The word maya appears here, though not for the first time in the Gita. Just as the concepts of prakriti and Purusha are later developed in Sankhya philosophy, maya is later built into the formal structure of Vedanta, another of the six major schools of Indian philosophy. The word maya comes from the root ma, “to measure out,” and originally meant the power of a deity to create, especially to create what Indian philosophy calls “name and form”: matter and its percepts. Maya was the magical capacity to create form and illusion – a god’s divine power to put on a disguise, or to fling forth world after world of life. Maya is also the outward look of things, the passing show that conceals immortal being. Maya can be both delightful and dangerous, alluring and yet treacherous. The gunas, the three basic qualities of all created things, swirl within the world of maya. Crossing over the ocean of maya is the goal of the wise voyager, and one boat is devotion. In this chapter the Gita begins to stress the importance of love and devotion – themes that later become dominant.
Krishna’s true nature is hidden by maya (7:25). The dangers of maya are not depicted strongly in this chapter, but the “delusions” – moha – of life in maya’s world are hinted at; they are, essentially, the self-centered attachments Krishna has been warning against. Moha, which means confusion or delusion, is something like dreaming while awake, “living in a dream.” The duality of attachment and aversion (love and hate) beguiles the mind into this moha-swoon right at birth (7:27). Knowing Krishna, and devotion to him, is the way beyond this delusion. Thus chapter 7 contrasts wisdom (jnana and vijnana) with the delusion (moha) of spiritual ignorance.
We find here many seminal ideas that are elaborated in the later philosophies of Sankhya and Vedanta. These concepts of prakriti, Purusha, and maya do not originate with the Gita, however. The word maya appears in the Rig Veda, the most ancient of the Vedas, and Purusha is a recurring theme in the Upanishads. The Gita is a halfway point between the spontaneous insights of the Upanishads and the later, highly formalized philosophical systems. In the Gita we find an organized presentation of these and other key concepts without a cumbersome technical explanation. – D.M.
7: Wisdom from Realization
KRISHNA
1 With your mind intent on me, Arjuna, discipline yourself with thepractice of yoga. Depend on me completely. Listen, and I will dispel all your doubts; you will come to know me fully and be united with me.
2 I will give you both jnana and vijnana. When both these arerealized, there is nothing more you need to know.
3 One person in many thousands may seek perfection, yet of theseonly a few reach the goal and come to realize me.
4 Earth, water, fire, air, akasha, mind, intellect, and ego – these are the eight divisions of my prakriti.
5 But beyond this I have another, higher nature, Arjuna; it supports the whole universe and is the source of life in all beings.
6 In these two aspects of my nature is the womb of all creation. The birth and dissolution of the cosmos itself take place in me.
7 There is nothing that exists separate from me, Arjuna. The entire universe is suspended from me as my necklace of jewels.
8 Arjuna, I am the taste of pure water and the radiance of the sun and moon. I am the sacred word and the sound heard in air, and the courage of human beings.
9 I am the sweet fragrance in the earth and the radiance of fire; I am the life in every creature and the striving of the spiritual aspirant.
10 My eternal seed, Arjuna, is to be found in every creature. I am the power of discrimination in those who are intelligent, and the glory
of the noble.
11 In those who are strong, I am strength, free from passion and selfish attachment. I am desire itself, if that desire is in harmony with the purpose of life.
12 The states of sattva, rajas, and tamas come from me, but I am not in them.
13 These three gunas deceive the world: people fail to look beyond them to me, supreme and imperishable.
14 The three gunas make up my divine maya, difficult to overcome. But they cross over this maya who take refuge in me.
15 Others are deluded by maya; performing evil deeds, they have no devotion to me. Having lost all discrimination, they follow the way of their lower nature.
16 Good people come to worship me for different reasons. Some come to the spiritual life because of suffering, some in order to understand life; some come through a desire to achieve life’s purpose, and some come who are men and women of wisdom.
17 Unwavering in devotion, always united with me, the man or woman of wisdom surpasses all the others. To them I am the dearest beloved, and they are very dear to me.
18 All those who follow the spiritual path are blessed. But the wise who are always established in union, for whom there is no higher goal than me, may be regarded as my very Self.
19 After many births the wise seek refuge in me, seeing me everywhere and in everything. Such great souls are very rare.
20 There are others whose discrimination is misled by many desires. Following their own nature, they worship lower gods, practicing various rites.
21 When a person is devoted to something with complete faith, I unify his faith in that.
22 Then, when faith is completely unified, one gains the object of devotion. In this way, every desire is fulfilled by me.
23 Those whose understanding is small attain only transient satisfaction: those who worship the gods go to the gods. But my devotees come to me.
24 Through lack of understanding, people believe that I, the
Unmanifest, have entered into some form. They fail to realize my true nature, which transcends birth and death.
25 Few see through the veil of maya. The world, deluded, does not know that I am without birth and changeless.
26 I know everything about the past, the present, and the future, Arjuna; but there is no one who knows me completely.
27 Delusion arises from the duality of attraction and aversion, Arjuna; every creature is deluded by these from birth.
28 But those who have freed themselves from all wrongdoing are firmly established in worship of me. Their actions are pure, and they are free from the delusion caused by the pairs of opposites.
29 Those who take refuge in me, striving for liberation from old age and death, come to know Brahman, the Self, and the nature of all action. 30 Those who see me ruling the cosmos, who see me in the adhibhuta, the adhidaiva, and the adhiyajna, are conscious of me even at the time of death.
Chapter Eight, The Eternal Godhead
This chapter alludes briefly to several important concepts presented more fully in the Upanishads, and it will be helpful to quote the Upanishads to elucidate these points. Also, this chapter presents a very ancient view of the soul’s journey after death. These ideas about the afterlife did not originate in the Gita, and are even more ancient than the Upanishads. Another ancient concept here is that of a cyclical universe, which is elaborated in other Hindu scriptures in great detail; this chapter merely refers to it in passing.
The chapter begins with Arjuna asking what appear to be questions of theology, but the role of theologian does not fit him naturally. These questions are asked in response to the technical terms mentioned in the last verse of chapter 7. The sense of Krishna’s answer is in accord with what he said earlier about his maya: he is God immanent in all things as well as God transcendent.
But it is Arjuna’s other question that determines the direction the discourse now takes. Arjuna asks how Krishna can be known at the hour of death. Here, of course, Arjuna means Krishna in his cosmic, mystical aspect, so he is asking in essence, “How can the Self-realized person enter the supreme state of immortality at the time of death?” Krishna replies that whoever remembers him at the time of death will enter madbhavam, “my being.” If Arjuna can remember Krishna in the hour of death, he will be united with Krishna and enter into immortality.
In fact, whatever it may be, the content of the mind at the hour of death directs the soul in its journey to rebirth. Thus the mind influences the evolution of the soul as it moves into the next life. Whatever a person thinks about in life – his or her deepest motivations – are likely to be the last thoughts at the time of death. So there is a continuity between this life and the next, and all the baggage of desire and motivation goes right along with the soul. But here Krishna is talking about the person – he hopes Arjuna will be such a one – who has no worldly baggage, who will remember Krishna at the final hour.
To ensure he will focus his devotion on Krishna at the hour of death,
Arjuna should make a practice of remembering him continually now. If he makes his mind one-pointed in meditation and learns to focus his
