Here Mahatma Gandhi interprets the Chapter 7, Jnana-Vijnana Yoga of Bhagavad Gita. Here Lord Krishna starts explaining about the characteristics of Brahman, as indicated as "THAT" in the Mahavakya "That Thou Art". He describes his lower & upper natures, His manifestations, the Maya or delusion , a product of the three Gunas, Sattva, Rajas & Tamas, the types of His devotees, the Jnani as the best devotee, & devotion as the easiest method for moksha.

1. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
T K G NAMBOODHIRI
THIRUVALLA, KERALA
Presentation adapted from
The Bhagavad Gita According to Gandhi, Orient
Paperbacks,2011
T K G Namboodhiri

2. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
T K G Namboodhiri
CHAPTER 7
JNANA- VIJNANA YOGA

3. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
INTRODUCTION
Chapter 7, begins the second section of 6
chapters of Gita describing the “That” in
the Mahavakya TAT TVAM ASI ( THAT THOU
ART), This section thus discusses Brahman,
the goal of the spiritual journey. Here, in
Chapter 7,Lord Krishna opens his discourse
with a promise that He would explain the
entire science, theoretical, & practical
aspects of Knowledge &Wisdom, & how one
can acquire them through yoga & single-
pointed devotion to Lord.
T K G Namboodhiri

4. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 7.1 to 7.3
Hear, O Partha, how, with thy mind riveted on Me, by
practicing yoga & making Me the sole refuge, thou
shalt, without doubt, know Me fully.
I will deliver to thee, in its entirety, this knowledge,
combined with discriminative knowledge which
when thou hast known there remains here nothing
more to be known.
Among thousands of men hardly one strives after
perfection; among those who strive hardly one
knows Me in truth
This knowledge is of supreme worth, & not
everyone can acquire it.
T K G Namboodhiri

5. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 7.4 & 7.5
Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Ether, Mind, Reason & Ego– These
eightfold is My prakriti.
This is My lower aspect; but know thou My other aspect—
the higher--- which is Jiva (the Vital Essence) by which, O
Mahabahu, this world is sustained.
Sri Krishna explains that the primeval substratum of
material nature is the basis for the infinite phenomena of
all creation. Prakriti has a dual nature with higher &
lower properties. The lower properties are Earth, water,
fire, air, space, mind, reason & false ego.
There is also a higher prakriti of Mine– para prakriti– It
exists in living creatures, & is superior to the lower
prakriti- apara prakriti- in inert matters. It is the life force
of all living beings. Through it the entire universe exists.
T K G Namboodhiri

6. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 7.6 & 7.7
Know that these two compose the source from which all
beings spring; I am the origin & end of the entire
universe.
There is nothing higher than I, O Dhananjaya; all this is
strung on Me as a row of gems upon a thread.
Sri Krishna says: ‘The apara prakriti, the soul that lives in
the visible world, & the para prakriti, the invisible world,
are the cause of all creatures that live. I am the source
of the whole universe, & am that in which it subsides. I
am the cause of creation & destruction.
There is nothing superior to Me, everything that exists is
connected to Me as the beads are held together by the
string; so this universe is held by Me.
T K G Namboodhiri

7. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 7.8 to 7.11
In water I am savour, O Kaunteya, in the sun & the moon I
am the light; the syllable AUM in all the Vedas, the sound
in ether, & manliness in men.
I am the sweet fragrance in earth; the brilliance in fire;
the life in all beings; & the austerity in ascetics.
Know Me, O Partha, to be the primeval seed of all beings;
I am the reason (intelligence) of rational beings & the
splendour of the splendid.
Of the strong, I am the strength, divorced from lust &
passion; in beings I am desire undivorced from
righteousness.
I am the strength of the strong, but that strength which is
used without selfish motives or attachment. I am the desire
(kama) in creatures which is not contrary to dharma-- the
desire for moksha, or that to end the sufferings of creatures.
T K G Namboodhiri

8. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 7.12 & 7.13
Know that all the manifestations of the three gunas,
sattva, rajas & tamas, proceed from none but Me; yet I
am not in them; they are in Me.
Befogged by these manifestations of the three gunas, the
entire world fails to recognize Me, the Imperishable, as
transcending them.
All states of being the gunas– be they sattva (goodness),
rajas (passion) or tamas (ignorance)– all arise from prakriti
which manifests from Sri Krishna. He is in one sense,
everything, but He is independent. He is not under the
modes of material nature, on the contrary, they are within
Him.
People are not able to recognize that the Supreme Lord is
transcendental to, & unaffected by, the three gunas being
their source & therefore is Immutable & Immaculate.
T K G Namboodhiri

9. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 7.14 & 7.15
For this My divine delusive mystery made up of the
three gunas is hard to pierce; but those who make
Me their sole refuge pierce the veil.
The deluded evil-doers, lowest of men, do not seek
refuge in Me; for, by reason of this delusive mystery,
they are bereft of knowledge & given to devilish
ways.
Those who are wise surrender to Him, but those
who only think themselves to be wise do not. The
depraved, the foolish & the lowest among the
mankind; deprived of discrimination their
intelligence becomes polluted & they assume
demonic mentalities.
T K G Namboodhiri

10. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 7.16 & 7.17
Four types of well-doers are devoted to Me, O Arjuna;
they are, O Bharatarshabha, the afflicted, the spiritual
seeker, the material seeker, & the enlightened.
Of these the enlightened, ever attached to Me in single
minded devotion, is the best; for to the enlightened I am
exceedingly dear & he is dear to Me.
Four types of worthy people worship Me, says Sri
Krishna. They are: those in distress; those who yearn for
jnana or seek moksha; those seeking worldly benefits, &
the jnanis, the men of wisdom, who worship God as His
servants, & seek nothing from Him. Among them all, the
jnani, who always lives in union with Him, yoked with
Him, calls upon Him Thou, Thou & lives repeating His
name, is the best. I am very dear to such jnanis & they to
Me.
T K G Namboodhiri

11. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 7.18 & 7.19
All these are estimable indeed, but the enlightened I hold
to be My very self; for he, the true yogi, is stayed on Me
alone, the supreme goal.
At the end of many births the enlightened man finds
refuge in Me; rare indeed is this great soul to whom
‘Vasudeva is all’.
Sree Krishna continues: All four kinds of devotees are
noble people, certainly worthy men. But of them all, the
jnani is My very soul, Myself as it were. He who has
yoked himself to Me has risen to the highest state.
After many lives, after a long & hard struggle, the jnani
finds refuge in Me. Such a person is always saying, not
merely with his tongue, but with his very heart, that this
whole universe is a manifestation of Vasudeva. A
mahatma of such greatness is very rare.
T K G Namboodhiri

12. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 7.20 & 7.21
Men, bereft of knowledge by reason of various longings,
seek refuge in other gods, pinning their faith on diverse
rites, guided by their own nature.
Whatever form one desires to worship in faith & devotion,
in that very form I make that faith of his secure.
Selfish persons, deprived of discrimination, whose
intelligence has been distorted or clouded by worldly
desires, choose a path away from the Supreme, &
worship demigods for fulfilment of their desires by
following their rules & rituals. They obey their nature &
worship accordingly.
Whatever demigods such people want to worship, the
Lord ensures that they have unwavering faith. Indirectly,
all worship Him only, as these demigods are all part of
His universal form.
T K G Namboodhiri

13. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 7.22 & 7.23
Possessed of that faith he seeks to propitiate that
one, & obtains his desires there, dispensed in truth
by none but Me.
But limited is the fruit that falls to those short-
sighted ones; those who worship the gods go to the
gods, those who worship Me come unto Me.
Short- sighted worshippers of gods reap temporary
& perishable fruits, provided by the Supreme One.
Those who worship the lower gods rise only so far
as the world of those gods; but those who worship
the supreme Self go direct to the Self.
T K G Namboodhiri

14. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 7.24 & 7.25
Not knowing My transcendent, imperishable, supreme
character, the undiscerning think Me who am unmanifest
to have become manifest.
Veiled by the delusive mystery created by My unique
power, I am not manifest to all; this bewildered world
does not recognize Me, birthless & changeless.
“Persons of little intelligence do not know My unmanifest
state”-says Lord Krishna. They mistake the manifest
universe for the invisible reality behind. They do not
know the Supreme as the unmanifest, changeless
Purushothama.
The unthinking man, enveloped in Maya, does not know
the Lord, the Unborn & the Immutable. Everyone cannot
see Him, for He is veiled by the Maya. Our intellect has
not the power to tear up the veil covering the Atman.
T K G Namboodhiri

15. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 7.26 to 7.28
I know, O Arjuna all creatures past, present & to be; but
no one knows Me.
All creatures in this universe are bewildered, O
Parantapa, by virtue of the delusion of the pairs of
opposites sprung from likes & dislikes, O Bharata.
But those virtuous men whose sin has come to an end,
freed from the delusion of the pairs of opposites, worship
Me in steadfast faith.
External perceptions of happiness & misery, success & failure,
arising out of what is pleasing & that which is displeasing,
begin to influence us as soon as we are born. We begin to
identify with the physical body, & get occupied with worldly
pursuits of happiness. Spending no time to acquire knowledge
about the Self, we remain deluded. But persons who have acted
piously, & whose sins have been eradicated, being free from the
dualities of delusion, engage themselves in God’s service with
determination.
T K G Namboodhiri

16. THE BHAGAVD GITA
ACCORDING TO
GANDHI
Verses 7.29 & 7.30
Those who endeavour for freedom from age & death by
taking refuge in Me, know in full that Brahman, Adhyatma
& all karma.
Those who know Me, including adhi-bhuta, adhi-daiva,
adhi-yajna, possessed of even-mindedness, they know Me
even at the time of passing away.
Those who think of Me, even at the moment of death, as
adhi-bhuta (the ultimate personality governing
existence), adhi-daiva (underlying basis of all demi-gods),
& adhi-yajna (Creator & Preserver of the whole universe),
are men who have become steady. They know Me as the
Lord of all creatures, of gods, & as the Creator &
Preserver of the whole universe, & know that this world
of flux has no effect on Me whatsoever, are men united
with Me in yoga.
End of Chapter 7.
T K G Namboodhiri