Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7: Jnana Vijnana Yoga, Meaning in Simple Words

Chapter 7 opens the second part of the Gita, on devotion. So far Krishna has explained how one should live; now he explains who the God towards whom this life moves is, and how He is connected to the world. "Jnana" is knowing God's nature; "vijnana" is realising it, seeing Him everywhere.

Verses 1 to 3: complete knowledge

"Hear how, with your mind fixed on me, taking refuge in me and practising yoga, you will know me completely and without doubt. I will give you this knowledge together with realisation, knowing which nothing more remains to be known. Among thousands, hardly one strives for perfection; and among those who strive and succeed, hardly one knows me in truth."

Verses 4 to 7: lower and higher nature

"Earth, water, fire, air, space, mind, intellect and ego: this is my eightfold lower nature. Different from it is my higher nature, the living being, by which this world is sustained. All beings arise from these two; I am the origin and the dissolution of the whole universe."

Mattah parataram nanyat kinchid asti dhananjaya
mayi sarvam idam protam sutre mani gana iva (7.7)

Meaning: There is nothing higher than me, Dhananjaya. All this is strung on me like pearls on a thread.

Verses 8 to 12: God in everything

"I am the taste in water, the light in the moon and sun, Om in all the Vedas, sound in space and manhood in men. I am the sacred fragrance of the earth, the brilliance in fire, the life in all beings and the austerity in ascetics. Know me as the eternal seed of all beings; I am the intelligence of the intelligent and the splendour of the splendid. I am the strength of the strong, free of desire and passion, and desire that is not against dharma. The states of sattva, rajas and tamas come from me, but I am not in them; they are in me."

Verses 13 to 15: maya

The whole world, deluded by these three states, does not know me who am beyond them and imperishable. "This divine maya of mine, made of the gunas, is hard to cross; but those who take refuge in me cross over it (7.14)." Evil-doers, the deluded, the lowest of people, those whose knowledge is stolen by maya and who take to a demonic nature, do not come to me.

Verses 16 to 19: four kinds of devotees

Chatur vidha bhajante mam janah sukritino 'rjuna
arto jijnasur artharthi jnani cha bharatarshabha (7.16)

Meaning: Four kinds of virtuous people worship me, Arjuna: the distressed, the seeker of knowledge, the seeker of wealth, and the wise.

Of these the wise one, ever united with me and devoted to me alone, is the best; I am very dear to the wise and they to me. All are noble, but the wise one I regard as my very self.

Bahunam janmanam ante jnanavan mam prapadyate
vasudevah sarvam iti sa mahatma sudurlabhah (7.19)

Meaning: At the end of many births the wise one takes refuge in me, knowing "Vasudeva is all". Such a great soul is very rare.

Verses 20 to 23: worship of other gods

Those whose wisdom is carried away by various desires worship other gods, following rules suited to their nature. Whatever form a devotee wishes to worship with faith, I make that faith steady. With that faith they worship that deity and obtain their wishes, which are in truth granted by me alone. But the fruit gained by those of small understanding is temporary; worshippers of the gods go to the gods, and my devotees come to me.

Verses 24 to 30: the unmanifest and yogamaya

The unwise, not knowing my supreme, imperishable nature, think that I, the unmanifest, have merely taken a form. Veiled by my yogamaya I am not revealed to all; this deluded world does not know me, the unborn and unchanging. I know all beings past, present and future, but no one knows me. From birth all beings are deluded by the pairs of opposites born of desire and aversion. But those of virtuous deeds, whose sins have ended, freed from this delusion, worship me with firm resolve.

Those who strive for freedom from old age and death, taking refuge in me, know Brahman, the whole of the self and the whole of action. Those who know me together with the adhibhuta, adhidaiva and adhiyajna know me even at the hour of death. (These terms raise Arjuna's questions, answered in chapter 8.)

What this chapter teaches

• The taste of water, the light of the sun, the intelligence of the wise: God can be seen in every good thing.
• The suffering, the curious, the one who asks for something: all are devotees, and God turns none away.
• The world's illusion is not crossed by one's own strength but by surrender.
• God strengthens whatever faith a person brings to worship.