BHAGAVAD GITA

Conversation 7. The Yoga of Wisdom and Understanding

Table of Contents

Chapter 6 - Chapter 8


  • Krishna said:
    O Arjuna, listen how you shall know Me
    Completely without any doubt,
    With your mind absorbed in Me, taking refuge in Me,
    And performing yogic practices.


  • I shall fully explain to you
    The Self-knowledge together with Self-realization
    After knowing that nothing more remains
    to be known in this world.


  • Scarcely one out of thousands of persons
    Strives for perfection of Self-realization.
    Scarcely any one of the striving,
    Or even the perfected persons, truly understands Me.

  • The mind, intellect, ego, ether, air, fire,
    Water, and earth are the eightfold transformation
    Of My Prakriti.


  • This Prakriti is My lower energy.
    My other higher energy
    Is the Purusha by which this entire universe
    Is sustained, O Arjuna.


  • Know that all creatures have evolved
    From this twofold energy,
    And Brahman is the origin as well as the dissolution
    Of the entire universe.


  • O Arjuna, there is nothing higher than Brahman.
    Everything in the universe is strung on Brahman
    Like jewels on the thread of a necklace.


  • O Arjuna, I am the sapidity in the water,
    I am the radiance in the sun and the moon,
    The sacred syllable OM in all the Vedas,
    The sound in the ether,
    And the manhood in men.


  • I am the sweet fragrance in the earth.
    I am the heat in the fire,
    The life in all living beings,
    And the austerity in the ascetics.


  • O Arjuna, know Me to be the eternal seed of all creatures.
    I am the intelligence of the intelligent,
    And the brilliance of the brilliant.


  • I am the strength, that is
    Devoid of lust and attachment, of the strong.
    I am the desire (Kaama) in human beings
    That is in accord with Dharma, O Arjuna.


  • Know that the three Gunas,
    Saattvika, Raajasika, and Taamasika,
    Also emanate from Me.
    I am not in the Gunas, but the Gunas are in Me.


  • Human beings are deluded
    By these three Gunas of nature;
    Therefore, they do not know Me
    who is above these Gunas and eternal.


  • My divine Maya consisting of three Gunas
    Is difficult to overcome.
    Only they who surrender unto Me
    Cross over this Maya.


  • The evil doers, the ignorant, the lowest persons
    Who are attached to demonic nature,
    And whose intellect has been taken away by Maya
    Do not worship or seek Me.


  • Four types of virtuous ones
    Worship or seek Me, O Arjuna.
    They are: the distressed, the seeker of Self-knowledge,
    The seeker of wealth,
    And the wise one who knows the Supreme.


  • Among them the wise one,
    Who is ever united with Me
    And whose devotion is single minded, is the best.
    Because, I am very dear to the wise, And the wise is very dear to Me.


  • All these are indeed noble,
    But I regard the wise as My very Self,
    Because the one who is steadfast
    Becomes one with the Supreme Being.


  • After many births the wise ones resort to Me
    By realizing that everything is Brahman indeed.
    Such a great soul is very rare.


  • They, whose wisdom has been carried away
    By various desires impelled by their own Sanskaara,
    Resort to other gods and practice various religious rites.


  • Whosoever desires to worship
    Whatever deity with faith,
    I make their faith steady in that very deity.


  • Endowed with steady faith they worship that deity,
    And fulfill their wishes through that deity.
    Those wishes are, indeed, granted only by Me.


  • Such gains of these less intelligent
    Human beings are temporary.
    The worshipers of Devas go to Devas,
    But My devotees come to Me.


  • The ignorant think of Me, the Para-Brahman,
    As having no form or personality and I can take form;
    Because (these) people are not being able to comprehend
    My supreme imperishable and incomparable existence.


  • Veiled by My divine Maya,
    I am not known by all.
    Therefore, the ignorant one does not know Me
    As the unborn and eternal Brahman.


  • I know, O Arjuna, the beings of the past,
    Of the present, and those of the future,
    But no one really knows Me.


  • All beings in this world are in utter ignorance
    Due to the delusion of dualities
    Born of likes and dislikes, O Arjuna.


  • Persons of virtuous deeds,
    Whose Karma has come to an end,
    Become free from the delusion of dualities
    And worship Me with firm resolve.


  • Those who strive for freedom
    From (the cycles of birth) old age And death by taking refuge in Me know Brahman,
    The individual self, and Karma in its entirety.

    This is the end of Chapter VII of the Bhagavad Gita
    Entitled "Jnana-Vijnana-Yoga,"
    Or "The Yoga of Wisdom and Understanding"