Chapter 7, Verse 13
त्रिभिर्गुणमयैर्भावैरेभिः सर्वमिदं जगत् | मोहितं नाभिजानाति मामेभ्यः परमव्ययम् ||७-१३||
tribhirguṇamayairbhāvairebhiḥ sarvamidaṃ jagat . mohitaṃ nābhijānāti māmebhyaḥ paramavyayam ||7-13||
Meaning
7.13 Deluded by these Natures (states or things) composed of the three alities of Nature all this world does not know Me as distinct from them and immutable.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna now names the great problem of human life: delusion (moha). Because the whole world is woven from the three gunas, beings become entranced by these qualities and mistake them for the whole of reality. Caught in the shifting play of purity, passion, and inertia, they fail to perceive the changeless Divine that lies beyond — 'higher than these' and avyaya, imperishable.
This is the spiritual predicament in a single verse. We become so absorbed in the textures of experience — our thoughts, urges, and moods — that we overlook the unchanging awareness behind them. The gunas are like coloured glass that tints the light; we see only the colour and forget the pure light itself. Liberation begins when we recognise that we have been mesmerised, and turn our gaze from the changing forms toward the eternal that sustains them.
💡 Key Takeaway
We are mesmerised by life's changing qualities and miss the changeless Divine behind them — wake from the trance and look deeper.
Related Verses
ये चैव सात्त्विका भावा राजसास्तामसाश्च ये | मत्त एवेति तान्विद्धि न त्वहं तेषु ते मयि ||७-१२||
ye caiva sāttvikā bhāvā rājasāstāmasāśca ye . matta eveti tānviddhi na tvahaṃ teṣu te mayi ||7-12||
7.12 Whatever beings (and objects) that are pure, active and inert, know that they proceed from Me. They are in Me, yet I am not in them.
न मां दुष्कृतिनो मूढाः प्रपद्यन्ते नराधमाः | माययापहृतज्ञाना आसुरं भावमाश्रिताः ||७-१५||
na māṃ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ . māyayāpahṛtajñānā āsuraṃ bhāvamāśritāḥ ||7-15||
7.15 The evil-doers and the deluded who are the lowest of men do not seek Me; they whose knowledge is destroyed by illusion follow the ways of demons.
कामैस्तैस्तैर्हृतज्ञानाः प्रपद्यन्तेऽन्यदेवताः | तं तं नियममास्थाय प्रकृत्या नियताः स्वया ||७-२०||
kāmaistaistairhṛtajñānāḥ prapadyante.anyadevatāḥ . taṃ taṃ niyamamāsthāya prakṛtyā niyatāḥ svayā ||7-20||
7.20 Those whose wisdom has been rent away by this or that desire, go to other gods, following this or that rite, led by their own nature.