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Bhagavad-GitaChapter 7, verse 1

I humbly bow down to the Supreme Lord Krishna, the ultimate controller of all creation, who is only accessible through bhakti or loving devotion which is the highest of the highest, who by His causeless mercy is also the bestower of such bhakti to whom He chooses and who dispels the darkness of ignorance known as maya or the delusion of illusion.

The first six chapters of Srimad Bhagavad-Gita known as the karma yoga section were revealed for the aspirants of moksa or liberation from the material existence to establish that the highest and most profound human goal is to attain communion with the Supreme Lord by realisation of the embodied atma or soul. Atma tattva or the knowledge of the soul was stated as paramount and the means of achieving moksa along with selfless actions, equanimity, detachment, meditation and as parts of yoga or the science of the individual consciousness attaining communion with the ultimate consciousness. Now in the next six chapters is being revealed how bhakti or loving devotion is the only means to accomplishing the ultimate goal of communion with the Supreme Lord.

Now in order to describe the path of devotion to the Supreme Lord and to confirm that He is the highest reality and ultimate attainment, possessing eternal divine attributes such as omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence and to establish that the Supreme Lord is the ultimate goal and sole recipient worthy of devotion. Also to describe different kinds of devotees of bhakti to the Supreme Lord and their antagonists the non-devotees and the non-believers in God and the Vedic scriptures, the middle six chapters from seven to twelve known as the karma yoga section are being revealed.

In the beginning of chapter seven the description of the nature of the object of devotion is given along with the nature of the devotees. At the conclusion of chapter six, verse forty-seven Lord Krishna declared that one who devotedly worships Him exclusively with their mind focused on him is considered to be the best amongst all yogis or those engaged in perfecting the science of the individual consciousness attaining communion with the ultimate consciousness. The question one might ask is what is the way to know the Supreme Lord and how should one fix the mind on Him and how should a devotee humbly offer Him worship? Although these questions were not raised by Arjuna; yet without being asked Lord Krishna out of compassion spoke the word chrnu meaning listen and then He spoke the words mad-asrayah meaning with your mind focused on Me.

The Supreme Lord Krishna possessing solely transcendental qualities such as eternity, consciousness and bliss and although appearing in human form is completely beyond the sway of material nature while at the same time being the source of infinite auspicious attributes such as compassion and majesty. One should concentrate their minds on the Supreme Lord of all other lords and worship Him with love and devotion and not like any lesser god for trivial material gains. Then the Supreme Lord of all will be revealed within the etheric heart of one so surrendered in all His splendour, power and glory without fail.

Thus ends the commentary to Chapter 7, verse 1 by Keshava Kashmiri.


Lord Krishna presents this knowledge so as to provoke attention to the recipient by the words idam jnanam meaning the theoretical knowledge described in the Vedic scriptures and the words sa-vijnanam meaning knowledge of His manifested divine majesty based on realisation. The combination of theoretical knowledge with realisation from one’s very own actual experience insures that there will be nothing else to be known for an aspirant in this world for moksa or liberation from the material existence who is engaged in practising yoga or the science of the individual consciousness attaining communion with the ultimate consciousness.



Lord Krishna is speaking in this way to emphasise that the knowledge He is prepared to reveal is very rarely achieved and difficult to acquire. Out of innumerable, countless souls some have attained human status and amongst them hardly one in thousands of humans is qualified in Vedic scriptures and strives for atma tattva or realisation of the soul. Of those few endeavouring for atma tattva hardly one in thousands actually achieves it and out of thousands who after having achieved atma tattvae and finally attained moksa or liberation from the material existence, amongst this group some very rare personalities are actually aware of Lord Krishna’s paramount position and divine glories in reality. This is because without bhakti or loving devotion unto Lord Krishna it is not possible to know and perceive Him. This Lord Krishna confirms Himself at the conclusion of chapter eighteen, verse fifty-five when He declares, That only through devotion does one come to the platform of communion with Him.


Bhagavad-Gita Chapter 7, verse 4

In order to continue the previous verse Lord Krishna presents prakriti the material substratum in eight categories representing His lower material energy comprised of earth, water, fire, air and ether and they stand for their respective elements in their subtle state being seeing, smelling, hearing, touching and tasting which are in their modified state and thus cannot be considered as constituents of nature. Manas or mind which stands for its cause being the intellect and ahankarah being false ego which stands for cosmic intelligence as well as the individual ego which stands for maya the illusory deluding energy which is the cause of cosmic intelligence. All this is the potency of Lord Krishna and the material cause of creation consisting of sixteen movable and immovable modifications in the form of five subtle elements, five organs with five senses and the mind all from His lower nature divided into eight categories.



Lord Krishna now clarifies that the eight-fold nature he spoke about in the previous verse is from His lower inferior nature because it is inanimate and insentient but He has a higher superior nature which constitutes the life force of all living beings as the atma or eternal soul which sustains the whole creation. The physical body the lower nature is factually a corporeal inanimate object into which the animate atma the higher nature has entered and taken up residence. Both the animate and inanimate make up the higher and lower natures of the prakriti of the Supreme Lord. The Vishnu Purana states that although the atma is part and parcel of the higher superior nature it is still understood to be subservient to the Supreme Lord.



Lord Krishna now reveals that He alone is the sole source of the entire creation and its dissolution as well. Everything in all creation movable and immovable have manifested and evolved from His two fold nature. He is the cause of the creation of the inanimate temporary physical body and He is the cause of the animate eternal embodied atma or soul. The inanimate reality is due to a modification of His propensity as He becomes the substratum while the animate reality is the way by which He enters into material nature and enjoying participates and interacts with it. The physical body cannot sustain and grow without the life principle of the atma and both the physical body and the soul are both His powers and both completely under His control. The power and the powerful cannot remain separate because the source of the power is found residing in the powerful only.



Now Lord Krishna speaks of His paramount position over everything and His superiority over all. Because He is the origin of the dual nature of prakriti the material substratum, He Himself is factually the substratum of everything existing and the source of the entire creation. There is no independent power or cause for all of creation other than Him. Lord Krishna is the Supreme Lord of all and this is clear everything animate and inanimate in all of creation evolves from Him. The Vedic scriptures proclaim of Lord Krishna thus: There is nothing equal to Him neither is there anything superior to Him. He is the source of all sources. He is the controller of all controllers. He is the Lord of all lords. He is the origin of the creator of creation. He is the Supreme Being above all other beings. The Ruler of the unmanifest and the manifest. By the will of Lord Krishna the entire creation of unlimited movable and immovables has been manifested.

Now Lord Krishna reveals He, Himself is the ultimate substratum of everything. The metaphor given are the words sutre mani-gana iva meaning clusters of gems strung on a thread. The stableness and movement of the gems is depending upon the thread and in the

same way the stability and movement of the entire creation comprised of the animate and inanimate is depending upon Lord Krishna who resides as paramatma the Supreme Soul within all sentient beings. This means that their life and activities are dependent solely on Him even though possessing free will. It is stated in the Vedic scriptures that: The Supreme Lord encompasses internally and externally everything that is seen or heard. Also it is stated: Intellect, mind, universal intelligence, wind, fire, earth and the four types of beings:1) engendered by form2) viviparous or engendered by egg3) engendered by sprouting 4) engendered by heat and moistureAll these four types of beings have their as source Lord Krishna.



Now to illustrate that He is the form of all because He is the atma or soul of all, Lord Krishna reveals in the next five verses how He is situated as the core essence of all properties beginning with that He is the essence of water in its subtle casual form as sapidity. He is the essence of the sun and moon being illumination. He is the supremely sacred sound vibration OM. He is the origin of all the Vedas and the source of the Vedic utterances which become objects of hearing. He is the subtle casual form in ether and the potency of competence in men.



Lord Krishna is stating that He is the subtle principle of fragrance innate within the Earth. The particle ca meaning and includes after smell the other four subtle principles such as taste, touch, sight and sound. He is the pure brilliance in fire. He is the vital life force in all sentient beings and He is the potency of austerities in the ascetics and forest dwellers giving them the power to endure in their penance to overcome the dualities such as cold and heat.



Lord Krishna is revealing His glory as the bijam or permanent seed and original cause of life in all creation, woven through all movable and immovable created beings and that this original seed continues manifesting infinitely through all generations of the same species. He is the tejas or valour of the valiant which allows them to be victorious over all others. He is the spiritual intelligence in the form of spiritual discriminative power in the absence of which a human being is known as an animal. It is stated in the Sanatsujata that: Humans without spiritual intelligence are equal to beasts.



Lord Krishna continues explaining His subtle qualities that He is the strength of the mighty performing their individual duties devoid of passion and attachment. He is the energy of sexual desire for procreation which is not contrary to virtue and righteousness and does not conflict with the injunctions and prohibitions of the Vedic scriptures. Passion is the unabated craving to get a not yet obtained object with the thought to enjoy it. Attachment is the mental conditioning which after obtaining and enjoying an object makes one cling to the conception that such an object must always remain and continued to be enjoyed.



What more needs to be said. The Supreme Lord Krishna is the sole cause of creation and all living entities. He iterates this with the words ye caiva meaning and certainly all these others of the three gunas or modes being those born in sattvas or goodness with discrimination and sense control, those born in rajas or passion with pride and desire and those born in tamas or ignorance with inertia and delusion. The original source of all living entities is exclusively Lord Krishna but their birth in any of the three gunas is caused exclusively by their own actions and subsequent reactions since time immemorial. If one is to say that the reactions may be the Supreme Lords also because He is the original, it is refuted by this verse stating that although they emanate from Him, He is not dependent upon the living entities as in the case of the atma or soul is for residence because all living entities abide in Him and are dependent upon Him.

The particle tu meaning however suggests another interpretation of this verse which may be explained as the demi-gods evolve from the quality of sattvas, humans evolve from the quality of rajas and animals evolve from the quality of tamas. All have evolved from Lord Krishna but He is not dependent upon them. At times He incarnates in the material creation for the purpose of maintaining universal order or to enjoy His lilas or divine pastimes but to do so He does not have to give up His transcendental, spiritual form for a material body as His attributes, powers and qualities all remain intact. All creation comprised of animate and inanimate beings emanates solely from Him is sustained by Him and likewise is dissolved again back into Him. In the relationship between cause and effect the Supreme Lord is always superior due exclusively to His personal potency of powers, qualities and attributes with no other support. This is because He alone is the cause and the source, the maintainer and sustainer of the entire creation and is completely independent.



Why is it that billions of humans do not recognise Lord Krishna as the Supreme Lord and controller of all and the cause and source of all creation? And even those who do know about Lord Krishna being the Supreme Lord of all, how do they still remain a transmigratory soul every lifetime forced to accept a new physical body? To answer these questions Lord Krishna explains: sarvam idam jagat mohitam meaning the entire creation is deluded. This is due to the influence of the three gunas or modes of goodness possessing discrimination and righteousness, mode of passion possessing pride and desire and the mode of ignorance possessing inertia and degradation. These three modes infatuates all living entities causing their higher consciousness to be veiled and inaccessible. Thus it is not possible for billions of human beings as well as other living entities to recognise Lord Krishna’s, imperishable, paramount position above all creation. Although in an impersonal sense human beings are able to recognise and relate to portions of Lord Krishna’s power, majesty and superiority by their conceptions of a supreme being or supreme controller, o as a totally independent power; but these humans are unable to relate that these attrinutes apply exclusively to Lord Krishna, who is the ultimate reality. Also these humans are unable to perceive that He manifests and incarnates in the material worlds in His eternal spiritual body which is immutable and not subject to decay or modification and He does this for the welfare of His devotees. The conclusion is that all these billions of human beings do not recognise Lord Krishna as He factually is possessed of eternal, transcendental attributes and divine qualities. Hence they all are unable to attain His divine potency which enables them to free themselves from samsara or the endless cycle of birth and death and thus remaining in bondage are reborn again and again indefinitely.



It is stated in the Vedic scriptures that the flowing of the qualities of Lord Krishna’s divine potency known as maya or illusory impressions superimposed upon the mind is without a beginning or an end. In the Svestasvatara Upanisad IV.V it states that by the agency of maya unlimited beings are produced possessing like qualities. So it is not possible for those embodied beings deluded and controlled by maya and to ever receive divine benedictions and such being the case they will never be eligible to overcome the delusory effects of maya. Lord Krishna speaks thus to address this point of overcoming the potent effects of maya So marvellous is this wondrous illusion which is perceived in prakriti or the material substratum evolving through the three gunas or the modes of goodness, passion and nescience into physical forms which are all totally controlled by the Self-Effulgent, Supreme Lord full of eternity, knowledge and bliss, who although omnipresent is never touched or influenced by the gunas or prakriti or anything animate or inanimate. There is also nothing which a has a similar nature to maya as its function is one of a kind. In the Svetasvatara Upanisad IV.X it states: One should know that maya’s nature is illusory and that the omniscient and omnipotent Supreme Lord is its source filtered into material existence through the three gunas and unable to be surmounted by hundreds of processes and thousands of techniques unless and until the grace of the Supreme Lord is attained. According to the Katha Upanisad V.XIII: He who is the constant within the inconstant, the intelligence among the intelligent, the one within the many and who grants all desires. In the Brhadaranyaka Upanisad I.IV.X it states: Whoever among the demigods becomes awakened to this indeed becomes it, this applies likewise to elevated beings and also to

advanced humans. The atma or eternal soul within embodied beings is without limitations but among embodied beings only those who are able to disconnect themselves from all ego sense of I-ness and my-ness and external desires and renouncing all other goals accept the Supreme Lord Krishna as the exclusive goal of their life endeavour and spiritual practices. Thus worshipping Him wholeheartedly as omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient controller of maya, taking total refuge in Him solely and faithfully following the six activities favourable for spiritual advancement such as enthusiasm, endeavouring with confidence, patience, following the Vedic injunctions, abandoning the association of those not devoted to the Vedic culture and accepting and following the instructions of the authorised guru from the bonafide disciplic succession as revealed within the Vedic scriptures; one is with devotion and unshakeable perseverance able to overcome this insurmountable maya. The word eva or only is used in the sense of decisiveness as in exclusively. In the Vamana Purana the child saint Prahlad says: Those highly evolved persons who have taken refuge in the Supreme Lord, infinite, immutable, without a second, the foremost of all lords, the God of Gods, the auspicious bestower of liberation, the Lord of Laxsmi, the goddess of fortune and the master of Garuda, His carrier never have to be subjected to chastisement by Yamaraj the demigod in charge of punishment in diverse hells.



The question could arise from the previous verse that if devotion to Lord Krishna is the way to salvation then what is stopping everyone from recognising this reality and taking refuge in Him by following the teachings of the bonafide spiritual master from the authorised Vedic scriptures and avail themselves to the means to surmount this difficult maya which is the root cause of perpetual bondage in the material existence. Lord Krishna states duskrtino or miscreants in nescience being of four types do not surrender to the Supreme Lord.

1) mudhahs are grossly foolish persons pursuing material gains like beasts of burden 2) naradhamas are the lowest level of society bereft of even any moral principles 3) mayayapahrta-jnana are empirical philosophers deluded by the illusory energy 4) asuram bhavam asrita are those of demoniac nature engaged in abominable activities

Such miscreants through open deceit and covert subterfuge fabricate false doctrines and concoct erroneous philosophies to contradict the truth of the Supreme Lords glories, attributes and qualities as confirmed in the Vedic scriptures. Such intentional deceptions upon unsuspecting humanity are aparadhas or heinous offences against the Supreme Lord the source of all existence. These activities causes them to be infected and overwhelmed with sinful reactions which propels them to embrace a demoniac mentality with the propensity to perform evil and diabolical activities against all created beings. Thus for them it is impossible to accept the Supreme Lord and even go out of their way to oppose Him and His devotees whenever they have the opportunity. These demons assuming various human forms as well as other hybrid forms have been antagonistic to the Supreme Lord since time immemorial. They are adverse to hearing about the nature, form, qualities, pastimes and powers of the Supreme Lord and they blaspheme and minimise Him in every way possible to them. Because of this due to their ignorance their accumulation of sins

multiplies exigently effecting that they permanently remain unfit to accept the truth of the Supreme Lord Krishna’s paramount position as the Supreme controller of all creation. Although many demons are intelligent enough to be able to comprehend the eternal knowledge of divinity as revealed exclusively within the Vedic scriptures; to the contrary they promote their own deluded philosophies in the name of religion always zealously keeping their gods without form, qualities and personality insuring that their gods are perpetually unfathomable, and unreachable, hence permanently unattainable for humanity. Deluded by maya or illusory impressions superimposed upon the mind and being only engrossed in their external senses such demons have no chance in surrendering unto the Supreme Lord Krishna and recognising and accepting Him as the Supreme Controller of all.



The righteous and virtuous worship the Supreme Lord with faith and devotion. What Lord Krishna is saying is that four types of virtuous humans who have accumulated merit from righteous deeds from previous lives worship Him according to the gradation of the merits.

1) artto are those afflicted by problems such as disease or enemies. If one has enough accumulated merit then they will have the opportunity to worship the Supreme Lord to alleviate their distress. Examples of this from Vedic scriptures were the many pious kings imprisoned by King Jarasandha who prayed to the Supreme Lord to be delivered and Lord Krishna rescued them. Also Queen Draupadi prayed to Lord Krishna for succour when she was being disrobed at the Kaurava assembly hall under the insistence of Duryodhana and Lord Krishna protected her honor. The elephant king Gajendra was seized by a terrible crocodile and just before succumbing he prayed to the Supreme Lord for aid and was saved and last but not least when Shiva gave the head exploding benediction to the demon Vkra who immediately began pursuing him to test it then Shiva took shelter of Lord Krishna who terminated the demons life. All these are examples of those whose previous merit qualified them to pray to the Supreme Lord. Otherwise not having sufficient merit they would only be able to pray to Rudra or Ganesh or Kali or even some impersonal phantasm god.

2) jijnasur or liberation seekers like Videha, Mucukunda and King Yadu also had enough acquired merit from prvious lives to qualify for worship of the Supreme Lord.

3) artharthi or the seekers of wealth who desire to regain the rulership, position of power and enjoyments from which they had before and became deprived. Examples of these from Vedic scriptures are Dhruva, Sugriva and Vibhisana. The worship of these three is tinged with selfish motivations but as soon as their wishes were fulfilled they achieved moksa or liberatiion from material existence and overcame the cycle of birth and death.

4) jnani’s or those of spiritual wisdom who have no selfish motives are endowed with discriminative intelligence from ascertaining the reality of the atma or soul and its relationship as an eternal portion of the Supreme Lord. They also achieve moksa but they continue on to worship the Supreme Lord joining Him in His eternal pastimes. Great beings of this calibre are the Kumaras, Narada Muni, Sukadeva, Bhishma and Uddhava.



But of all the previous four types Lord Krishna confirms that the jnani or those of spiritual wisdom are the elite. The jnani excels the others and is superior by dint of their knowledge of the ultimate truth which makes them nitya-yukta or eternally connected and eka-bhaktir or continuously focused on the Supreme Lord. Like ordinary humans are exclusively attached to their family members, or as a poor man is exclusively attached to a rich man for his maintenance. The jnani is not attached to others nor does he serve others because they are solely possessed of exclusive devotion to the Supreme Lord in the forms of hearing about, speaking about, singing to, meditating on, worshipping and informing others. In the Vishnu Purana the prince Prahlad who recognised the Supreme Lord as boundlessly dear, has said: The unrelenting desire for objects of the senses which the sensually attached possess; may that same never ending desire reside in my heart to always be devoted to the Supreme Lord. The great sage Parasara praised Prahlad thus: With his mind totally absorbed in the Supreme Lord when Prahlad was bitten by poisonous serpents he did not feel a thing because he was immersed in remembering the Supreme Lord Krishna who swiftly appeared for his rescue as the incarnation Narasimha-deva.

It is declared in the Vedic scriptures that: Devotion is serving the Supreme Lord Krishna with speech, mind, body and activities because the root bhaja-bhajati means to serve. Therefore the spiritually intelligent have explained that bhakti or devotion is exclusive loving service to the Supreme Lord Krishna or any of His authorised incarnations and expansions as revealed in the Vedic scriptures. If reference to the Supreme Lord is not found to be revealed in the Vedic scriptures with name, form and qualities and pastimes; then never can such an erroneous and illusory conception of the Supreme Lord be ever considered to be factual and authentic.

To the enlightened devotees who know the reality of Lord Krishna as the Supreme Lord, He is extremely dear to them and they are also extremely dear to Him. It is also cited in the Bhagavat Purana where Narayana states: Just as parents are happy with their children, just as Rudra is happy with his entourage and just as I am happy with Goddess Laxsmi; in the same way Lord Krishna’s devotee is always extremely happy with Him. The Supreme Lord has nothing else dearer to Him then His loving devotees.



One may pose the question what about the other three types being artto the aflicted, atharthi or those seeking wealth and jnajinsuh or those seeking moksa or liberation. Are they wretched and unworthy? To the contrary and Lord Krishna confirms this with the word udarah meaning noble and magnanimous. All these devotees are noble beings who have accumulated great merit in the course of tens of thousands of previous births. No one can become a devotee of Lord Krishna if they only have a small amount of merit from previous lives. The devotees of the Supreme Lord Krishna have such a surplus of accumulated merit due to having practised austerities, undergone penance, performed

yoga, engaged in meditation, offered prayers and given worship. That it is a natural course of events that in their early lives they attain the opportunity to be Lord Krishna’s devotee. This is confirmed and corroborated in the Vedic scriptures by the statement: Humans whose sins are expired cultivate devotion to Lord Krishna. Others who still remain sinful never become Lord Krishna’s devotee, they only can worship Kali, Ganesh or some impersonal phantasm conception. So for those aspirants of the three previous types who have the tinge of fruitive motivations, still they are the elect and after finally achieving devotion to Him they become free from desire and qualified for moksa or liberation from the cycle of birth and death. Lord Krishna accepts the jnani as His very self to exemplify their exalted position, because nothing is more dearer then oneself. For the jnani is the elite and the absolute devotee who is firmly established being time tested over a myriad of lifetimes. He is wholeheartedly devoted to the Supreme Lord as his only goal another of which there is nothing superior and having such faith assuredly arrives at that goal.



The association with an advanced and enlightened devotee of the Supreme Lord is most difficult to achieve. This Lord Krishna indicates by the words bahunam janmanam ante meaning at the final cycle of innumerable births. All these final cycle births are meritorious, characterised by righteous actions and noble activities which were numerous. It is not possible to achieve such felicity with the meagre merits acquired from righteous activities throughout a single lifetime. To have the supreme blessing to qualify for worshipping the Supreme Lord Krishna one must have a bountiful surplus of meritorious activities over a myriad of lifetimes. Then at such a time an enlightened being with overflowing love and complete dedication based on the true understanding of the goal of life, the means to attain it and how Lord Krishna is connected to both as the omnipotent, omniscient, all pervading Supreme Being, worships Him with all their body, mind and heart. Lord Krishna should be known to be the source of the Brahman or the spiritual substratum pervading all existence and also the cause of creation, preservation and dissolution of the entire material existence. The Chandogya Upanisad III.XIV.I states: All the demi-gods that have come to worship you, are actually also you because the creator of the worlds is manifested from you. As the infinite is omnipresent the Supreme Lord is like that. An exalted being endowed with the discriminating power of this knowledge is su-durlabah meaning extremely rare, perhaps only one among millions of humans. It is stated in the Bhagavat Purana: Among those who have attained moksa or liberation from the cycle of birth and death only one of them out of millions is dedicated to the Supreme Lord Krishna.


Bhagavad-GitaChapter 7, verses 20

So previously Lord Krishna revealed just how rare and difficult it is to meet an enlightened jnani or knower of God among the four virtuous types of beings. He also deliberated on the other three types being artto the afflicted, jijnasur the seekers of liberation and artharthi the

seekers of wealth and how when gradually becoming free from desire and attachment they also attain moksa or liberation from samsara or the cycle of birth and death. Now Lord Krishna speaks of those who are not devoted to Him but are attracted to the various demigods such as Surya or Kali due to being in raja guna the mode of passion or the worship of vague impersonal conceptions of god without even a name, form or qualities being in tama guna the mode of ignorance. All those rooted in both raja and tama guna have their minds bound and chained by uncountable mundane desires from innumerable previous lifetimes and they remain trapped and caught in samsara or the endless cycle of birth and death. In this verse Lord Krishna is showing the superiority of His devotees by stating hrta janah meaning those whose intelligence is stolen by being deviated away from devotion to the Supreme Lord and diverted to lesser gods with inferior conceptions for the fulfilment of material desires like wealth, power, dominion. Such persons in tama guna worship demoniac and nefarious beings with the help of incantations and magic formulas for hypnotising, stupefying, subjugating and even killing an enemy or troublesome adversary who is an obstacle to accomplishing their desires. Those in raja guna choose to offer hymns of adulation and service of adoration to the demigods for quick gratification for their trivial desires. Both engage in initiation, recitations of prayers and declarations from the texts of such sects, vows and rituals. All these activities are governed by one’s individual nature in the form of tendencies conscripted from desires entertained in previous births from time immemorial.



If one were to propound that the Supreme Lord is the aggregate of all the demigods and that the demigods are the forms of the Supreme Lord as well. This argument is refuted by Lord Krishna stating yam yam tanum meaning whichever form of demigod or other gods that one craves for some reward seeking to gratify their desires by worshipping or causing others to worship; it is the Supreme Lord only and who keeps the faith of that individual directed towards the very demigod that one contemplates, keeping it firm and steady based upon their latent tendencies from innumerable previous lives. But it should be noted that although Lord Krishna is the Supreme Lord of all, possessing absolute power over everything in existence; He never exerts even the slightest influence over any embodied being to put their faith and devotion in Him.

Thus ends the commentary to Chapter 7, verses 21 by Keshava Kashmiri.


Endowed with firm faith by the Supreme Lord, one supplicating the demi-gods who is desirous of rewards obtains those desired rewards which undoubtedly were destined by gratifying them. But as declared in the Vedic scriptures: It is the Supreme Lord who is the controller of all actions, abode of all beings and the only creator, preserver and destroyer of all creation; yet possessing no material qualities and free from maya. Salutations to Him the veritable goal of all worship. It is by the potency of the Supreme Lord that universal order is maintained and He is well known as the bestower of all rewards. If one were to wonder that if a votary paying homage to the demigods gets their cherished desires fulfilled

by them independently then how does the Supreme Lord contribute to this. Lord Krishna answers this with the word mayaiva meaning by Him alone. As the Supreme soul within every sentient being, all actions and all rewards are ordained solely by Him.



It could be postulated that if the followers of the demigods obtain their desired enjoyments which are sanctioned by the Supreme Lord to be granted by the demigods, then they are not amiss and have dutifully fulfilled the wishes that their votaries prayed for. So what then is the distinction between the followers of the demigods and the devotees of the Supreme Lord? To this Lord Krishna states antavat tu phalam meaning the rewards are perishable, temporary, not lasting for those of meagre intelligence who worship the demigods. This is because lacking association of those who are knowledgeable of the ultimate truth they are dull-witted and earnestly seek temporary rewards for their actions hence they are not graced with the wisdom to worship the Supreme Lord directly. Those who waste time and energy ingratiating themselves to demigods like Indra the celestial chief or Surya the sungod do not realise that these demigods have a span of life that ends after a period of time also. So if the demigod themselves are perishable it is clear that whatever material boons they are able to offer are perishable as well. Whereas the devotees of the Supreme Lord Krishna even if harbouring some desire will gradually come to Him eternally, because He is endowed with an infinite nature full of eternity and bliss. First they will achieve their cherished desire and then becoming free from it they will attain Him. Thus the difference is that Lord Krishna’s devotees although tainted by selfish motives still eventually attain Him because they worshipped Him direct and became exempt from returning to samsara or the endless cycle of birth and death which the followers of the demigods and lesser others gods are forced to return to againa nd again without cessation.



The question might be posed that if Lord Krishna is the only means for moksa or liberation from material existence and the best means for ultimate happiness then why does not everyone abandon the demigods and other lesser gods and with full faith worship Him alone, who is the Supreme Lord of all gods and the bountiful bestower of boundless blessings. Lord Krishna is beyond the perception of the physical mind and senses. The ignorant unaware of His Supreme, immutable, eternal transcendental nature are not qualified to percieve the Supreme Lord because they have not been graced by first approaching and then being accepted by the bonafide spiritual master in one of the four authorised Vedic lines of disciplic succession known as sampradayas as revealed in Vedic scriptures. The Supreme Lord Krishna or any of His Vedically authorised incarnations and expansions manifest themselves fully endowed with eternal transcendental qualities and attributes and are always the sole object of adoration from Brahma, Shiva and all the 33 million demigods. The Supreme Lord manifests Himself out of extreme affection and compassion for His devotees: but the ignorant unaware of the possibility for humans to have an actual relationship with Him, never worship Him wholeheartedly with love and

devotion because they believe He has a human form, never realising He possesses a purely spiritual body which is immutable and eternal and transcendental to material existence. But the ignorant simply look at Him as a human being with exceptional powers who took birth as a ksatriya prince as the son of King Vasudeva of the lunar dynasty.



Why are not all beings able to acquire knowledge about the Supreme Lord Krishna? He who is manifest in a wondrous, transcendental human-like form so illustrious, performing His lilas or magnificent, phenomenal pastimes, decked with peacock feather, flower garland down to His knees, and glorious flute in His forest pastimes and in His royal pastimes possessing such transcendental items as Srivatsa the golden line on His chest, Kaustabha His resplendent transcendental gemstone, Pancajanya the conch, Saranga the bow, Kaumadi the mace and others. Who is the subjugator of both Brahma the demigod in charge of creation and Shiva the demigod in charge of destruction. Who is the chastiser of Indra the chief of all the demigods as well as the reprimander of Kamadeva the demigod of love. Who to protect dharma or eternal righteousness was the destroyer of countless demons in His forest pastimes such as Putana, Trnavarta, Kesi and Aghasura among others and in His royal pastimes He destroyed even more demons such as Narakasura, Jaradandha, Paudraka, Sisupala and many more. The Supreme Lord Krishna whose potencies are beyond the realm of the mind and the senses and who is the sole objective of meditation by the enlightened yogis. Why are not all beings able to acquire knowledge about Him?

Lord Krishna speaks naham prakasah sarvasya meaning He is not revealed to everyone. He is samavrtah or concealed. He allows the ignorant who are bereft of faith be oblivious of His divine glory and His purely spiritual form which is endowed with qualities and attributes that are completely transcendental to prakriti or the material substatum pervading all worldly objects in the physical existence. His supernatural powers and lilas or phenomenal pastimes are not known, heard or witnessed by all. Only those who are exclusively devoted to Lord Krishna are aware of His power and majesty. As the Supreme Lord Himself spoke to Narada Muni that: One by one, then two by two, then in a group of three, great sages desired to see the form of the Supreme Lord Krishna; but they were unable to, nor will they ever be able too until they have developed exclusive devotion for Him. Only by bhakti or exclusive loving devotion can the Supreme Lord Krishna be known. Hence the ignorant, all who are not Lord Krishna’s devotees fail to recognise Him as the Supreme Being. For He is not born as an embodied soul forced to accept a physical body like all embodied beings by the dictates of karma or reactions from previous actions. Lord Krishna manifests Himself by His own sweet will to perform His divine lilas or phenomenal pastimes for sport; but the people of the world merely view Him as another human being only blest to have amazing and extraordinary qualities and characteristics.



Lord Krishna emphasises by the words mam tu veda na kascam which means that no one is able to know Him and because He is the controller of all, anywhere that He is not veiled is only by His express directive for His veiling is not for His devotees but for those who are in the clutches of maya or illusory impressions superimposed upon the mind, so that they will not be able to know Him. This He is indicating by the word vedaham meaning He knows. That He knows by His divine potency and unveiled knowledge. Although His external energy known as maya veils the mind in varying degrees of all created beings; it should clearly understood that that all living beings movable or immovable, belonging to the past, existing in the present or manifesting in the future are under His complete control and this is an example of how He is omniscient. It should also be clearly understood that no one bereft of devotion to the Supreme lord due to being bewildered and under the control of maya has the qualification to know that Lord Krishna is the Supreme Lord within their heart and within the heart of every living entity being present everywhere. Hence such ignorant living entities do not become devoted to Him.



In this way human beings are ignorant and kept in the dark about knowledge of the Supreme Lord. This is due to maya or illusory impressions superimposed upon the mind. This is what is being stated by the words dvanda-mohena or the delusion arising due to dualities such as joy and sorrow, success and failure, pleasure and pain, etc. When all beings take birth in their gross physical bodies they acquire an ego sense and fall prey to infatuation. In situations where the transitory body feels happiness from sense objects there is attraction and in situations where it feels unhappiness from sense objects there is aversion. Hence bewildered and befuddled constantly the embodied being thinks of themselves as the physical body and never attempts for self-realisation to discover the atma or immortal soul within themselves. The subsequent reactions from these two mentalities of attraction and aversion have been accumulated from all an embodied beings previous lifetimes through the delusion of I am happy because of this; or I am unhappy because of that. This is why most humans do not recognise Lord Krishna’s supreme position and propitiate Him, they are consumed by the reactions to their past actions while busily performing new actions based on the infatuation of attraction and aversion ceaselessly increasing more and more future reactions.



The question may be raised that if embodied beings have been deluded from time immemorial since conception in the gross body why is it that some people are still seen exclusively worshipping the Supreme Lord? To this Lord Krishna answers with the words punya-karmanam meaning performers of virtuous deeds. Such persons having association of the Lord Krishna’s pure devotee and under His guidance are able to free themselves from all sins and thus in the next life are born directly into a spiritual family by such merits. The accumulated sins of previous lives which veil the light of consciousness have

been dissolved and all erroneous knowledge along with it, by performance of meritorious spiritual activities for many lifetimes. All delusion in the form of reacting in attraction and aversion to the dualities such happiness and distress, pleasure and pain, success and failure, etc have been neutralised and hence one qualifies for knowledge of the ultimate truth with firm resolve to worship the Supreme Lord Krishna, the supreme controller, omnipotent and omniscient, the cause of all causes, the ultimate bestower of all benedictions and just rewards for all actions and who is an ocean of love for His devotees.



Thereafter worshipping the Supreme Lord Krishna such enlightened devotees become blessed and acquire knowledge of everything to be known. This is specified by the words te brahma tad viduh krtsnam meaning they get knowledge of the brahman the spiritual substratum pervading all existence and everything else of consequence. They with pure hearts who take complete refuge in the Supreme Lord being free from the sway of duality and any ideas of rewards for the actions they perform, even for moksa or liberation from the cycle of birth and death.. Such enlightened beings understand the entire field of action to be performed in the material manifestation meaning what is to be done and what is not to be done and the total purpose of embodied existence as a human being.



Speaking of all other knowledge and the results such knowledge, Lord Krishna concludes chapter seven beginning with the words: sa-adhibhuta-adhidaivam meaning that the essence of all embodied beings and the demigods, must be known. Whoever by mercy of the authorised spiritual master in disciplic succession knows Lord Krishna, be they originating from those seeking fruitive desires or they originate from those with spiritual wisdom. If they know Him as the integral essence of all existence within as prakriti or the substratum pervading material existence, as the brahman or the spiritual substratum pervading all existence and as the sole origin of all creation. Along with knowing Him as paramatma or the Supreme Soul within the etheric heart of each and every sentient being throughout creation witnessing their every thought and action. Such elevated and enlightened beings of purified heart and cleansed minds will be immersed in relishing the remembrance of Lord Krishna up to and even during the moment of death. In the next chapter after being questioned by Arjuna, the intrinsic meanings of the terms brahman, adhibhuta, adhyatma and adhidaivata will be elucidated further by Lord Krishna.

In the seventh chapter Lord Krishna illuminated His supremacy, He showed the superiority of His devotees above all others and explained the root cause of bondage to the cycle of birth and death as well as the root cause of moksa or liberation from the cycle of birth and death. He magnanimously revealed these things to the world out of compassion for His devotees.

Thus ends the commentary to Srimad Bhagavad-Gita, Chapter 7 by Keshava Kashmiri.

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