Bhagawad Gita, Chapter 7

Chapter 7
Philosophy of Wisdom and Realization

Lord Kirishna:
O Arjuna,
Hear this now from me:
when you meditate on me
how to take refuge in me,
you surely will come to know me.

I will fully tell you
this knowledge of realization.
If you get this. That’s all there is.
You need nothing more than this.

One man among thousands
per chance may strive for perfection
and one among these per chance
may come to know my essence.

My nature is eightfold:
Earth, ether, water, fire,
egoism, mind, intellect and air.

O Arjuna:
This is my base nature.
Know my sublime nature now:
the very essence of life
that upholds this world.

Know that these two
give birth to of all beings,
I am the one who creates
and dissolves the universe.

O Arjuna,
There is no one higher than me
the universe to me is like
gems in clusters on a string.

O Arjuna,
I am the life in water,
I am the light in the moon and the sun,
I am the word Om in Vedas,
I am the sound in ether,
I am the virility in men.

The sweet-fragrance of earth is me,
The brilliance in the fire is me,
I am the life in all beings,
I am the monk’s austerity.

Know O Arjuna,
I am the source of all beings,
I am the intelligence of the intelligent,
The beautiful splendor of things is me.

O Arjuna,
Of the strong, I am the strength
sans attachment and desire,
in all beings I am the desire
of dharma—the path to truth.

All beings and things,
pure, active and inert,
know they come from me.
They are in me
and yet I am not in them.

Deluded by three qualities of nature,
People do not know I’m changeless.
They tell themselves they’re like me.

It is really hard to see me
through this divine illusion of mine,
made by three qualities of nature.
Those who take refuge in me
through this illusion, they see me.

The deluded and the evil doers,
the lowest of all do not see me.
Their wisdom is veiled by illusion,
they go the way the demons go.

O Arjuna, O Prince of Bharatas,
Four kind of virtuous men worship me:
The distressed, the wise and those
who seek wisdom and wealth.

Of these, the steadfast and the wise
devoted to me are the best.
For I am dear to the wise
and the wise are the dearest to me.

Noble indeed are all these,
but the wise I consider as my very-self,
firm in their minds they focus on me
and me alone they make their goal.

Through many births the wise come to me,
realizing I am the innermost-self,
the greatest soul hard to find.

Those who lose their heads in various things,
they desire to go to their own gods,
following their chosen paths.

In whatever way
a devotee worships his faith,
I make his faith
firm and unflinching.

With his faith he worships
and gets his desires fulfilled.
But I ordain all this.

These men of lower intelligence
worship gods to get low rewards.
But my devotees come to me.

The foolish think I am like them,
but they do not know my higher nature.
I am changeless. I am God in person.

I do not appear to all
as I am veiled by worldly illusions.
The world is in delusion,
It does not know
that I am the unborn, the imperishable.

O Arjuna,
I know who lived in the past,
who is living in the present
and will live in the future.
But no one knows me.

O Arjuna, the Scorcher of the Foe,
All beings are deluded
by the opposing qualities of the nature.
They arise from desire and aversion
and get into delusion from birth.

But men of virtuous deeds,
putting an end to their sins,
freeing from opposing qualities of nature,
firmly in their resolve, worship me.

Those who strive for liberation
from old age and death,
they take refuge in me.
Knowing the wisdom of self and action,
they fully realize me.

Those who know me
How I act through elements,
the gods and sacrifice,
They know me
even after their death.

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A rendering from English translation of Bhagvad Gita by Swami Siva Nanda. Published by Divine Life Society of South Africa, 1939.