Bhagavad Gita · 7.14 · Self-Knowledge and Enlightenment·14 of 30
दैवी ह्येषा गुणमयी मम माया दुरत्यया।मामेव ये प्रपद्यन्ते मायामेतां तरन्ति ते ॥
daivī hyeṣhā guṇa-mayī mama māyā duratyayā
mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te
Sanskrit recitation
The divine inside ordinary nature · 7.1–7.14 · Teaching
Translation
Verily, this divine illusion of Mine, composed of the three qualities, is difficult to cross over; those who take refuge in Me alone, can cross over this illusion.
Meaning
Maya is the Upadhi or the causal body (Karana Sarira) of Isvara. It is the material cause of this universe. It is inherent in the Lord. It is constituted of the three alities, viz., Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. Those who completely devote themselves to the Lord alone after renouncing all formal religion (Dharma) cross over this illusion which deludes all beings. They attain liberation or Moksha.Isvara is the Lord of Maya (illusion). He has perfect control over it. Avidya is the Upadhi (limiting adjunct) of the Jiva (individual soul). The Jiva is a slave of this ignorance. Ignorance is the veil that has screened the Jiva from Satchidananda Brahman or the ExistenceKnowledgeBliss Absolute. When the veil is removed by the dawn of knowledge of the Self the Jiva loses his characteras a Jiva or an individual soul and becomes identical with Brahman. (Cf.XV.3and4)
After Swami Sivananda
The divine inside ordinary nature· 7.1–7.14→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 7.1The Blessed Lord said, "O Arjuna, hear how you shall, without doubt, know Me fully, with your mind intent on Me, practicing Yoga and taking refuge in Me."
- 7.2I will declare to you in full this knowledge combined with realization, after knowing which nothing else remains to be known here.
- 7.3Among thousands of men, one may perchance strive for perfection; even among those successful strivers, only one may perchance know Me in essence.
- 7.4Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intellect, and egoism—thus is My Nature divided eightfold.
- 7.5O mighty-armed Arjuna, this is the inferior Prakriti; know it as distinct from My higher Prakriti, the very life-element, by which this world is upheld.
- 7.6Know that these two are the womb of all beings; thus, I am the source and dissolution of the whole universe.
- 7.7There is nothing higher than Me, O Arjuna. All this is strung on Me, like clusters of gems on a string.
- 7.8I am the flavor in water, O Arjuna; I am the light in the moon and the sun; I am the syllable Om in all the Vedas, sound in the ether and virility in men.
- 7.9I am the sweet fragrance in the earth and the brilliance in the fire, the life in all beings, and I am the austerity of ascetics.
- 7.10Know Me, O Arjuna, as the eternal seed of all beings; I am the intelligence of the intelligent, and the splendour of the splendid objects.
- 7.11Of the strong, I am the strength devoid of desire and attachment, and in all beings, I am the desire in accordance with Dharma, O Arjuna.
- 7.12Whatever beings (and objects) that are pure, active, and inert, know that they proceed from Me. They are in Me, yet I am not in them.
- 7.13Deluded by these Natures, composed of the three qualities of Nature, all this world does not know Me as distinct from them and immutable.
7.14Verily, this divine illusion of Mine, composed of the three qualities, is difficult to cross over; those who take refuge in Me alone, can cross over this illusion.
Word-by-word→
- hi
- certainly
- te
- they
- ye
- who
- eva
- certainly
- mama
- my
- mām
- unto me
- daivī
- divine
- māyā
- one of God’s energies. It that veils God’s true nature from souls who have not yet attained the eligibility for God-realization
- eṣhā
- this
- taranti
- cross over
- duratyayā
- very difficult to overcome
- prapadyante
- surrender
- guṇa-mayī
- consisting of the three modes of nature
- māyām etām
- this Maya
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