Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7 — Jnana Vijnana Yoga (The Yoga of Knowledge and Realisation)
Krishna describes his lower and higher nature, explains that everything is strung on him like pearls on a thread, and names four kinds of devotees.
What happens in Chapter 7
Krishna promises to teach knowledge together with its realisation. His nature is twofold: the lower nature made of earth, water, fire, air, space, mind, intellect and ego, and the higher nature — the life that sustains the universe. Everything rests on him like pearls strung on a thread. He is the taste in water, the light of the sun and moon, Om in the Vedas, and the strength of the strong that is free from desire.
The three gunas of maya make it hard to see him, but those who take refuge in him cross over it. Krishna names four kinds of people who worship him — the distressed, the seeker of knowledge, the seeker of wealth, and the wise — and says all are noble, but the wise devotee is dearest, because they see that "Vasudeva is everything".
Main themes
- Lower and higher nature (prakriti)
- The divine thread in all things
- Maya and the three gunas
- Four kinds of devotees
Key verses
मत्तः परतरं नान्यत्किञ्चिदस्ति धनञ्जय।
मयि सर्वमिदं प्रोतं सूत्रे मणिगणा इव॥mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya
mayi sarvam idaṁ protaṁ sūtre maṇi-gaṇā iva
चतुर्विधा भजन्ते मां जनाः सुकृतिनोऽर्जुन।
आर्तो जिज्ञासुरर्थार्थी ज्ञानी च भरतर्षभ॥catur-vidhā bhajante māṁ janāḥ sukṛtino 'rjuna
ārto jijñāsur arthārthī jñānī ca bharatarṣabha
For daily life
Whatever brings you to prayer — trouble, curiosity or a wish — is a beginning. The Gita honours all four.
Sanskrit text: traditional (Gita Press numbering). English translation and explanation: MyPujaWorld.
Frequently asked questions
How many verses are in Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7?
Chapter 7, Jnana Vijnana Yoga, has 30 verses in the standard (Gita Press) text.
What is Chapter 7 of the Bhagavad Gita about?
Krishna describes his lower and higher nature, explains that everything is strung on him like pearls on a thread, and names four kinds of devotees.
More bhagavad gita
- Bhagavad Gita Chapter 1 — Arjuna Vishada Yoga (The Yoga of Arjuna's Despair)
- Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 — Sankhya Yoga (The Yoga of Knowledge)
- Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3 — Karma Yoga (The Yoga of Action)
- Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4 — Jnana Karma Sannyasa Yoga (The Yoga of Knowledge and Renunciation of Action)
- Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5 — Karma Sannyasa Yoga (The Yoga of Renunciation)
- Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6 — Dhyana Yoga (The Yoga of Meditation)
- Bhagavad Gita Chapter 8 — Akshara Brahma Yoga (The Yoga of the Imperishable Brahman)
- Bhagavad Gita Chapter 9 — Raja Vidya Raja Guhya Yoga (The Yoga of Royal Knowledge and the Royal Secret)
- Bhagavad Gita Chapter 10 — Vibhuti Yoga (The Yoga of Divine Glories)
- Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11 — Vishvarupa Darshana Yoga (The Yoga of the Vision of the Cosmic Form)
- Bhagavad Gita Chapter 12 — Bhakti Yoga (The Yoga of Devotion)
- Bhagavad Gita Chapter 13 — Kshetra Kshetrajna Vibhaga Yoga (The Yoga of the Field and the Knower of the Field)
- Bhagavad Gita Chapter 14 — Gunatraya Vibhaga Yoga (The Yoga of the Three Gunas)
- Bhagavad Gita Chapter 15 — Purushottama Yoga (The Yoga of the Supreme Person)
- Bhagavad Gita Chapter 16 — Daivasura Sampad Vibhaga Yoga (The Yoga of Divine and Demonic Qualities)
- Bhagavad Gita Chapter 17 — Shraddhatraya Vibhaga Yoga (The Yoga of the Threefold Faith)
- Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18 — Moksha Sannyasa Yoga (The Yoga of Liberation through Renunciation)
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- What Is the Bhagavad Gita? A Simple Introduction