CHAPTER 7 Krishna: The Ultimate Reality*

*The Mahābhārata contains no chapter headings. This title was assigned by the translator on the basis of verse 7 of this chapter.

“The Blessed Lord said: With attention absorbed in Me, O son of Pṛthā, practicing yoga, being dependent on Me, you will know of Me fully without a doubt. Hear of this. I will explain the information and give the experience to you without deleting anything. Having known that, no other experience would be left to be discovered in this world. Someone, in thousands of human beings, strives for psychological perfection. Of those who endeavor, even of those who are perfected, someone knows Me in truth. Solid substance, liquid substance, flame, gas, space, mental energy, intelligence, and initiative are My apportioned, eight-sectioned mundane energy. That is inferior. But, O strong man, know of My other higher energy which consists of the hosts of individual spirits, through which this universe is sustained. This higher energy functions as the multiple origins of all creatures. Understand this. I am the cause of production as well as destruction of the entire universe. O conqueror of rich countries, no other reality is higher than Myself. All this existence relies on Me, like pearls strung on a string. I am represented as taste in water, O son of Kuntī . I am signified as light in the moon and sun, as the sacred syllable Om in all the Vedas, as the sound in the atmosphere, as the manliness in men. I am represented as wholesome odor in the earth. I am sensed by the brilliance in the sun, by the life in all creatures. I am indicated by the austerity of the ascetics. Regarding the states of being, which are perceptive clarity, enthusiasm, and depression, know that they are produced by Me. But I am not based in them. They are dependent on Me. All this world is stupefied by the three states of being, which are produced by the mundane influence. The world does not recognize Me, Who is higher than these energies and Who is unaffected. Indeed this quality controlled illusion of Mine is supernatural and difficult to transcend. Only those who rely on Me, can see beyond this bewitching energy. The confused evildoers, the lowest of human beings, those whose discrimination is erased by misconceptions, do not take shelter of Me. They are attached to a corrupted existence. Four kinds of good people worship Me, O Arjuna: the distressed one, the inquisitive one, the needy one, and the informed one, O bullish man of the Bharata family. Of these, the informed man who is constantly disciplined in yoga, being singularly devoted, is distinguished indeed. I am fond of this person and he is fond of Me.” ~The Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7

You Will Know Me Fully

Those who practice real Yoga, I. E., spiritual development techniques, will know Christ / Krisna by awakening their own inner Christ Consciousness. It cannot happen any other way except for extremely rare cases of accidental enlightenment, which should not be expected since they are so rare. Yogis seek enlightenment through the bhakti yoga practice.

Someone in Thousands

Lord Krishna tells Arjuna, son of Partha, that one in thousands of humans strives for perfection. The Bible tells Christians the same thing. There may be millions of human beings who belong to Christian churches, but only a few who seek a true spiritual awakening or a oneness with the Christian trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, or the Hindu equivalent of Vishnu, Brahma, and Shiva. The same is true of people from other faiths and those who practice no particular faith. As we are now in the End Times when the Sun of Righteousness shines down on us, this number may be growing, but not as much as many think. Devotees who claim to be spiritually awakened are merely fooling themselves and most are consumed by maya and the illusions maya can bring into their lives. While we live in the world of duality, many will choose materialism over the imperishable truth of spirituality.

Stupefied by the World

The vast majority of people are stupefied by the world. Either they see and believe only in the temporary things of matter, or they think that while they’re in the world of matter, they have no reason to awaken and develop their spiritual faculties. Both of those groups are wrong. As Sri Krishna says, they are attached to a corrupt realm. That is why spiritual schools teach that we must lose those attachments to the things of matter if we are to succeed in awakening and developing our spiritual selves and obtaining knowledge of the absolute and of Brahma, the Supreme Lord. Krishna adds that there are four types of devotees who worship him: the distressed, the inquisitive, the needy, and the informed. Not all distressed or needy people turn to God for answers. Even inquisitive people don’t always turn to God for answers. The informed devotees do because what is meant here as informed people are those who have been taught certain spiritual truths, enough to get them on the path of enlightenment. So in truth, only the informed ever seek enlightenment. The distressed, the inquisitive, and the needy only turn to God after having gained some knowledge of the true nature of God and how to seek out God and awaken our own dormant spirits. Most go through life worshiping false gods or demigods. For those who do honestly and earnestly seek enlightenment, there are angels that help point them in the right direction, as well as spiritual teachers still living in physical form. It is for each of us to seek out the truth and not just wait for it to come to us. We must each become a Brahman, or as said in Sanskrit, “ tat viddhi”, meaning you must know it,” where “it” means God, or the All. That is what the ancient Vedic Sanskrit writings are all about. So start developing your spiritual side while you can because none of us know our time of death.