Bhagavad GitaHinduismAccepted ScriptureSanskritShareBhagavad Gita 7Edwin Arnold, The Song Celestial - EnglishMoreVersion - 1 availableEdwin Arnold, The Song CelestialLanguageEnglishEspañol‹Bhagavad Gita 1Bhagavad Gita 2Bhagavad Gita 3Bhagavad Gita 4Bhagavad Gita 5Bhagavad Gita 6Bhagavad Gita 7Bhagavad Gita 8Bhagavad Gita 9Bhagavad Gita 10Bhagavad Gita 11Bhagavad Gita 12Bhagavad Gita 13Bhagavad Gita 14Bhagavad Gita 15Bhagavad Gita 16Bhagavad Gita 17Bhagavad Gita 18›Bhagavad Gita: Religion by DiscernmentBhagavad Gita 7ListenPlay this chapter in spoken English.Save chapterListen to chapter1Krishna: Learn now, dear Prince! how, if thy soul be set Ever on Me--still exercising Yog, Still making Me thy Refuge--thou shalt come Most surely unto perfect hold of Me. I will declare to thee that utmost lore, Whole and particular, which, when thou knowest, Leaveth no more to know here in this world. 2Of many thousand mortals, one, perchance, Striveth for Truth; and of those few that strive-- Nay, and rise high--one only--here and there-- Knoweth Me, as I am, the very Truth. 3Earth, water, flame, air, ether, life, and mind, And individuality--those eight Make up the showing of Me, Manifest. 4These be my lower Nature; learn the higher, Whereby, thou Valiant One! this Universe Is, by its principle of life, produced; Whereby the worlds of visible things are born As from a Yoni. Know! I am that womb: I make and I unmake this Universe: Than me there is no other Master, Prince! No other Maker! All these hang on me As hangs a row of pearls upon its string. I am the fresh taste of the water; I The silver of the moon, the gold o' the sun, The word of worship in the Veds, the thrill That passeth in the ether, and the strength Of man's shed seed. I am the good sweet smell Of the moistened earth, I am the fire's red light, The vital air moving in all which moves, The holiness of hallowed souls, the root Undying, whence hath sprung whatever is; The wisdom of the wise, the intellect Of the informed, the greatness of the great. The splendour of the splendid. Kunti's Son! These am I, free from passion and desire; Yet am I right desire in all who yearn, Chief of the Bharatas! for all those moods, Soothfast, or passionate, or ignorant, Which Nature frames, deduce from me; but all Are merged in me--not I in them! 5The world-- Deceived by those three qualities of being-- Wotteth not Me Who am outside them all, Above them all, Eternal! Hard it is To pierce that veil divine of various shows Which hideth Me; yet they who worship Me Pierce it and pass beyond. 6I am not known To evil-doers, nor to foolish ones, Nor to the base and churlish; nor to those Whose mind is cheated by the show of things, Nor those that take the way of Asuras. 7Four sorts of mortals know me: he who weeps, Arjuna! and the man who yearns to know; And he who toils to help; and he who sits Certain of me, enlightened. 8Of these four, O Prince of India! highest, nearest, best That last is, the devout soul, wise, intent Upon "The One." Dear, above all, am I To him; and he is dearest unto me! All four are good, and seek me; but mine own, The true of heart, the faithful--stayed on me, Taking me as their utmost blessedness, They are not "mine,"but I--even I myself! At end of many births to Me they come! Yet hard the wise Mahatma is to find, That man who sayeth, "All is Vasudev!" 9There be those, too, whose knowledge, turned aside By this desire or that, gives them to serve Some lower gods, with various rites, constrained By that which mouldeth them. Unto all such-- Worship what shrine they will, what shapes, in faith-- 'Tis I who give them faith! I am content! The heart thus asking favour from its God, Darkened but ardent, hath the end it craves, The lesser blessing--but 'tis I who give! Yet soon is withered what small fruit they reap: Those men of little minds, who worship so, Go where they worship, passing with their gods. But Mine come unto me! Blind are the eyes Which deem th' Unmanifested manifest, Not comprehending Me in my true Self! Imperishable, viewless, undeclared, Hidden behind my magic veil of shows, I am not seen by all; I am not known-- Unborn and changeless--to the idle world. But I, Arjuna! know all things which were, And all which are, and all which are to be, Albeit not one among them knoweth Me! 10By passion for the "pairs of opposites," By those twain snares of Like and Dislike, Prince! All creatures live bewildered, save some few Who, quit of sins, holy in act, informed, Freed from the "opposites,"and fixed in faith, Cleave unto Me. 11Who cleave, who seek in Me Refuge from birth and death, those have the Truth! Those know Me BRAHMA; know Me Soul of Souls, The ADHYATMAN; know KARMA, my work; Know I am ADHIBHUTA, Lord of Life, And ADHIDAIVA, Lord of all the Gods, And ADHIYAJNA, Lord of Sacrifice; Worship Me well, with hearts of love and faith, And find and hold me in the hour of death. ‹Previous chapterBhagavad Gita 6Next chapterBhagavad Gita 8›Similar passagesBy tradition and source labelFind similarCompare selectedCompare with similarAsk Deep ThoughtSelect passages to search for parallels.Tap any verse to select it, then compare selected passages or ask Deep Thought. Public domain in the United States via Project Gutenberg