Bhagavad Gita · 7.26 · Self-Knowledge and Enlightenment·26 of 30
वेदाहं समतीतानि वर्तमानानि चार्जुन।भविष्याणि च भूतानि मां तु वेद न कश्चन ॥
vedāhaṁ samatītāni vartamānāni chārjuna
bhaviṣhyāṇi cha bhūtāni māṁ tu veda na kaśhchana
Sanskrit recitation
What you worship shapes you · 7.20–7.30 · Teaching
Translation
I know, O Arjuna, the beings of the past, the present, and the future; however, no one knows Me.
Meaning
Persons who are deluded by the three alities of Nature do not know the Lord. As they lack in the knowledge of His real nature, they do not adore Hi. But the Lord knows through His omniscience the beings of the past, the present and the future. He who worships the Lord with singleminded devotion knows Him in essence. He has knowledge of His real nature.
After Swami Sivananda
What you worship shapes you· 7.20–7.30→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 7.20Those whose wisdom has been taken away by this or that desire, go to other gods, following this or that rite, led by their own nature.
- 7.21Whatever form any devotee desires to worship with faith, I make that same faith of his firm and unflinching.
- 7.22Endowed with that faith, he engages in the worship of that form and obtains his desired outcome, which is ordained by Me alone.
- 7.23Verily, the reward (fruit) that accrues to those men of small intelligence is finite. The worshippers of the gods go to them, whereas My devotees come to Me.
- 7.24The foolish think of Me, the Unmanifest, as having manifestation, not knowing My higher, immutable, and most excellent nature.
- 7.25I am not manifest to all, veiled as I am by the Yoga-Maya. This deluded world does not know Me, who am unborn and imperishable.
7.26I know, O Arjuna, the beings of the past, the present, and the future; however, no one knows Me.
- 7.27O Bharata, all beings are subject to delusion at birth due to the delusion of the pairs of opposites arising from desire and aversion, O Parantapa.
- 7.28But those men of virtuous deeds, whose sins have come to an end and who are freed from the delusion of the pairs of opposites, worship Me steadfastly, with their vows.
- 7.29Those who strive for liberation from old age and death, taking refuge in Me, realize in full that Brahman, the whole knowledge of the Self, and all action.
- 7.30Those who know Me with the Adhibhuta (pertaining to the elements), Adhidaiva (pertaining to the gods), and the Adhiyajna (pertaining to the sacrifice) know Me even at the time of death, remaining steadfast in mind.
Word-by-word→
- veda
- knows
- aham
- I
- samatītāni
- the past
- vartamānāni
- the present
- cha
- also
- arjuna
- Arjun
- bhaviṣhyāṇi
- the future
- bhūtāni
- all living beings
- mām
- me
- tu
- but
- na kaśhchana
- no one
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