Bhagavad Gita · 7.17 · Self-Knowledge and Enlightenment·17 of 30
तेषां ज्ञानी नित्ययुक्त एकभक्ितर्विशिष्यते।प्रियो हि ज्ञानिनोऽत्यर्थमहं स च मम प्रियः ॥
teṣhāṁ jñānī nitya-yukta eka-bhaktir viśhiṣhyate
priyo hi jñānino ’tyartham ahaṁ sa cha mama priyaḥ
Sanskrit recitation
Why people seek · 7.15–7.19 · Teaching
Translation
Of them, the wise who are ever steadfast and devoted to the One, excel; for I am exceedingly dear to the wise, and they are dear to Me.
Meaning
Ekabhaktih means unswerving, singleminded devotion to the Supreme Being.The JnaniBhakta is beyond all cults or creeds or formal religion or rules of society. As the wise man is constantly harmonised and as he is devoted to the One, he is regarded as superior to all the other devotees. As I am his very Self or Antaratma, I am extremely dear to him. Everybody loves his own Self most. The Self is very dear to everybody. The wise man is My very Self and he is ear to Me also. (Cf.II.49IX.29XII.14,17and19)
After Swami Sivananda
Why people seek· 7.15–7.19→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 7.15The evil-doers and the deluded, who are the lowest of men, do not seek Me; those whose knowledge is destroyed by illusion follow the ways of demons.
- 7.16Four kinds of virtuous men worship Me, O Arjuna, and they are the distressed, the seekers of knowledge, the seekers of wealth, and the wise, O Lord of the Bharatas.
7.17Of them, the wise who are ever steadfast and devoted to the One, excel; for I am exceedingly dear to the wise, and they are dear to Me.
- 7.18Indeed, all these are noble; however, I consider the wise man as My very Self; for, he is steadfast in mind and established in Me alone as the supreme goal.
- 7.19At the end of many births, the wise man comes to Me, realizing that all this is Vaasudeva (the innermost Self); such a great soul (Mahatma) is very hard to find.
Word-by-word→
- teṣhām
- amongst these
- jñānī
- those who are situated in knowledge
- nitya-yuktaḥ
- ever steadfast
- eka
- exclusively
- bhaktiḥ
- devotion
- viśhiṣhyate
- highest
- priyaḥ
- dear
- hi
- certainly
- jñāninaḥ
- to the person in knowledge
- atyartham
- highly
- aham
- I
- saḥ
- he
- cha
- and
- mama
- to me
Related verses
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- 7.14Verily, this divine illusion of Mine, composed of the three qualities, is difficult to…
- 7.21Whatever form any devotee desires to worship with faith, I make that same faith of his…
- 7.22Endowed with that faith, he engages in the worship of that form and obtains his desired…