7.1 Krishna, the messenger, conveyed the word of God: Hear, O Pārtha, how, with your mind fixed on Me, practising devotion and taking refuge in Me alone, you shall know Me fully and without doubt.

7.2 I shall declare to you, completely, this knowledge together with its realisation; when it is known, nothing further remains here to be known.

7.3 Among thousands of people scarcely one strives for perfection; and among those who strive and succeed, scarcely one knows Me as I truly am.

7.4 Earth, water, fire, air and space, mind, intellect and the sense of self — this is My creation, divided eightfold.

7.5 This is the lower order of creation. Know, O mighty-armed, that beyond it is My higher creation, the living soul, by which this world is sustained.

7.6 Understand that all beings come forth from these two. I am the Originator of the whole universe, and to Me it shall return at its dissolution.

7.7 There is nothing whatever higher than Me, O Dhanaṃjaya. All this universe is held together by My command, as pearls are strung on a thread.

7.8 The taste in water is My sign, O Kaunteya; the light of the moon and the sun is My sign; the sacred Word in all the scriptures, the sound in space, and the strength in men.

7.9 The pure fragrance of the earth and the brilliance of fire are My signs; the life in all beings and the self-discipline of the devout.

7.10 Know, O Pārtha, that I am the eternal Origin of all beings. The understanding of the wise and the splendour of the splendid are My gifts.

7.11 The strength of the strong, free from lust and passion, is from Me; and the desire in beings that does not oppose righteousness is from Me, O best of the Bhāratas.

7.12 Whatever states of being there are — pure, passionate or dark — know that they come from Me alone. I am not in them; they are under My command.

7.13 Deluded by these three conditions of nature, the whole world fails to recognise Me, who am above them all and imperishable.

7.14 For this test of the world, woven of these conditions, is hard to overcome; but those who turn to Me alone pass beyond it.

7.15 The evildoers, the foolish and the lowest of men do not turn to Me; their knowledge stolen by delusion, they cling to a demonic disposition.

7.16 Four kinds of righteous people worship Me, O Arjuna: the afflicted, the seeker of knowledge, the seeker of good, and the one who knows.

7.17 Of these the one who knows, ever steadfast and devoted to the One alone, is the best. For I am exceedingly dear to him, and he is dear to Me.

7.18 All of these are noble, but the one who knows is, in My sight, the closest to Me; for with a steadfast soul he holds to Me alone as the highest goal.

7.19 At the end of a long journey of striving, the one who knows turns to Me, recognising that God encompasses all and that all is from Him. Such a great soul is very rare.

7.20 But those whose understanding has been stolen by this desire or that turn to other gods, following this rite or that, bound by their own nature, and they go astray.

7.21 Whatever object a person chooses to worship, I leave him to what he has chosen, and his faith in it grows firm.

7.22 Possessed of that faith he seeks to win its favour, and whatever he gains, he gains only because I have decreed it.

7.23 But the reward of these people of little understanding comes to an end. Those who worship created powers go to what they worshipped; those devoted to Me come to Me.

7.24 The ignorant imagine that I, the Unmanifest, have taken a manifest body; they do not know My supreme being, imperishable and unsurpassed.

7.25 I am not revealed to all, being veiled by My own power. This deluded world does not recognise Me, the Unborn, the Imperishable.

7.26 I know all beings that have been, that are, and that are yet to be, O Arjuna; but none knows Me.

7.27 Through the delusion of opposites, arising from desire and aversion, all beings fall into confusion from the moment of their creation, O scorcher of foes.

7.28 But those of righteous deeds, whose sin has come to an end, freed from the delusion of opposites, worship Me with firm resolve.

7.29 Those who take refuge in Me and strive for deliverance from old age and death come to know the Absolute, the inner self, and the whole of right action.

7.30 Those who know Me as Lord over all that is created, over the angels and over all worship, know Me even at the hour of departure, with minds held steadfast.