Sacred Scripture / Chapter 7
30 published verses from Srimad Bhagavad Gita (ज्ञानविज्ञानयोगः). The Yoga of Knowledge and Experiential Wisdom. Chapter 7 marks the beginning of the second sextet (Bhakti Shatka) of the Bhagavad Gita. Krishna initiates the supreme revelation of His divine nature: distinguishing the material nature (Apara) from the spiritual energy (Para), proclaiming Himself as the string upon which all worlds are threaded like pearls (7.7), explaining the insurmountable veil of Maya, identifying the four kinds of seekers, and celebrating the rare awakened sage who realizes that Vasudeva is all (7.19).
Explore original Sanskrit, word-by-word padartha, trilingual translations, commentary, reflections, and modern life applications.
30 verses
Verse 7.1
mayyāsaktamanāḥ pārtha yogaṃ yuñjanmadāśrayaḥ | asaṃśayaṃ samagraṃ māṃ yathā jñāsyasi tacchṛṇu ||1||
O Partha, with your mind attached to Me, practicing yoga and taking refuge in Me, hear how you will know Me fully, without doubt.
Verse 7.2
jñānaṃ te'haṃ savijñānamidaṃ vakṣyāmyaśeṣataḥ | yajjñātvā neha bhūyo'nyajjñātavyamavaśiṣyate ||2||
I will explain this knowledge to you completely, together with realized understanding; knowing it, nothing further remains here to be known.
Verse 7.3
manuṣyāṇāṃ sahasreṣu kaścidyatati siddhaye | yatatāmapi siddhānāṃ kaścinmāṃ vetti tattvataḥ ||3||
Among thousands of people, perhaps one strives for perfection; even among those who strive and attain it, scarcely one knows Me in truth.
Verse 7.4
bhūmirāpo'nalo vāyuḥ khaṃ mano buddhireva ca | ahaṅkāra itīyaṃ me bhinnā prakṛtiraṣṭadhā ||4||
Earth, water, fire, air, space, mind, intellect and ego: this is My nature divided into eight parts.
Verse 7.5
apareyamitastvanyāṃ prakṛtiṃ viddhi me parām | jīvabhūtāṃ mahābāho yayedaṃ dhāryate jagat ||5||
This is the lower nature. O mighty-armed one, know My other, higher nature, which takes the form of living beings and sustains this world.
Verse 7.6
etadyonīni bhūtāni sarvāṇītyupadhāraya | ahaṃ kṛtsnasya jagataḥ prabhavaḥ pralayastathā ||6||
Understand that all beings arise from these two natures. I am the origin and also the dissolution of the entire world.
Verse 7.7
mattaḥ parataraṃ nānyatkiñcidasti dhanañjaya | mayi sarvamidaṃ protaṃ sūtre maṇigaṇā iva ||7||
O Dhananjaya, nothing whatsoever is higher than Me. All this is strung on Me like clusters of pearls on a thread.
Verse 7.8
raso'hamapsu kaunteya prabhāsmi śaśisūryayoḥ | praṇavaḥ sarvavedeṣu śabdaḥ khe pauruṣaṃ nṛṣu ||8||
O son of Kunti, I am the taste in water, the radiance of the moon and sun, Om in all the Vedas, sound in space and vigor in human beings.
Verse 7.9
puṇyo gandhaḥ pṛthivyāṃ ca tejaścāsmi vibhāvasau | jīvanaṃ sarvabhūteṣu tapaścāsmi tapasviṣu ||9||
I am the pure fragrance in the earth and the radiance in fire; I am life in all beings and austerity in those who practice it.
Verse 7.10
bījaṃ māṃ sarvabhūtānāṃ viddhi pārtha sanātanam | buddhirbuddhimatāmasmi tejastejasvināmaham ||10||
O Partha, know Me as the eternal seed of all beings. I am the intelligence of the intelligent and the brilliance of the brilliant.
Verse 7.11
balaṃ balavatāṃ cāhaṃ kāmarāgavivarjitam | dharmāviruddho bhūteṣu kāmo'smi bharatarṣabha ||11||
I am the strength of the strong, free from desire and attachment. O best of the Bharatas, I am desire in beings that does not oppose dharma.
Verse 7.12
ye caiva sāttvikā bhāvā rājasāstāmasāśca ye | matta eveti tānviddhi na tvahaṃ teṣu te mayi ||12||
Know that states arising from sattva, rajas and tamas come from Me alone. Yet I am not in them; they are in Me.
Verse 7.13
tribhirguṇamayairbhāvairebhiḥ sarvamidaṃ jagat | mohitaṃ nābhijānāti māmebhyaḥ paramavyayam ||13||
Deluded by these states formed of the three gunas, this whole world does not recognize Me, who am beyond them and imperishable.
Verse 7.14
daivī hyeṣā guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā | māmeva ye prapadyante māyāmetāṃ taranti te ||14||
This divine maya of Mine, formed of the gunas, is indeed hard to cross. Those who take refuge in Me alone cross beyond this maya.
Verse 7.15
na māṃ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ | māyayāpahṛtajñānā āsuraṃ bhāvamāśritāḥ ||15||
Evildoers who are deluded and lowest among people, whose knowledge has been taken away by maya and who adopt a demonic disposition, do not take refuge in Me.
Verse 7.16
caturvidhā bhajante māṃ janāḥ sukṛtino'rjuna | ārto jijñāsurarthārthī jñānī ca bharatarṣabha ||16||
O Arjuna, best of the Bharatas, four kinds of people of good deeds worship Me: the distressed, the seeker of knowledge, the seeker of prosperity and the wise.
Verse 7.17
teṣāṃ jñānī nityayukta ekabhaktirviśiṣyate | priyo hi jñānino'tyarthamahaṃ sa ca mama priyaḥ ||17||
Among them, the wise one, ever united with Me and devoted to Me alone, excels. I am exceedingly dear to the wise one, and that person is dear to Me.
Verse 7.18
udārāḥ sarva evaite jñānī tvātmaiva me matam | āsthitaḥ sa hi yuktātmā māmevānuttamāṃ gatim ||18||
All these are noble; yet I regard the wise one as My very self. With the inner being united, that person rests in Me alone as the unsurpassed goal.
Verse 7.19
bahūnāṃ janmanāmante jñānavānmāṃ prapadyate | vāsudevaḥ sarvamiti sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ ||19||
At the end of many births, the person of knowledge takes refuge in Me, realizing that Vasudeva is all. Such a great soul is very rare.
Verse 7.20
kāmaistaistairhṛtajñānāḥ prapadyante'nyadevatāḥ | taṃ taṃ niyamamāsthāya prakṛtyā niyatāḥ svayā ||20||
Those whose understanding has been carried away by various desires take refuge in other deities, observing particular rules and guided by their own nature.
Verse 7.21
yo yo yāṃ yāṃ tanuṃ bhaktaḥ śraddhayārcitumicchati | tasya tasyācalāṃ śraddhāṃ tāmeva vidadhāmyaham ||21||
Whatever form a devotee wishes to worship with faith, I make that devotee's faith in that form steadfast.
Verse 7.22
sa tayā śraddhayā yuktastasyārādhanamīhate | labhate ca tataḥ kāmānmayaiva vihitānhi tān ||22||
Endowed with that faith, the devotee seeks to worship that deity and obtains the desired objects from it; yet those gifts are ordained by Me alone.
Verse 7.23
antavattu phalaṃ teṣāṃ tadbhavatyalpamedhasām | devāndevayajo yānti madbhaktā yānti māmapi ||23||
But the fruit of those of limited understanding comes to an end. Worshippers of the deities reach the deities; My devotees reach Me.
Verse 7.24
avyaktaṃ vyaktimāpannaṃ manyante māmabuddhayaḥ | paraṃ bhāvamajānanto mamāvyayamanuttamam ||24||
Those without discernment think that I, the unmanifest, have become manifest, not knowing My supreme nature, which is imperishable and unsurpassed.
Verse 7.25
nāhaṃ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yogamāyāsamāvṛtaḥ | mūḍho'yaṃ nābhijānāti loko māmajamavyayam ||25||
Veiled by yoga-maya, I am not revealed to everyone. This deluded world does not recognize Me as unborn and imperishable.
Verse 7.26
vedāhaṃ samatītāni vartamānāni cārjuna | bhaviṣyāṇi ca bhūtāni māṃ tu veda na kaścana ||26||
O Arjuna, I know the beings of the past, the present and the future; yet no one knows Me.
Verse 7.27
icchādveṣasamutthena dvandvamohena bhārata | sarvabhūtāni sammohaṃ sarge yānti parantapa ||27||
O Bharata, scorcher of foes, all beings enter delusion at birth through the confusion of opposites arising from desire and aversion.
Verse 7.28
yeṣāṃ tvantagataṃ pāpaṃ janānāṃ puṇyakarmaṇām | te dvandvamohanirmuktā bhajante māṃ dṛḍhavratāḥ ||28||
But people of virtuous deeds whose wrongdoing has come to an end, freed from the delusion of opposites, worship Me with firm resolve.
Verse 7.29
jarāmaraṇamokṣāya māmāśritya yatanti ye | te brahma tadviduḥ kṛtsnamadhyātmaṃ karma cākhilam ||29||
Those who take refuge in Me and strive for liberation from old age and death know Brahman, the whole of adhyatma and all karma.
Verse 7.30
sādhibhūtādhidaivaṃ māṃ sādhiyajñaṃ ca ye viduḥ | prayāṇakāle'pi ca māṃ te viduryuktacetasaḥ ||30||
Those who know Me together with adhibhuta, adhidaiva and adhiyajna know Me even at the time of departure, with their minds collected.
