The Bhagavad Gita - Chapter 7

The Path of Knowledge & Realisation

On 5th July 2020, my dear Dad passed away and moved on to the next realm. The Bhagavad Gita, a book sacred to Hinduism, was by far his most cherished text and he studied it up to the very end. In his memory, I am committing to write 18 pieces - one for each chapter - and will attempt to capture the essence of this great text. No prior knowledge of Hinduism is necessary and I shall steer clear of jargon as much as possible. If you haven’t already, do subscribe below to get all the pieces straight to your inbox. Lastly if you are just joining and would like to start at the beginning, click here for Chapter 1

A quick recap

In Chapter 6 Krishna spoke about the mind and how the mind needs to be conquered - else the mind becomes an enemy and not a friend. The mind can be conquered through meditation performed by controlling the thoughts while being free of expectations and the sense of possession. Krishna reiterates that no-one should discard action. Each person has their duty and it needs to be performed well, while adhering to discipline in sleeping and waking, as well as eating. He also stresses the equality of all beings.

The Path of Knowledge and Realisation

Krishna continues:

“Oh Arjuna, listen how with your mind completely fixed on Me, practising Yoga with Me as your support, you will without doubt come to know Me in full. I shall explain to you Jnana (knowledge) and Vijnana (spiritual wisdom). When you realise both, nothing more remains to be known. Of thousands of people, only one person may strive for perfection. Even among those who strive and succeed, hardly one person knows Me in truth.”

“Earth - Water - Fire - Air - Ether - Mind - Intellect - & the sense of I - in this way, My eight fold material nature (Prakriti) is divided. (Note: Prakriti comprises not only the material world of matter and energy, but also the inner world of thoughts, emotions and the sense of I).

“Besides this, I have another superior nature. It is the life principle (Jiva) that sustains the Universe.” (Note: our real identity is the Self within, and not the outer aspects such as the body, names, roles and achievements with which we normally identify ourselves. Similarly Krishna says that the five elements and the senses are part of His inferior nature - His higher nature comprises the cosmic life principle that sustains the entire universe).

“Know that all beings have these two aspects of My Nature as their Source. I am the origin and the dissolution of the whole universe. There is nothing superior to me, the whole Universe is strung on Me like gems on a string. I am the taste in water, the radiance of the sun and the moon, the sacred syllable ‘Om’ in the Vedas, the sound in ether and the manhood in men. I am the sweet fragrance exuding from the Earth and the luminescence in the fire. I am the life in all living beings and the austerity of the ascetics. Know me to be the eternal seed of all beings. I am the intelligence of the intelligent and the splendour of the splendid. Of the strong I am strength, devoid of desire and attachment. In all beings I am the desire that is not forbidden by Dharma.”

“Purity (Sattva), passion (Rajas) and ignorance (Tamas) emerge from Me, yet I am not in them, they are in Me. The entire Universe is deluded in these three Gunas and thus fails to recognise Me - who is beyond them and imperishable.”

“This Divine illusion (Maya), made up of the three Gunas is difficult to overcome. But those who take refuge in Me alone, transcend this illusory state. Four types of virtuous people worship Me: those who are distressed, the seekers of knowledge, the seekers of wealth, and the wise.”

“Of these the wise excels - who is ever in the state of Yoga and whose devotion is one-pointed. I am very dear to him and he is very dear to Me. All these people are noble, but the one who is wise, I consider to be My very own Self. One whose mind is fixed on Me, will attain Me - the unexcelled Goal. Such a great Soul (wise) is hard to find. Driven by various desires and deprived of wisdom, such worldly-minded people worship the Devas and fulfil material desires. However one who desires Self-Realisation attains this state only by worshipping the Supreme (Brahman).”

“Covered by My illusion (Maya), I am not manifest to everyone. This deluded world does not recognise Me as the unborn and the eternal” (Note: The Sun that cannot be hidden by anything sometimes appears to be covered by a patch of clouds. However the patch of clouds cannot be seen without sunlight. The source of the clouds is the Sun. The cloud is the Yoga Maya that hides the Sun. Matter and the material, made of the three Gunas is the Yoga Maya of the Lord. As it has no independent existence it is said to be in Yoga or Union with the Lord. Because of its capacity to hide things it is called Maya. Thus the Lord seems to be hidden by His Yoga Maya while remaining unaffected by it).

Krishna continues:

“Oh Arjuna! I know the Past, Present and Future and all beings but noone knows Me.” (Note: Ishvara the cosmic Soul, is the Lord of Maya having complete control over it. The origin, existence and dissolution of all forms of life are acts of Maya. Time also only exists in Maya. Beings that existed in the past, present and that are to be are known to Him. Most individual souls however do not know themselves yet, so how will they know Him?).

“All beings in creation are deluded by duality arising from desire and aversion. But those virtuous people whose sins have come to an end are free from the delusion of duality. They realise Brahman (Ultimate Reality) in full as well as the Self and action in its entirety.”

Krishna concludes:

“Those who realise me in the Adhibhuta, in the Adhidaiva and in the Adhiyajna, they are of firm mind and realise Me even in the hour of death.”

Parting thoughts

In this Chapter Krishna begins to elaborate on his Divine nature and how his life force is seen in various aspects of life. Most people however cannot recognise this.

This Chapter is focused on the understanding of God/Supreme/Divine rather than a path to liberation.

The concept of Maya is introduced in this Chapter. Popularised by the movie The Matrix it touches on the concept that what we see around us is largely an illusion and our core essence remains perfect and untouched through time. This chapter mentions that evil is the result of ignorance and attachment to the illusion of Maya.

Again, with respect to concepts of Maya and the Divine nature within us and the Universe, I cannot stress Eckhart Tolle’s great book, The Power of Now enough. I just finished a re-read myself and it is nice to see a lot of concepts from all faiths tie together.

Ready to proceed? Click here for Chapter 8

Deepak