Gita 07.30 – Teacher’s incomprehensible statements test student’s interest and attentiveness
Sadhi bhuktadi daivam mam sadhi yajnam jaya viduh prayana kaale puchamam te vidur yukta cheta saham so here krishna is speaking to arjuna the conclusion of this chapter wherein he states the purpose and perfection of everything rests in him it is krishna who is the spiritual essence of everything if not for krishna then everything else will be empty pointless that is not a very easy message to digest but krishna is urging for the digestion of this message by stressing it repeatedly at the start of the next chapter the eighth chapter arjuna immediately asks what these specific terms mean sadhi bhukta sadhi yajna sadhi daivam what do these terms mean and we will discuss the technicalities of these terms when we come to that chapter but right now let's understand this in the context of the chapter the seventh chapter started with does your mind become attached to me how by practicing yoga shelter of me and you will come to know me free from all doubts touch me know about this hear this touch me so what krishna tells in this chapter will initiate and propel the process by which all this will take place mind will become attached to krishna one will take shelter of krishna one will practice yoga and relationship with him that is bhakti yoga and that will begin with one will know him and one will become free from doubts so if you consider in the light of the first verse what the gita is going to speak in that chapter and then we consider this last verse 7.30 will recognize the cyclic connection between the verses and will realize that actually there is nothing as important as defining as consequential as the practice of bhakti with an understanding that krishna is the be all and the end all krishna has said that specifically in vasudeva sarvamiti that vasudeva is everything and one who understands this in 7.19 that such a person is jnanavan such a person is truly wise truly knowledgeable so now the question comes up that such a person is truly wise truly knowledgeable then krishna has also said before that in 7.17 that among the different kinds of people who come to him that among them the jnani is the the jnani is well engaged in relationship with me is fixed in the practice of bhakti the jnani is extremely dear to me and i am also very dear to him now what is the implication of vasudeva sarvamiti what is it that the jnani who becomes jnanavan as mentioned in 7.19 what is the understanding krishna has stressed his spiritual transcendental position earlier and further he stresses in this verse an elaboration in a particular framework of what that means krishna says that the person who understands me to be the adhibhuta who understands one who understands me to be the adhibhuta so one who understands me to be the adhibhuta such a person now if you see krishna is dropping terms here without explaining those terms and that may lead to the question what exactly is happening here why is krishna dropping terms like this and what does it imply in a practical sense he is dropping terms like this sometimes a teacher may just speak something which is most likely going to be incomprehensible for a student and the purpose is to help is to check the attentiveness and the interest of the hearer is the person likely to is the person going to raise a question which is what the person should do if the person is interested and attentive what do these terms mean especially if the person doesn't know the terms and wants to know whatever the speaker is speaking then the question should be raised sometimes dropping something unfamiliar is a way of checking the attentiveness and the sharpness of the person now if we move onwards and we check how how to deal with things we will see that Krishna will, Arjuna will immediately raise the question and Arjuna in that sense proves to be a proves to be a demonstrates how he is a attentive and interested student next chapter first two verses are themselves questions and Krishna will explain these terms briefly in the next chapter but along with that another important point to consider is that Krishna is hearing demonstrating the fundamental principle that Krishna is we all and end all that is not just a vague amorphous concept but that's a concept which can be understood through different philosophical frameworks and further another concept that Krishna introduces in this verse is that such person with being with their consciousness being engaged in yoga with their consciousness being people can even at the moment of death they will be conscious of me this is the second explicit reference to death in the Bhagavad Gita not second in terms of that has been talked about several times but the consciousness at the time of death that's the second reference over here the first was in the last verse of the second chapter in 72.72 one who is situated thus such a person can attain perfection so this is the way of God this is the consciousness this is the state of Brahman consciousness one who is situated like this will not be deluded if one is situated like this then one will attain the Brahman and here Krishna is saying that if one understands me thus then if one understands me to be then even at the time of death one will be properly situated one will maintain proper consciousness that means Krishna is prefacing here or giving a prelude of the concept of remembering him at the time of death how that leads to perfection which he will be talking later he mentions it briefly here and Arjuna will ask a question about that also in the next chapter which we will discuss when we move to the next chapter.