Sanskrit
मय्यासक्तमनाः पार्थ योगं युञ्जन्मदाश्रयः । असंशयं समग्रं मां यथा ज्ञास्यसि तच्छृणु ॥ १ ॥
mayy āsaktamanāḥ pārtha yogaṃ yuñjan madāśrayaḥ asaṃśayaṃ samagraṃ māṃ yathā jñāsyasi tac chṛṇu
Translation
With the mind clinging to me, O Pârtha, performing yoga, refuged in Me, how thou shalt without doubt know Me to the uttermost, that hear thou.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Chapter 7 opens mid-speech — no narrative break from Sanjaya, so Krishna is still talking, continuing straight out of chapter 6’s teaching on meditation. The promise is conditional on two things named in one breath: mind fixed on Krishna and refuge taken in him before any of the promised knowledge arrives. Verse 2 will specify exactly what’s being promised — not partial insight but totality, “nothing more here needs to be known” — and verse 3’s very next move undercuts the promise’s apparent ease by admitting how rare anyone who actually gets there is. Mad-āśraya — “having Me as the support” — makes the devotional anchor the precondition for the knowledge, not its reward. This is BG 6.47’s “most yoked” devotee turned into a doorway.
Study deeper
Word by word
- mayy āsaktamanāḥ pārthaमय्य् आसक्तमनाः पार्थ
- with mind attached to Me, O Pārtha (mayi + āsakta-manāḥ)
- yogaṃ yuñjan madāśrayaḥयोगं युञ्जन् मदाश्रयः
- practising yoga, taking refuge in Me (yogam + yuñjan + mat-āśrayaḥ)
- asaṃśayaṃ samagraṃ māṃअसंशयं समग्रं मां
- Me, wholly and beyond doubt (asaṃśayam + samagram + mām)
- yathā jñāsyasi tac chṛṇuयथा ज्ञास्यसि तच् छृणु
- how you shall know — hear that (yathā + jñāsyasi + tat + śṛṇu)
Commentary
Site Commentary
Notice that verse 1 teaches nothing yet — its entire content is a description of the listener Krishna needs before he’ll teach at all. Two conditions, attachment and refuge, come before a single fact is delivered, as if content and receptivity were separate problems that both have to be solved, in order. The implicit claim is uncomfortable: it isn’t only what’s said that determines what’s understood, but the state of the person listening when it’s said.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
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Lessons
Personal
- Before you expect real guidance to land — from a mentor, a book, a hard truth — check whether you've actually prepared to receive it: attention fixed, defenses down. The same advice given to a distracted mind and a ready one produces two completely different outcomes.
Professional
- Before rolling out training or a new process, verify your team's readiness — attention, buy-in — not just the quality of the content itself. The best material delivered to a distracted or skeptical audience lands the same as no material at all.
Family & Social
- Before raising something important with someone close to you, check that they're actually in a state to receive it — present, not defensive — rather than just picking the right words. Timing and readiness often matter more than how well you phrase it.
Ask yourself
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