7. Knowledge and Realization

1The Lord said, "With your mind focused on Me, taking Me as your support, and practicing yoga—how can you, without doubt, know Me fully? Hear, O Arjuna."

2I will declare to you in full this knowledge of God, along with the knowledge that makes it distinguished, knowing which nothing else remains to be known.

3Among thousands of men, some strive for perfection; even among those who strive for perfection, only some know Me; and among those who know Me, only some truly know Me.

4Earth, water, fire, air, ether, Manas, Buddhi, and the ego-sense—thus My Prakriti is divided into eight parts.

5This is My lower Prakṛti. But, O mighty-armed one, know that My higher nature is another. It is the life-principle (Jīva-bhūta), by which this universe is sustained.

6Know that all beings have these two as the source of their birth. Therefore, I am the origin and the dissolver of the whole universe.

7There is nothing higher than Me, O Arjuna. All this is strung on Me, like rows of gems on a thread.

8I am the taste in the waters, O Arjuna! I am the light in the sun and the moon; the sacred syllable Om in all the Vedas; sound in the ether; and manhood in men, I am.

9I am the pure scent in the earth; I am the radiance in the fire; I am the life-force in all beings, and austerity in ascetics.

10Know Me, O Arjuna, to be the primeval seed of all beings. I am the intelligence of the discerning and the brilliance of the brilliant.

11In the strong, I am strength, devoid of desire and passion. In all beings, I am the desire which is not contrary to Dharma, O Arjuna.

12Know that all those states of Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas are from Me alone; however, I am not in them; rather, they are in Me.

13The entire universe is deluded by these three states originating from the Gunas (of Prakrti), and fails to recognize Me, who am beyond them and immutable.

14(a) For this divine Maya or Mine, consisting of the three Gunas (assumed for purposes of sport), is hard to overcome. ৷৷ (b) ৷৷ But those who take refuge in Me alone shall pass beyond the Maya.

15The evil-doers, the foolish, the lowest of men, those persons deprived of knowledge by delusion (Maya) and those who are dominated by a demoniac nature - they do not seek refuge in Me.

16Four types of men of good deeds worship Me, O Arjuna: the distressed, the seekers of knowledge, the seekers of wealth, and the men of knowledge.

17Of these, the man of knowledge, who is ever with Me in Yoga and devoted to the One only, is the foremost; for I am very dear to the man of knowledge, and he is also dear to Me.

18All these are indeed generous, but I deem the man of knowledge to be My very self; for he, integrated, is devoted solely to Me as the highest end.

19At the end of many births, the man of knowledge finds refuge in Me, realizing that 'Vasudeva is all.' It is very difficult to find such a great-souled person.

20Controlled by their inherent nature, and deprived of knowledge by various desires, worldly-minded people resort to other gods, observing various disciplines.

21Whichever devotee seeks to worship with faith whatever form, I make their faith steadfast.

22Endowed with that faith, he worships that form and thereby gets the objects of his desire, granted in reality by Me alone.

23But the fruit gained by these men of small understanding is limited. The worshippers of the gods will go to the gods, but My devotees will come to Me.

24Not knowing My higher, immutable, and unsurpassed nature, the ignorant think of Me as an entity that has now become manifest, though I was previously unmanifest.

25Veiled by my Maya, I am not manifest to all; this deluded world does not recognize me as the unborn and immutable.

26I know all beings, O Arjuna, past, present, and those to come; but no one knows Me.

27O Arjuna, all beings are deluded as soon as they are born, due to the delusion of the pairs of opposites springing from desire and hate.

28But those who have done good deeds, whose sins have come to an end, are freed from the delusion of the pairs of opposites. They steadfastly worship Me, adhering to their vows.

29Those who take refuge in Me and strive for deliverance from old age and death, know Brahman (or the Self) and all about the nature of that Self, and the entire Karma (or activities leading to rebirth).

30And those who know Me with the Adhibhuta, Adhidaiva, and Adhiyajna, they too, with their minds fixed in meditation, know Me even at the hour of death.