Bhagavagd Gita - Session 25- Track 2509
tribhir guṇamayair bhāvair ebhiḥ sarvam idaṁ jagat |
mohitaṁ nābhijānāti mām ebhyaḥ param avyayam ||13|| (VII)
‘All these’ is a world which is full of three Gunas: Sattwa, Rajas, and Tamas. And by these three Gunas, everybody is deluded; everybody is living in Apara Prakriti by the power of these three Gunas, and therefore they do not realise Me, I who am above all these, and I am indestructible. Other things are destructible but I am not destructible.
daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā |
And yet this Apara Prakriti is daivī, is still divine. Why? Because its origin is in Para Prakriti; if there was no origin in Para Prakriti, this daivībhav would not be there.
daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā |
This māyā, this particular Apara Prakriti, which is guṇamayī, which has got all the three Gunas is my own Maya, it is daivī, but duratyayā; it is something very difficult to cross and penetrate.
mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te ||14|| (VII)
Only those who worship Me, only those who turn to Me, the supreme Divine, only ‘they’ taranti te, only ‘they’ can cross over these three Gunas of the Apara Prakriti.
na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ |
māyayāpahṛtajñānā āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ ||15|| (VII)
“Those who are mūḍhāḥ, dull; duṣkṛtino, those who are engaged in wrong actions; narādhamāḥ, they are mean human beings; namāṁ prapadyante, they do not attain to Me.”
māyayāpahṛta-jñānā āsuraṁ bhāvam āśritāḥ
“They are completely overpowered by Maya; and all the knowledge is gone because of that spell, and therefore they live in Asuric Prakriti, and they are therefore unable to reach Me.”
Now comes the method by which Supreme can be achieved. Up till now we were only given the description of what is Reality. The Reality is the Supreme who has two natures: the higher nature, and the lower nature. The lower nature has been described as consisting of eight elements: the five pañca mahābhūtas, and manas, buddhi, and ahaṁkāra. These three constitute Apara Prakriti. Para Prakriti is that of which Jiva is made.
Then, Sri Krishna describes that even in Apara Prakriti where ‘I am to be found’. So, He gives the knowledge that wherever these elements are to be found, ‘recognise Me to be present there’, even in the Apara Prakriti, and because of My presence there, Apara Prakriti becomes joined up with the higher Prakriti. Then He explains that this Apara Prakriti is a very difficult process to cross over: “Only they can cross over who can turn to Me. But those who do not turn to Me, they remain in the condition of Asuric Maya. They become narādhamāḥ, mūḍhāḥ: they are dull and from whom knowledge is completely taken away.”
Now, Sri Krishna says what is the method by which you can enter into relationship with the Divine. So, from here to verse n°28, these 15 verses describe the method, the application, the ‘Yoga’. In this Yoga, Sri Krishna now expounds for the first time, what is called “Bhakti Yoga”. Up till now there was only some hint of Bhakti. Only Jnana and Karma were expounded in the earlier 6 chapters. Now, in the 7th chapter the description that is given to us is of Bhakti Yoga. But you will see also that in this process of Bhakti Yoga, Sri Krishna unites Bhakti with Jnana. Now, let us see: