Verse 1
Krishna said to Arjuna: I will tell you how you can know me without any doubt. Focus your mind on me and practice complete surrender.
BG 7.1 - 30
Verse 2
When this wisdom I am revealing is fully known to you, nothing else will remain to be known.
Verse 3
Out of thousands of people, only one strives for perfection. Of those who strive for perfection, and even of those who have achieved perfection, only one knows the truth.
Verse 4
My material nature is divided eightfold - earth, water, fire, air, space, mind, intellect, and ego.
Verse 5
This is my lower nature. There is also my distinct higher nature, which forms the basis for life in this universe.
Verse 6
These two are the source of all living beings. I am the creator of the universe, and I am its dissolution.
Verse 7
There is nothing higher than me. All is strung on me like a row of beads on a thread.
Verse 8
I am the taste in the waters, the radiance of the sun and moon, the sacred syllable Om in the Vedas, the sound of space, and the vigor of mankind.
Verse 9
I am the fragrance of the earth, the brilliance of the fire, the life force in all beings, and the penance of the ascetics.
Verse 10
I am the seed of all beings, the intellect of the intelligent, and the splendor of the splendid.
Verse 11
I am the strength of the strong one who is free from passion and desire. In all beings, I am the desire for dharma.
Verse 12
I am the source of all that is pure, all that is passionate, and all that is ignorant. They are within me, but I am not within them.
Verse 13
Deluded by these three qualities of nature (purity, passion, and ignorance), the entire world fails to recognize the supreme and imperishable.
Verse 14
This divine illusion is difficult to overcome. Only those who surrender themselves entirely to me can accomplish it.
Verse 15
The evil doers, the ignorant, the hedonistic, and deprived, all do not surrender to me.
Verse 16
There are four kinds of people who worship me - the pious, the seekers of knowledge, the seekers of material gain, and the wise.
Verse 17
Of all these, the wise, ever steadfast in devotion, are most dear to me - and I am most dear to them.
Verse 18
All four are of noble mind, but those who are wise are a reflection of myself - steadfast in mind, with me as the ultimate goal.
Verse 19
After many lives, the wise one realizes that "all is God" and surrenders to me. Such a soul is very rare.
Verse 20
Those whose wisdom has been carried away by material desires, worship other Gods and practice whatever rites they prefer.
Verse 21
Whatever the form of worship, if the worshipper does so with faith, then I bestow steady faith upon them.
Verse 23
But the fruit gained by such people of limited insight is perishable. The worshippers of the celestial gods will go to the gods, while my devotees come to me.
Verse 24
The ignorant think of me, the formless, as having a personality and form. They do not understand my imperishable and supreme nature.
Verse 25
I am not visible to everyone, and remained veiled in illusion. This deluded world does not know me as the unborn and immutable.
Verse 27
Craving and aversion arise from the illusion of duality - a delusion that all living beings are born into.
Verse 28
But those whose sins have been completely eradicated by pious activities are freed from the illusion of duality, and worship me with determination.
Verse 29
Those who take refuge in me are liberated from old age and death, know Brahman as the nature of Karma and the self.
Verse 30
Those who see me as the law of physical nature, the nature of the gods, and the principles of sacrifice, know me even at the time of death.
Next chapter
8. Path of the Eternal God
Akṣhar Brahma Yog