wise one as his very own self, because that person, steady within, has made him the highest goal.
  19. 7.19बहूनां जन्मनामन्ते ज्ञानवान्मां प्रपद्यते।At the end of many lifetimes, the wise person takes refuge in Krishna, realising that 'Vasudeva (Krishna) is everything.' Such a great soul is very rare.
  20. 7.20कामैस्तैस्तैर्हृतज्ञानाः प्रपद्यन्तेऽन्यदेवताः।People whose understanding has been carried away by various desires turn to other deities. Led by their own nature, they follow the rituals and rules connected with those deities.
  21. 7.21यो यो यां यां तनुं भक्तः श्रद्धयार्चितुमिच्छति।Krishna says whatever form a devotee wishes to worship with faith, he himself makes that person's faith in that form firm and steady.
  22. 7.22स तया श्रद्धया युक्तस्तस्याराधनमीहते।Filled with that faith, the person worships that form and receives what they desire. Yet those results are in truth granted by Krishna alone.
  23. 7.23अन्तवत्तु फलं तेषां तद्भवत्यल्पमेधसाम्।But the results gained by people of limited understanding are temporary. Those who worship the gods go to the gods, while Krishna's devotees come to him.
  24. 7.24अव्यक्तं व्यक्तिमापन्नं मन्यन्ते मामबुद्धयः।People lacking insight think that Krishna, who is beyond form, has merely taken on a visible form. They do not know his higher nature, which is unchanging and supreme.
  25. 7.25नाहं प्रकाशः सर्वस्य योगमायासमावृतः।Krishna says he is not revealed to everyone, being veiled by his own power of yoga-maya (divine veiling). So this confused world does not know him as unborn and unchanging.
  26. 7.26वेदाहं समतीतानि वर्तमानानि चार्जुन।Krishna tells Arjuna that he knows all beings of the past, the present and the future, but no one knows him.
  27. 7.27इच्छाद्वेषसमुत्थेन द्वन्द्वमोहेन भारत।Krishna explains that from the moment of birth, all beings fall into confusion through the pull of opposites, born of liking and disliking.
  28. 7.28येषां त्वन्तगतं पापं जनानां पुण्यकर्मणाम्।But people of good deeds, whose wrongdoing has come to an end, are freed from the confusion of opposites. With firm resolve, they worship Krishna.
  29. 7.29जरामरणमोक्षाय मामाश्रित्य यतन्ति ये।Those who take refuge in Krishna and strive to be free from old age and death come to know Brahman (the ultimate reality), the whole of the inner self, and all about action.
  30. 7.30साधिभूताधिदैवं मां साधियज्ञं च ये विदुः।Those who know Krishna as the basis of the material world (adhibhuta), of the divine powers (adhidaiva) and of sacrifice (adhiyajna) keep a steady mind and know him even at the hour of death.