INTRODUCTION
Lord Krsna in the forty verse of the sixth chapter described the glory of a Yogi and in the forty-seventh verse He declared, “Of all Yogis, he who devoutly worships Me with his mind focused on Me is considered by Me to be the most devout Yogi.” When a devotee thinks of God, he gets absorbed in Him. Similarly when something concerning His devotee is discussed, God also gets absorbed in it. In the same state of mind here also Lord Krsna full of grace and affection for Arjuna starts the seventh chapter on his own.
(JNANA-VIJNANA YOGA)
Chapter VII
Arjuna: Can I also become a Yogi of the best category?
Krishna: Yes, certainly you can.
Arjuna: How?
Krishna: With your mind attached to Me and worshipping Me with complete dependence on Me, you will without any doubt know Me in full. I shall unfold to you in full, this knowledge (Jnana) along-with Realization (Vijnana), having known which nothing else remains to be known in this world. || 1-2 ||
Arjuna: Why do all men not know You in reality?
Krishna: Only a few men have a natural inclination towards spirituality. Among thousands of men scarcely one strives to realize Me, and of those who strive, some rare one, devoting himself exclusively to Me, knows My entire form in Reality. || 3 ||
Arjuna: What is that entire form?
Krishna: O mighty-armed! Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Ether, Mind, Reason and Ego— these constitute My Prakrti (nature) –eightfold divided. This is My lower (insentient) Prakrti; but different from it is My higher (Sentient) Prakrti (Soul)—the life element by which this universe is upheld. All beings evolve from the union of these two.
Arjuna: Who is the origin of these two, O Lord?
Krishna: I am the origin of the entire creation, because the whole universe is born of Me and again it dissolves in Me. Therefore, there is no other origin in the least besides Me. Like clusters of yarn-beads formed by knots on a thread, the entire universe is threaded on Me. || 4-7 ||
Arjuna: How should I know this fact, O Lord?
Krishna: O Kuntinandana, I am sapidity in water, radiance in the moon and the sun; I am the sacred syllable “OM” in all the Vedas, sound in ether, manliness in men, pure odour in the earth, brilliance in fire, life in all beings, austerity in ascetics, eternal seed of all beings, intelligence of the intelligent, glory of the glorious and might (free from passion and desire) of the mighty. In beings I am desire, not in conflict with Dharma (virtue or righteousness or scriptural injunction). Not only this but whatever other entities there are born of Sattva (goodness), of Rajas (activity), (Passion) and of Tamas (inertia), (ignorance) know them all as evolved from Me alone. But in reality, however, neither do I exist in them, nor do they exist in Me viz., I am completely untainted and beyond them. || 8-12 ||
Arjuna: If it is so, why do all people not know you so?
Krishna: Deluded by objects evolved from the three modes of Prakrti (Nature)—- Sattva, Rajas and Tamas, the whole worlds does not know Me, Who is above these modes and imperishable. || 13 ||
Arjuna: Then, who knows you?
Krishna: This divine illusion (potency) of Mine, consisting of the three Gunas (modes of Nature), is extremely difficult to surmount. But those, who having a disinclination for this illusion, take refuge in Me alone, cross over this illusion viz., know Me by My grace. || 14 ||
Arjuna: When it is so, why do all people not take refuge in You?
Krishna: Those who embrace the demoniac nature and whose knowledge (discrimination) is veiled by illusion—out of them the very mean and sinful deluded persons don’t take refuge in Me. ||15 ||
Arjuna: Then, who take refuge in You, O Lord?
Krishna: O noble Arjuna, four types of virtuous men—the sufferers, the seekers of wealth, the seekers of knowledge and the men of wisdom worship Me viz., seek refuge in Me. ||16 ||
Arjuna: Who stands supreme among these virtuous four?
Krishna: Of these, the wise man, who is possessed of exclusive devotion stands Supreme, because he ever remains merged in Me. So I am extremely dear to that wise and he is extremely dear to me. ||17||
Arjuna: Are the other three not noble?
Krishna: All of them are noble.
Arjuna: How is then, the wise Superior to others?
Krishna: The wise is verily My own self—-this is my conviction; for steadfast in mind, he is established in Me alone, as the Supreme Goal. The sufferer wants deliverance from distress, the seekers of wealth and Knowledge want wealth and Knowledge. But the wise wants nothing. || 18 ||
Arjuna: Why does the wise stand foremost?
Krishna: In the very last of all births viz., in this birth, the man of wisdom worships Me, realizing that all is God. Rare indeed is that great soul. || 19||
Arjuna: Why do all the people not worship you thus?
Krishna: For those, the wisdom, that “All is God”, has been led astray by their desires; constrained by their own nature, they take refuge in other gods viz., worship other gods, following several methods and rites. || 20 ||
Arjuna: Why don’t you attract those persons to your worship?
Krishna: I don’t take away their liberty bestowed upon them. But whatever celestial form a devotee seeks to worship with faith, I stabilize the faith in that form and endowed with that faith he worships that deity. But O brother, there is a strange fact, that the desired result, which he gets by worshipping that deity, is ordained by Me. But the fruit so gained by the people of meagre intelligence, who worship gods with an interested motive is perishable. Such worshippers of gods, at the most, attain the worlds of gods from where they have to return, whereas My devotees attain Me. || 21-23 ||
Arjuna: When Your devotees attain You, why is it that all don’t seek You?
Krishna: O brother, men of poor understanding without knowing My noblest imperishable Supreme state think of Me, the un-manifest, as an ordinary mortal. So how can they seek Me? || 24 ||
Arjuna: They don’t know You in Your supreme state, but why are You not manifest to them?
Krishna: O brother, veiled by My Yoga Maya (divine potency) I am not manifest to them, because these ignorant folk do not recognize Me as the unborn and Imperishable Supreme. || 25 ||
Arjuna: Are You not affected by that Yoga Maya (divine potency)?
Krishna: No, Arjuna, I know the beings of the past, the present and the future. But those deluded by My divine potency, don’t know Me. ||26||
Arjuna: What is the main reason that they don’t know You?
Krishna: O Arjuna, the main reason is the delusion of pairs of opposites, arising from attachment and aversion. It is because of this delusion that they are subject to birth and death, again and again. || 27 ||
Arjuna: Are all men deluded by the pairs of opposites?
Krishna: No. The men of virtuous deeds, whose sins have come to an end, are not deluded. Such men worship Me with a firm resolve in everyway. || 28 ||
Arjuna: What is the result of worshipping You, with a firm resolve?
Krishna: They who, having taken refuge in Me alone, strive for deliverance from the cycle of birth and death, know that Brahma (the Infinite), the entire Adhyatma (the totality of embodied souls), the entire field of Karma (action). They also come to know My Integral Being (that all is God) comprising Adhibhutta (the field of matter), Adhidaiva (Brahma) and Adhiyajna (the unmanifest Divinity). Not only this but they, with exclusive devotion for Me, even at the hour of death, also attain Me. || 29-30 ||
****END OF CHAPTER VII****
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