Chapter 7, Verse 26
वेदाहं समतीतानि वर्तमानानि चार्जुन | भविष्याणि च भूतानि मां तु वेद न कश्चन ||७-२६||
vedāhaṃ samatītāni vartamānāni cārjuna . bhaviṣyāṇi ca bhūtāni māṃ tu veda na kaścana ||7-26||
Meaning
7.26 I know, O Arjuna, the beings of the past, the present and the future, but no one knows Me.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna states the asymmetry between the Divine and creation. He knows all beings across past, present, and future — nothing escapes His awareness, for He is the witness in whom all time unfolds. Yet 'no one knows Me' through ordinary means, because the limited mind cannot encompass the limitless. The knower of all cannot be made an object of finite knowledge.
This is a humbling and liberating truth. We cannot grasp the Infinite the way we grasp a fact, for any God our mind could fully contain would be too small to be God. The Divine is known not by the intellect that measures from outside, but by surrender and grace that open from within — as the chapter has repeatedly shown. He who sees all is seen only by the eye of devotion that He Himself awakens.
💡 Key Takeaway
The Infinite cannot be captured by the measuring mind — it is known only through grace and surrender, never as an object.
Related Verses
श्रीभगवानुवाच | मय्यासक्तमनाः पार्थ योगं युञ्जन्मदाश्रयः | असंशयं समग्रं मां यथा ज्ञास्यसि तच्छृणु ||७-१||
śrībhagavānuvāca . mayyāsaktamanāḥ pārtha yogaṃ yuñjanmadāśrayaḥ . asaṃśayaṃ samagraṃ māṃ yathā jñāsyasi tacchṛṇu ||7-1||
7.1 The Blessed Lord said O Arjuna, hear how you shall without doubt know Me fully, with the mind intent on Me, practising Yoga and taking refuge in Me.
ज्ञानं तेऽहं सविज्ञानमिदं वक्ष्याम्यशेषतः | यज्ज्ञात्वा नेह भूयोऽन्यज्ज्ञातव्यमवशिष्यते ||७-२||
jñānaṃ te.ahaṃ savijñānamidaṃ vakṣyāmyaśeṣataḥ . yajjñātvā neha bhūyo.anyajjñātavyamavaśiṣyate ||7-2||
7.2 I shall declare to thee in full this knowledge combined with realisation, after knowing which nothing more here remains to be known.
मनुष्याणां सहस्रेषु कश्चिद्यतति सिद्धये | यततामपि सिद्धानां कश्चिन्मां वेत्ति तत्त्वतः ||७-३||
manuṣyāṇāṃ sahasreṣu kaścidyatati siddhaye . yatatāmapi siddhānāṃ kaścinmāṃ vetti tattvataḥ ||7-3||
7.3 Among thousands of men, one perchance strives for perfection; even among those successful strivers, only one perchance knows Me in essence.