Yoga is like an ocean. So, first doing yoga gets you ready (to know of the higher truth). If you are miserable, you do yoga to get out of your misery and this is first step.

The second is, if you are very restless or very unhappy, yoga brings you that equanimity.
The third step, it helps you to attain skills that you do not have, because it is action which brings you happiness or sorrow. And if you are skillful in action, then your action will only bring you happiness, or less misery.

So for what are you doing yoga, you to decide?

There is a fourth step to yoga, which is to take you to the ultimate knowledge. So the 6th chapter is all about yoga. How to meditate, how to sit straight and do pranayama and be immersed in consciousness.

In the end of the 6th chapter Lord Krishna says, 'Among the yogis, the one who keeps me in his mind is the greatest'.

So he just said a little bit in the end and left it.

7.1 Maiyy asakta-manah Partha yogam yunjan mad-ashrayah. Asamsayam samagram mam yatha jnasyasi tach-chrnu

'The greatest of the yogis is one who is interested in me. So first I will tell you about the yogi who takes interest in me, and who is interested in the highest knowledge. I will tell you how he gets to know things when he takes refuge in me. Then I will tell you who I am, later on'.

I will tell you the complete knowledge, knowing which there is nothing else to be known.

7.2 Jnanam te'ham sa-vijnanam idam vaksyamy asesatah. Yaj jnatva neha bhuyo 'nyaj jnatavyam avasisyate

'I am going to teach you the whole thing, both the experiential knowledge and the intellectual knowledge. They have to go together. I am going to tell you the whole thing because you are very dear to me, and because you trust me. You trust my judgment. If I say something you know that what I am saying is for your good and you take it. That is why I want to tell you this in total'.

He then explains: 'What is this' is science, and 'Who am I?' this is of the spirit, and they both are complementary. The subject and the object, both need to be understood.
See, if the mind is all foggy, then you can't see what is there. If I ask you, 'How many paintings are in this room'.

You will say, 'I have not noticed Gurudev'. But if you are sharp and alert you will say, 'Look, there are 12 painting on the ceiling'. So, the keenness of observation indicates the level of our consciousness. Yoga expands and uplifts the consciousness, and when the consciousness is uplifted then the knowledge gets very clear and well-founded.

So once you know this there is nothing else to be know, because in this state there is perfect intuition.

7.3 Manusyanam sahasresu kascid yatati siddhaye. Yatatam api siddhanam kascin mam vetti tattvatah

This world has billions of people. Among the billions, only a few will come onto this path to achieve perfection in their life. Now even among those few who are striving for perfection, only a few will really truly know me, or attain me.

So now, who am I? Who is that to be known? So he says:

7.4 Bhumir apo 'nalo vayuh kham mano buddhir eva cha. Ahamkara itiyam me bhinna prakrtir ashtadha

'There is this eight fold nature of mine. What is it? Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Ether, Mind, Intellect, and Ego. These are the eight-fold nature of mine'.

It is the self which is saying: through which everything has been formed, in which everything remains, and into which everything goes back, I am that. I am the Earth, I am Water, I am Air, etc.

7.5 Apareyam itas tva anyam prakrtim viddhi me param. Jiva-bhutam maha-baho yayedam dharyate jagat

'There is another nature of mine, which is the very essence of life. And which sustains the entire creation'.

He talks about that ONE consciousness which everything is made up of. See how many bodies are sitting here. Everybody has a mind, a consciousness, and a life-force in it. Now put all these life forces together; not just human but the animals and everything together, and see, there is a ocean of life (I am that ocean).

So here the energy is saying, 'I am the source and the goal of everything. Everything comes out of me and dissolves into me'.

7.6 Etad-yonini bhutani sarvanitya upadharaya. Aham krtsnasya jagatah prabhavah pralayas thata

So everything comes from this one energy and everything dis-integrates back into this one energy, and that energy is me.

Then Lord Krishna says, 'If this is a little difficult for you to understand then let me tell you in a different way. I am the fluidity in fluids. I am the rays in the light'.

See Krishna is a very clever teacher because he teaches as a friend. He does not impose himself but very gently guides you step by step, understanding where you are. This is why you need of a guru: he understands where you are, you don't have to explain. And then he tell you, 'Take this step'.

It is like a mother who sits back watching a baby walking. She does not go and pick the child up every time it falls. If he has a small fall, she knows that he will get up. She just watches as a witness, guiding and supporting it.

He says, 'Having said that I am the source and the goal of the whole universe, and all of life, and all the planets and everything, if that is too much for you, then I will give you little more examples. I am the fluidity in fluid'.

7.8 Raso 'ham apsu Kaunteya prabhasmi sasi-suryayoh. Pranavah sarva-vedesu sabdah khe paurusam nrsu

'I am the rays in the sun and the moon. In all the knowledge, I am Om'.

Om is an experience, where the prana in the lower part of the body reaches the top. From the lowest to the highest, from Earth to infinity, that which permeates is Om.

So here again Krishna says, 'I am the power behind valor. When you see a powerful man, don't think it is him, that valor you see is me. I am the sound in the ether. I am the fragrance in the Earth. I am the brilliant in fire. I am the life in all beings'.

This is unity, this is enlightenment. This is the blossoming of one's full potential, where you see yourself in others (or in everything).

Any sensitive and sensible person, sees someone else and thinks, 'That person is just like me', and so they don't want to harm others. Why should you not harm others? That is because it is the same as you harming yourself because they are part of you (like your arm is part of your body).

You walk your way, in the process, if other people feel that they have been harmed then it is their problem. But if you didn't have the intention to harm the other, then you are safe.

7.10 Bijam mam sarva-bhutanam viddhi partha sanatanam. Buddhir buddhimatam asmi tejas tejasvinam aham

'I am eternal seed of all beings. So if you see radiance somewhere, know that it is all coming from one source. If you find someone very intelligent, then know that it is coming from one source, and that source is me'.

See, the mind goes towards something beautiful, so here Lord Krishna says, 'Look, the beauty is not of that person, it is mine. You better look at me'.

What is he doing here? The disciple's mind which is going here and there, he is bringing it back to one place, to the source from which everything has come, in which everything is sustained, and into which everything will go back, that is the seed. From seed to seed is the whole story of a tree.

So he says, 'I am the seed which is eternal'.

Please click here to continue reading - BHAGAVAD GITA CHAPTER 7 SUMMARY PART 2