Bg. 7.1

श्रीभगवानुवाच ।
मय्यासक्तमनाः पार्थ योगं युञ्जन्मदाश्रयः ।
असंशयं समग्रं मां यथा ज्ञास्यसि तच्छृणु ॥१॥

śrī-bhagavān uvāca
mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha
yogaṁ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ
asaṁśayaṁ samagraṁ māṁ
yathā jñāsyasi tac chṛṇu

śrīplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigsri

and opulence; beautiful; beauty; fortune; Lakṣmī, the goddess of fortune; named śrī; opulence or beauty; opulences; the affluent; the goddess of fortune; the goddess of fortune, or a beautiful calf; the treasury houses; transcendental; with opulence. bhagavānplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigbhagavan

my dear Lord; my lord; O exalted sage; O godly personality; O great brāhmaṇa; O great sage (Śukadeva Gosvāmī); O great sage; O great saint; O great soul; O Lord; O Lord, Supreme Personality of Godhead; O most powerful; O most powerful devotee; O most powerful sage; O my Lord; O my lord, O great one; O Personality of Godhead; O possessor of all opulences; O powerful one; O Supreme; O Supreme Lord; O Supreme Lord, O Personality of Godhead; O Supreme Personality of Godhead; O supremely powerful one; O worshipful sage; O Your Lordship; the Personality of Godhead. uvācaplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_biguvāca

answered; described; explained; he recited; he said; inquired; prayed; replied; said; she said; she spoke; spoke; talked with them.—the Supreme Lord said; mayiplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigmayi

as I; at me; devoted to Me; I am; in Me; in me, in my water; in my (womb); Me; of Myself; on me; on My; to Me; towards Me; unto Me; unto Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead; upon Me; when 1; when I; while I am living; within me.—unto Me; āsaktaplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigasakta

unto the Supreme person, who is unattached.-manāḥplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigmanah

and of the mind; and the mind; attention; by meditation; by mind; by the acts of the mind; by the mind; complete attention; heart; her mind; his mind; how the mind is working; in terms of the mind; in the mind; like the mind; mind; minds, hearts; my mind; of the mind; of the minds; of the strength of enthusiasm; that mind; the mind (full of material desires for eating, sleeping, mating and defending); the mind; the mind in such a situation; the minds; the subject matter of thought for the mind; their minds; to the mind; with mind; with the mind.—mind attached; pārthaplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigpārtha

Arjuna; My dear Arjuna; O Arjuna; O Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira; O Pārtha (Arjuna); O Pārtha (son of Pṛthā); O Pārtha; O son of Prthā; O son of Pṛthā (Arjuna); O son of Pṛthā (Kuntī); O son of Pṛthā; of Arjuna, son of Pṛthā (Kuntī).—O son of Pṛthā; yogamplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigyogam

yoga; yoga system; absorption, trance; action in devotion; contact; devotional service; in yoga; linking with the Supreme; meditation; mystic yoga; mystic power; mystic powers; mysticism; self-realization; service; spiritual knowledge; the device; the eightfold yoga system; the mystic yoga system; the mystic performances; the mystic process; the process of devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead; the science of one's relationship to the Supreme; Yoga; yoga practice; yogic power.—self-realization; yuñjanplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigyuñjan

by applying; keeping; making; practicing like this; so practicing; thus being engaged in yoga practice.—so practicing; matplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigmat

by me; for Me; from Me; having; Me; Mine; My; myself; of Me; possessing; than me; than Myself; to me; to Myself; under My; unto Me (Kṛṣṇa); unto Me.-āśrayaḥplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigasrayah

depending on; dwelling in; endowed with; object of; of the shelter; one who has taken shelter; reservoir; resort; shelter; the summum bonum; the basis; the master; the original foundation; the support; the ultimate shelter, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.—in consciousness of Me (Kṛṣṇa consciousness); asaṁśayamplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigasaṁśayam

undoubtedly; without any doubt (because it was spoken by the Supreme Lord); without doubt.—without doubt; samagramplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigsamagram

all; completely; in sum total; in total; the whole.—completely; māmplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigmām

about Me; at me; attains me; from me; Me (Kṛṣṇa); Me (Lord Kṛṣṇa); me (the earth); Me (the Supreme Lord); me (Vasiṣṭha); me; Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead; My direction; Myself; of myself; to Me; unto me; upon me.—unto Me; yathāplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigyathā

according to; accordingly as; and as; anywhere; as (He likes); as; as advised by his father; as also; as far as possible; as far as; as follows; as has; as He desires; as if; as if it were; as is; as it; as it is; as it is now; as it should have been; as it was; as it was done; as it were; as many; as much; as much as (deserved); as much as; as requested; as they are; as they told it; as they were; as well as; as you; by which; development of austerity and penance; duly; even as; exactly as; exactly like; fittingly; for the forefathers and the Supreme Personality of Godhead; how; in any manner; in order that; in the matter of; in what way; in which manner; in which way; in whichever manner; inasmuch as; just as; just as if; just like; like; like Him; or just as; properly; since; so; so that; so you inform me; the manner in which; where; wherever; without deviation.—as much as; jñāsyasiplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigjñāsyasi

you can know.—you can know; tatplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigtat

establishment of the statement tat tvam asi.—that; śṛṇuplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigsrnu

hear from Me.—try to hear. ¶

Now hear, O son of Pṛthā [Arjuna], how by practicing yoga in full consciousness of Me, with mind attached to Me, you can know Me in full, free from doubt. ¶

In this Seventh Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā, the nature of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is fully described. Kṛṣṇa is full in all opulences, and how He manifests such opulences is described herein. Also, four kinds of fortunate people who become attached to Kṛṣṇa, and four kinds of unfortunate people who never take to Kṛṣṇa are described in this chapter. ¶

In the first six chapters of Bhagavad-gītā, the living entity has been described as nonmaterial spirit soul which is capable of elevating himself to self-realization by different types of yogas. At the end of the Sixth Chapter, it has been clearly stated that the steady concentration of the mind upon Kṛṣṇa, or in other words Kṛṣṇa consciousness, is the highest form of all yoga. By concentrating one’s mind upon Kṛṣṇa, one is able to know the Absolute Truth completely, but not otherwise. Impersonal brahmajyoti or localized Paramātmā realization is not perfect knowledge of the Absolute Truth because it is partial. Full and scientific knowledge is Kṛṣṇa, and everything is revealed to the person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In complete Kṛṣṇa consciousness one knows that Kṛṣṇa is ultimate knowledge beyond any doubts. Different types of yoga are only steppingstones on the path of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. One who takes directly to Kṛṣṇa consciousness automatically knows about brahmajyoti and Paramātmā in full. By practice of Kṛṣṇa consciousness yoga, one can know everything in full—namely the Absolute Truth, the living entities, the material nature, and their manifestations with paraphernalia. ¶

One should therefore begin yoga practice as directed in the last verse of the Sixth Chapter. Concentration of the mind upon Kṛṣṇa the Supreme is made possible by prescribed devotional service in nine different forms, of which śravaṇam is the first and most important. The Lord therefore says to Arjuna, “tat śṛṇu,” or “Hear from Me.” No one can be a greater authority than Kṛṣṇa, and therefore by hearing from Him one receives the greatest opportunity for progress in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. One has therefore to learn from Kṛṣṇa directly or from a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa—and not from a nondevotee upstart, puffed up with academic education. ¶

In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam this process of understanding Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Absolute Truth, is described in the Second Chapter of the First Canto as follows: ¶

śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāṁ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ
hṛdyantaḥstho hy abhadrāṇi vidbunoti suhṛt satām.

naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā
bhagavaty uttama-śloke bhaktir bhavati naiṣṭhikī.

tadā rajas-tamo-bhāvāḥ kāma-lobhadayaś ca ye
ceta etair anāviddhaṁ sthitaṁ sattve prasīdati.

evam prasanna-manaso bhagavad-bhakti-yogataḥ
bhagavat-tattva-vijñānaṁ mukta-saṅgasya jāyate.

bhidyate hṛdaya-granthiś chidyante sarva-saṁśayāḥ
kṣīyante cāsya karmāṇi dṛṣṭa evātmanīśvare.

“To hear about Kṛṣṇa from Vedic literatures, or to hear from Him directly through the Bhagavad-gītā, is itself righteous activity. And for one who hears about Kṛṣṇa, Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is dwelling in everyone’s heart, acts as a best-wishing friend and purifies the devotee who constantly engages in hearing of Him. In this way, a devotee naturally develops his dormant transcendental knowledge. As he hears more about Kṛṣṇa from the Bhāgavatam and from the devotees, he becomes fixed in the devotional service of the Lord. By development of devotional service one becomes freed from the modes of passion and ignorance, and thus material lusts and avarice are diminished. When these impurities are wiped away, the candidate remains steady in his position of pure goodness, becomes enlivened by devotional service and understands the science of God perfectly. Thus bhakti-yoga severs the hard knot of material affection and enables one to come at once to the stage of ‘asaṁśayaṁ samagram,’ understanding of the Supreme Absolute Truth Personality of Godhead.” (Bhāg. 1.2.17-21)plugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigŚrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.2.17

Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramātmā [Supersoul] in everyone's heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted. ¶

Therefore only by hearing from Kṛṣṇa or from His devotee in Kṛṣṇa consciousness can one understand the science of Kṛṣṇa. ¶