Jnana Vijnana Yoga
Jnana Vijnana Yoga • 30 verses
Krishna reveals his divine nature as the ground of all existence — the divine basis behind all material reality. He explains why most people do not recognize this truth and describes the four types of devotees who turn to him.
Chapter Overview
Krishna shifts from what to do to who is speaking. Everything you can name, he says, is his lower nature — earth, water, fire, air, space, mind, intellect, ego. Behind that is a higher nature, the life by which the whole thing is held together.
He gives images rather than definitions. He is the taste in water. The light in the sun and moon. The fragrance of the earth. The strength of the strong, without their craving.
Then the honest part. Most people do not see this, and Krishna says why: the gunas throw up a screen that is genuinely difficult to cross. Not impossible — those who come to him cross it — but he does not pretend it is easy.
He also refuses to rank those who come. Four kinds turn to him: the distressed, the curious, the ones who want something, and the wise. All four are called noble. Arriving for a reason that is not lofty is still arriving.
Key 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||
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||
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||
Among thousands of men, one perchance strives for perfection; even among those successful strivers, only one perchance knows Me in essence.
भूमिरापोऽनलो वायुः खं मनो बुद्धिरेव च | अहंकार इतीयं मे भिन्ना प्रकृतिरष्टधा ||७-४||
bhūmirāpo.analo vāyuḥ khaṃ mano buddhireva ca . ahaṃkāra itīyaṃ me bhinnā prakṛtiraṣṭadhā ||7-4||
Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intellect and egoism thus is My Nature divided eightfold.
अपरेयमितस्त्वन्यां प्रकृतिं विद्धि मे पराम् | जीवभूतां महाबाहो ययेदं धार्यते जगत् ||७-५||
apareyamitastvanyāṃ prakṛtiṃ viddhi me parām . jīvabhūtāṃ mahābāho yayedaṃ dhāryate jagat ||7-5||
This is the inferior Prakriti, O mighty-armed (Arjuna); know thou as different from it My higher Prakriti (Nature), the very life-element, by which this world is upheld.